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Big History
From the formation of the Universe to today, countless major events have changed the course of life on Earth.
Aligned with the online Big History Project supported by Bill Gates, Big History puts a wide-angle lens on 13.8 billion years of remarkable history and shows you how and why we got where we are today.
With stunning visual timelines and special CGI reconstructions, you can see history's greatest events. Look back to our origins in the stars, explore everything from the birth of the Sun to modern technology, and see what the future holds for humans.
Weaving together multiple disciplines including physics and sociology, and with a foreword by TED speaker Professor David Christian, Big History is a truly unique look at the history of the world.
Aligned with the online Big History Project supported by Bill Gates, Big History puts a wide-angle lens on 13.8 billion years of remarkable history and shows you how and why we got where we are today.
With stunning visual timelines and special CGI reconstructions, you can see history's greatest events. Look back to our origins in the stars, explore everything from the birth of the Sun to modern technology, and see what the future holds for humans.
Weaving together multiple disciplines including physics and sociology, and with a foreword by TED speaker Professor David Christian, Big History is a truly unique look at the history of the world.
440 pages, Hardcover
Published October 11, 2016
177 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
About the author
D.K. Publishing
9,152 books1,997 followersDorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.
Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.
Source: Wikipedia.
Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.
Source: Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 5, 2017
Great book that pretty much covers everything from the beginning of the planet.
I loved the earlier history, before modern people came to be.
This book presented itself in a very easy to understand way.
It has some great timelines toward the end of the book that shows major events in history.
I loved the earlier history, before modern people came to be.
This book presented itself in a very easy to understand way.
It has some great timelines toward the end of the book that shows major events in history.
February 1, 2024
Since ancient times, humans have tried to find meaning in everything.
"Where did we come from?", "Why was the universe created?", "What are we living for?"
Quote from this book:
"We can trace things back to the earlier stages of The Big Bang, but we still don’t know what banged and why it banged. That’s a challenge for 21st-century science."
Martin Rees, British cosmologist, 1942–
To this cosmologist, I say.
I am sorry to say that you will not find the answer in 1,000 years, or even 5,000 years.
Many scientists and astronomers believe that "someone created this universe for some purpose."
Let's say someone is "God.
And the question is, "For what purpose did God create the universe?"
So they are desperately trying to figure out the reason.
There is a problem with the question "by someone's will, for some purpose."
This is because this universe is a chain of suffering, impermanence, and no self.
No one created it, and no one created the universe with a purpose.
Ultimately, life has no meaning.
During the Stone Age, ancient humans lived in fear of being attacked by other wild animals, just like the wild animals in Africa.
After that, humans learned farming techniques.
Now we have a safe home and are no longer attacked by other wild animals.
Human beings no longer feared that they might die right now.
Then, on a dark night when we had free time, we started thinking about unnecessary things.
And we began to think philosophically about ”What are we living for?''
In order to find the meaning of life, humans create various religions, divination methods, create gorgeous art, and producing emotional music to find their own "answers."
Even today, humans create and enjoy art, literature, and music because humans have escaped the fear of death. On the other hand, wild animals are still living in fear, bordering on death.
Even if we show art and music to the wild animals living in Africa, they are not interested at all.
Wild animals try their best to avoid being attacked by other animals.
Is there any meaning in that?
There is no meaning.
There is no "meaning" in life.
Living things just don't want to die.
Rather than wanting to live, they just don't want to die.
All life in this world does not want to die.
The big elephant, dog, cat, bugs, worms, insects, and cockroaches....
All they don't want to die.
That's why they are desperately running away.
In order not to die.
We live in a 3D world, but there are also lives in the 4th, 5th, and 11th dimensions that we cannot detect. There is a high possibility that aliens live in space.
The life that lives there doesn't eat what we can see.
They takes in invisible energy from the universe.
Fortunately, we humans living in the 20th century will not die if we have the bare minimum of sustenance (house, food, clothes).
However, we get depressed because we think about things too much.
Mental health issues arise.
Actually, your problem doesn't exist.
You're just making it up in your head.
Everything is suffering, impermanence, and selflessness.
"Where did we come from?", "Why was the universe created?", "What are we living for?"
Quote from this book:
"We can trace things back to the earlier stages of The Big Bang, but we still don’t know what banged and why it banged. That’s a challenge for 21st-century science."
Martin Rees, British cosmologist, 1942–
To this cosmologist, I say.
I am sorry to say that you will not find the answer in 1,000 years, or even 5,000 years.
Many scientists and astronomers believe that "someone created this universe for some purpose."
Let's say someone is "God.
And the question is, "For what purpose did God create the universe?"
So they are desperately trying to figure out the reason.
There is a problem with the question "by someone's will, for some purpose."
This is because this universe is a chain of suffering, impermanence, and no self.
No one created it, and no one created the universe with a purpose.
Ultimately, life has no meaning.
During the Stone Age, ancient humans lived in fear of being attacked by other wild animals, just like the wild animals in Africa.
After that, humans learned farming techniques.
Now we have a safe home and are no longer attacked by other wild animals.
Human beings no longer feared that they might die right now.
Then, on a dark night when we had free time, we started thinking about unnecessary things.
And we began to think philosophically about ”What are we living for?''
In order to find the meaning of life, humans create various religions, divination methods, create gorgeous art, and producing emotional music to find their own "answers."
Even today, humans create and enjoy art, literature, and music because humans have escaped the fear of death. On the other hand, wild animals are still living in fear, bordering on death.
Even if we show art and music to the wild animals living in Africa, they are not interested at all.
Wild animals try their best to avoid being attacked by other animals.
Is there any meaning in that?
There is no meaning.
There is no "meaning" in life.
Living things just don't want to die.
Rather than wanting to live, they just don't want to die.
All life in this world does not want to die.
The big elephant, dog, cat, bugs, worms, insects, and cockroaches....
All they don't want to die.
That's why they are desperately running away.
In order not to die.
We live in a 3D world, but there are also lives in the 4th, 5th, and 11th dimensions that we cannot detect. There is a high possibility that aliens live in space.
The life that lives there doesn't eat what we can see.
They takes in invisible energy from the universe.
Fortunately, we humans living in the 20th century will not die if we have the bare minimum of sustenance (house, food, clothes).
However, we get depressed because we think about things too much.
Mental health issues arise.
Actually, your problem doesn't exist.
You're just making it up in your head.
Everything is suffering, impermanence, and selflessness.
August 31, 2023
This book is beautifully designed and illustrated. It covers the time period from the Big Bang until modern times. Much emphasis is on the period before writing and even before humans for the most part which creates a mild problem with the term history which by definition is the story of human civilization and generally concerns the time period after the advent of writing. There is nothing wrong with this, it is just good to know coming into this book that it doesn't really cover history. Instead, it is about the story of the universe and covers very broad trends rather than who ruled what country when.
Each two-page spread seems to have a different graphical style which goes well with the new topic of these pages. This keeps the book fresh and interesting even when the topic might be the chemistry of deep space or how fish evolved.
As with all these DK books, you want at least a ten-inch tablet and be prepared to zoom in to the maximum a lot. The pages are a direct scan from a table top book and will be tough to read or examine on a smaller tablet.
Each two-page spread seems to have a different graphical style which goes well with the new topic of these pages. This keeps the book fresh and interesting even when the topic might be the chemistry of deep space or how fish evolved.
As with all these DK books, you want at least a ten-inch tablet and be prepared to zoom in to the maximum a lot. The pages are a direct scan from a table top book and will be tough to read or examine on a smaller tablet.
May 17, 2024
Starting with the Big Bang and ending in the present, this is as comprehensive as you can get. Although cosmology, archaeology, geology and lots of the other ologies involved go beyond my particularly narrow modern historian skill-set, it all looks very impressive to me, and is illustrated beautifully throughout. It generally avoids the danger that such a zoomed out approach might encourage un-nuanced generalisations and determinism. A great way to expand your appreciation of our marvellous universe and our somewhat more compromised little planet within it.
January 12, 2021
Couldn't get through this book not because of the content but the formatting is awful for the Kindle. DK has some great BIG books and they do a wonderful job on publishing well respected experts writing about great stuff and this Big History is probably great in a Big Book but not a good experience on the Kindle, Kindle App on iPad, etc. Just too frustrating.
May 26, 2021
Surprising in that it is the most colorful and hi-fi kindle book that I've seen (when viewed on the iPad of course.) But its the kind of book that really should be read in physical form which I did not!
July 25, 2022
Gorgeous book! I'd love to own a copy, just to peruse, because every page is fascinating. I did find some text challenging visually (some text against dark backgrounds).
February 6, 2023
Very interseting and one does not get bored thanks to the images and information.
March 26, 2025
Завдяки соковитим ілюстраціям, сучасній подачі та групуванню інформації читати було дуже цікаво. Графічні моделі, тайм-лайни і таке інше виглядають доволі круто в великому форматі.
Побачити зірки в розрізі; формування чорних дір; різні мікроорганізми чи, я не знаю, око стрікози під мікроскопом, що виглядає, як щось взагалі з іншого виміру; перші малюнки людей на стіні довжиною кілька кілометрів - це було круто та відкладається в пам'яті надовго.
Сподобалось, що мова про різноманітні історичні та сучасні макро- процеси, явища, події, тощо йдеться з оглядом на весь світ. Буде зрозуміло, наприклад, що під час середньовічних війн, хрестових походів або страшних епідемій в Європі, в невідомих Америках (привіт Америго Веспучи) інки будували Мачу-Пікчу, а ацтеки Теночтитлан; в Китаї відкрили новий тип друку; в Африці паломництво Манса Муси до Мекки призвело до фінансової кризи в Єгипті та Середземномор'ї, і ще купа всього...
Також кльово, що читати її можна з будь-якого місця, яке в цей самий час вас зацікавило або ви вирішили обрати навмання.
Якщо підвести підсумок, то на мій погляд, головна цінність книги полягає в її здатності сформувати всебічну, наукову та естетичну картину світу.
Якщо у вас в дитинстві була совєцька книга "Географический Атлас "Мир и человек", то Big History - це щось схоже, але на максімалках та без шовіністичних розділів типу "наша родина на карте..." :-)
Написав і захотів перечитати знов :-)
Побачити зірки в розрізі; формування чорних дір; різні мікроорганізми чи, я не знаю, око стрікози під мікроскопом, що виглядає, як щось взагалі з іншого виміру; перші малюнки людей на стіні довжиною кілька кілометрів - це було круто та відкладається в пам'яті надовго.
Сподобалось, що мова про різноманітні історичні та сучасні макро- процеси, явища, події, тощо йдеться з оглядом на весь світ. Буде зрозуміло, наприклад, що під час середньовічних війн, хрестових походів або страшних епідемій в Європі, в невідомих Америках (привіт Америго Веспучи) інки будували Мачу-Пікчу, а ацтеки Теночтитлан; в Китаї відкрили новий тип друку; в Африці паломництво Манса Муси до Мекки призвело до фінансової кризи в Єгипті та Середземномор'ї, і ще купа всього...
Також кльово, що читати її можна з будь-якого місця, яке в цей самий час вас зацікавило або ви вирішили обрати навмання.
Якщо підвести підсумок, то на мій погляд, головна цінність книги полягає в її здатності сформувати всебічну, наукову та естетичну картину світу.
Якщо у вас в дитинстві була совєцька книга "Географический Атлас "Мир и человек", то Big History - це щось схоже, але на максімалках та без шовіністичних розділів типу "наша родина на карте..." :-)
Написав і захотів перечитати знов :-)
April 13, 2018
I first encountered "Big History" when learning about the online version of the course. I love the idea of a "big picture" overview, something that gives you a framework to plug in other ideas and concepts.
It's a great idea in theory, but there were a few issues that bugged me and kept me from liking it as much as I wanted to. First, the book is divided into 8 sections--6 of them have nothing to do with human history at all. Which isn't necessarily a problem (not everything has to be anthropocentric)...it's just that the beginning sections of the book didn't have quite enough narrative pull for me and felt a bit like taking HS biology and chemistry all over again and reading textbooks. The flow charts at the beginning of each section felt confusingly designed. I liked some of the timelines in each section, but there were so many small details and various tracks going on that it felt a bit overwhelming.
I don't know if encountering this course in a lecture-format as opposed to reading through things in book form would've made a difference, but I feel like it might have.
It's a great idea in theory, but there were a few issues that bugged me and kept me from liking it as much as I wanted to. First, the book is divided into 8 sections--6 of them have nothing to do with human history at all. Which isn't necessarily a problem (not everything has to be anthropocentric)...it's just that the beginning sections of the book didn't have quite enough narrative pull for me and felt a bit like taking HS biology and chemistry all over again and reading textbooks. The flow charts at the beginning of each section felt confusingly designed. I liked some of the timelines in each section, but there were so many small details and various tracks going on that it felt a bit overwhelming.
I don't know if encountering this course in a lecture-format as opposed to reading through things in book form would've made a difference, but I feel like it might have.
April 19, 2020
What a wonderful summary of the history - history of everything that started from Big Bang! The book highlights the milestones of our universe, galaxy, the solar system, our planet, and human development. I like the chronicle order of the story telling. I would recommend this as a story book to share with kids. It will give them a good foundation to understand the world and our role as human.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews