A History Course Like None You've Ever Taken

What did you love best about Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity?

This is a history course unlike any I've ever experienced that explains trends and events using a very big picture lens (vs. specific civilizations or nations) and organizes the history of creation into eight "thresholds” (a point in history when something truly new appeared and forms never before seen began to arise):
o Threshold 1- Creation of the universe
o Threshold 2- Creation of the first stars
o Threshold 3- Formation of chemical elements (that make up our earth)
o Threshold 4- Creation of our solar system and the planet Earth
o Threshold 5- Origin of life
o Threshold 6- Development of the human species
o Threshold 7- Invention of Agriculture
o Threshold 8- The age of modernity

Very interesting and unique course on the history of everything: 13.7 billion years of the universe is explored using different scholarly disciplines including cosmology, astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology, biology, paleontology, archaeology, anthropology, and history.

Definitions of the disciplines and the role they play in Big History:
o Cosmology- the study of the origin and development of the universe (helps us understand the Big Bang and how the universe was created)
o Astronomy- the study of celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole (helps us study the structure of the universe)
o Physics- the study of the nature and properties of matter and energy (helps us study the creation of the sun and our solar system)
o Chemistry- the study of the substances of which matter is composed, their properties and the ways in which they interact, combine (to form new substances), and change (helps us study the processes that led to the creation of Earth)
o Geology- the study of how Earth's physical structure and substance has changed (helps us study how the changes in the structure of Earth leads to the creation of life)
o Biology- the study of living organisms (helps us study the origins of life on our planet and its evolution)
o Paleontology- discovery and study of ancient fossils to reconstruct that organism’s life (helps provide information on various species that eventually evolved to the homo sapiens species that exists today)
o Archaeology- the study of ancient human artifacts/bones (helps us study the invention of agriculture)
o Anthropology- the study of human societies and cultures and their development (helps us study the invention of power structures: city states with kings/high priests, etc.)
o History- the study of past events, particularly in human affairs (using the invention of writing (i.e. written documents), history helps us to understand the evolution of large complex agrarian city states)

Anytime the professor introduces a new level or sub-level of complexity he doesn’t just assume everyone understands and is in agreement with that entity’s definition. Instead, he takes a pain-staking approach to provide intriguing and thought-provoking definitions for items we may all take for granted including "life", "human species", "agriculture", and “Agrarian civilizations”. These definitions help articulate why they represent a new level of complexity and pinpoint when they were first introduced.

Rather than just state theories or make assumptions, the professor provides scientific evidence and explanations on how we “know” certain things like the distance and makeup of stars, the age of the universe, the existence of evolution, and why agriculture first began.

Minuses:
• Was hoping for a little more time spent on the evolution of life on earth from single-celled organisms to the complex multi-celled organisms including:
o The different forms of organisms (those that exist today and those that do not)
o Development of vertebrae, teeth, eyes, etc.
o Descriptions of the creatures that transitioned from water to land
o Rise of the dinosaurs and how the asteroid caused their extinction

• The latter lectures on the modern era (the last threshold) were the only ones that just didn’t capture my interest for some reason

• The last few lectures tended to tilt a little too much towards the negative side of the human species: i.e. how destructive human beings have been on the earth, its ecology, and its other species

All in all this was an interesting take on history and the course was excellently produced by Professor Christian. I recommend this course to anyone with an interest in big picture history be it of our universe, our planet, or our species. I would imagine there would be alot in this course for anyone to learn and contemplate and I thoroughly enjoyed my personal experience through these thought-provoking lectures.

45 people found this helpful

A Great Lecture Series !

I have been wanting to try one of the "Great Courses" lecture series for some time. I had a little working knowledge of the Big History concepts so I decided to use a credit on this audio course.

Initially I was a little concerned about whether or not these lectures would hold my attention for nearly 25 hours that would be required for the entire course. This concern turned out to be totally unfounded as I was completely taken in by the end of the very first 30 minute lecture!

The scope of the material is vast and wondrous: From the Big Bang to our present technology driven civilization. Throughout the entire series of lectures David Christian moves just fast enough to instill excitement, always reviewing the material every few lectures and previewing what's to come.

Because these lectures are only about 30 minutes in length they offer nice sized info-bites for the listener to digest. You can have as much or a little Big History as you want in nicely packaged increments. In fact, I think that the organization of the lectures in these easily digested increments is one of the more impressive elements of this audiobook as a whole.

The narration is also absolutely first rate. Christian is a practiced speaker and this really shows in his wonderful delivery.

If I have any criticism to offer it is on just two points:
First, these lectures were obviously recorded in a studio environment so I don't see why Great Courses saw the need to dub in the same applause sound track at the end of each lecture. It's distraction and not necessary. Likewise the trumpet fanfare that precedes each lecture is completely unnecessary and artificial.

My second criticism is aimed at the tact that I felt that Christian gets a little too "preachy" when discussing his ideas surrounding global warming. This is limited to only elements of one or two lectures but I did think that it marred an otherwise completely politically neutral outlook.

On balance these are very very minor points of criticism. This is a masterwork that is matched with a flawless delivery and format and well wort one credit!

35 people found this helpful

Academic Wrongheaded History

I read this because I heard that Bill Gates gave millions to the Big History movement and I wanted to see what it was (and it had many great reviews). I read a lot of history and science but Big History left me completely cold. The science is weak and the history is weaker. This Big History has a lot of guessing and many known-unknowns were not well highlighted. Thus Big History gives a compelling impression of being firmly based in science and historical evidence, but instead seems to be educated guesses consistent with the author’s opinions about how Big History works. It largely gives the impression that the flow of history is somewhat inevitable and understandable, as opposed to being the result of uncountable tiny inflections caused by the environment, accidents, and the acts and ideas of individuals. If you liked Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel, (which had a similar outlook and is referenced many times in Big History) you might also like Big History. I didn’t like either book. I could only recommend Big History to people already well read in both science and history as I feel the book leaves a false impression about what we actually know and how history actually works.

To put this in a little perspective, the story of the details and timing of the big bang is presented as thoroughly vetted science. But this science is only based on the observable 3% of the universe, and 97% of that 3% is stuff we don’t understand and don’t have a consistent theory for (dark matter and energy). So we base this theory on the 0.1% of the universe we understand. Then the two basic theories we have in physics to understand this 0.1% of the universe, we know must be wrong as the two theories are not consistent with each other. The Big Bang is a well-accepted useful working theory but it is definitely not history. Presenting it as history, I think, is a great disservice to any reader.

Another aspect of the book I found extraordinarily annoying was the comparison of the evidence astronomers use to derive theories about stars and galaxies to his own theories about the commonalities of history between the world zones of civilization. This is a farcical comparison! Astronomers have a sample size of 100 billion galaxies, while this author has a sample size of 4. The author’s results are virtually meaningless with such a sample size for his “natural experiments”.

I think history should be rich and nuanced and as detailed and fact based as we can make it. Bigger is not better.

33 people found this helpful

Perfect Title for an Enlightening Experience

Thank you Great Courses!

I loved this listen! I bought it because I had read about Bill Gates' suggestion that this set of lectures be adapted for High School use. He thought it a brilliant new way of looking at the structure and content of the basic history course.

Well, I think he and Professor Christian are absolutely right. This course begins with the real beginning - progresses through the formation of our universe, our solar system, and our planet to the eruption of life, division of species, and, finally, the development of human civilizations.

It's all here and presented in a fascinating way. The Professor is a wonderful speaker, and his enthusiasm for this material is evident and contagious. My husband and I listened during many drives and found ourselves several times going out of our way to avoid arrival before a lecture ended!

I hope Gates can help encourage more school systems to consider "Big History" as a high school course. It's high time for a more inclusive approach to history.

"Big History" is a long trip, but it's a total pleasure. Embrace it!

26 people found this helpful

The Big Picture of Big History

Where does Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was my first foray into The Great Courses series of lectures, but it certainly will not be my last.

What about Professor David Christian’s performance did you like?

Professor Christian provides a stellar overview of history in accessible and engaging language.

Any additional comments?

I began listening to this at the same time that I was reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, and I found a lot of reinforcement of ideas and details through both. If you are seeking a basic framework for understanding our universe, this is a great asset.

25 people found this helpful

Good, but Outdated

Overall this was a good lecture series. It is primarily a history series, however, so if you're looking for an in-depth description of each subject here then you'll need to look elsewhere; this lecture series simply covers the timeline and a cursory justification made by scientific evidence from disparate fields. My biggest gripe is that the information is already outdated in a few places and in some specific cases are outright false. For instance, the entire subject on Neanderthals is now obsolete based on information from the last 10 years, so take information here with a bit of skepticism.

14 people found this helpful

WOW! History will never be the same!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is my fourth "Great Course" listen and by far the most fascinating and my favorite. Professor Christian is at the top of his game. I found myself thinking of all kinds of excuses to listen to "just one more lecture". The first lecture defines what "Big History" is and once you know that you are hopelessly hooked. From the idea of the Big Bang theory to where will our universe be millions and millions of years from now, put on your seat belt and prepare for one of the most interesting journeys of your life. I must say it is not for everyone. When bringing up (in a conversation with my spouse) what Professor Christian said about the formation of life and some thoughts about finding life on other planets (and what that life may look like), her reply was "Who cares". I just shook my head and wondered how Professor Christian would react to a student with that response.

What other book might you compare Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity to and why?

There is not another "great course" that covers the span of the "Big History" however another very interesting "great course" is called "The Other Side of History" which is my second favorite listen. Highly recommended also.

What about Professor David Christian’s performance did you like?

Every word is well spoken. Academy award caliber. He has an amazing and interesting way of presenting the facts and theories.

If you could give Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity a new subtitle, what would it be?

Get to know the Big Bang and where it will end.

Any additional comments?

Every student dreams of having a Professor like Dr. Christian.

12 people found this helpful

Amazing!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have recommended this audio lecture to others. It really makes you think about our place in the universe very differently.

What did you like best about this story?

The breadth of the series.

What does Professor David Christian bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He is such an articulate story teller that you get mesmerized listening to him.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The future of mankind in 1,000 years from now.

Any additional comments?

This series will broaden you total view of life and the world you live in.

12 people found this helpful

Maybe the best audiobook I've heard

This is an amazing story, told in an amazing way. You will understand our place in the universe in a very profound way. It's easy to listen, presented with great clarity. HIGHLY recommended.

9 people found this helpful

Terrific compilation of the origins of matter/life

Any additional comments?

This wonderful compilation of the scientific facts of the origins of matter, life and the rise of humanity is well organized, interesting and a good review or numerous fields. It is a must for the educated.

9 people found this helpful