Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity

By: David Christian, The Great Courses

Narrated by: David Christian

Length: 24 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

How is it possible for the disciplines of cosmology, geology, anthropology, biology, and history to fit together? These 48 lectures answer that question by weaving a single story from accounts of the past developed by a variety of scholarly disciplines. The result is a story stretching from the origins of the universe to the present day and beyond, in which human history is seen as part of the history of our Earth and biosphere, and the Earth's history, in turn, is seen as part of the history of the universe.

Like traditional creation stories told by the world's great religions and mythologies, this lecture series provides a map of our place in space and time. But it does so using the insights and knowledge of modern science, as synthesized by a renowned historian. While you may have heard parts of this story before in courses on geology, history, anthropology, biology, cosmology, and other scholarly disciplines, Professor Christian provides more than just a recap of those disciplines. "Because of the scale on which we look at the past, you should not expect to find in it many of the familiar details, names, and personalities that you'll find in other types of historical teaching and writing," he explains. "For example, the French Revolution and the Renaissance will barely get a mention. They'll zoom past in a blur. You'll barely see them. Instead, what we're going to see are some less familiar aspects of the past. We'll be looking, above all, for the very large patterns, the shape of the past.

"Prepare yourself for a journey through time and across space, from the first moments of existence to the distant reaches of the far future."

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2008 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2008 The Great Courses

Fascinating

Very enjoyable. As long as it is, it never feels long. Well presented with facts and evidence.

5 Stars - Truly Outstanding Audiobook

I am a big audiobook fan, and I enjoyed this as much as any audiobook I have ever listened too. Audible's Great Course's offerings are favorites of mine, and Dr. Christian's lecture series is simply one of the best.

There are several other very thorough and ably written reviews already posted for this course. I agree with all of the positive comments. I will say that this course was difficult for me because the subject matter is so inter-disciplinary and the perspective so much broader than any history course I have ever taken. Doctor Christian commits early in the course to providing 'evidence' and he does a fantastic job of doing that. However, understanding and appreciating some of the evidence he presents takes some intellectual effort, especially if you are like me and have not been educated in the disciplines the evidence is drawn from. It really helps that Doctor Christian is an incredibly engaging and interesting speaker and he is very good at explaining things clearly. Even so, I found myself re-listening to some lectures because after the first listen I felt like my head was about to explode from trying to get my mental arms around the material being discussed.

One important thing that I don't think anyone else wrote about in their reviews: Audible helpfully provides a link to downloadable PDF of notes recapping each of Doctor Christian's lectures. I found these lecture notes to be extremely helpful to have in front of me when I listened, or to review after listening. And, down in those notes, I discovered that Doctor Christian has also helpfully provided references to supplemental reading. One of these is his textbook on Big History entitled 'Maps in Time - An Introduction to Big History' which is available on Kindle. I purchased this book, and found it very useful as it expands considerably on the material in the lectures and provides many helpful visuals.

Listening to the lectures, reading the course notes, and the reading the 'Maps in Time' book gave me a strong sense of taking a true college level course, but without the expensive tuition and without being under the pressure of exams.

What a great way to learn new things. Thank you Doctor Christian, thank you Great Courses, and thank you Audible.

Very worthwhile listen

This set of lectures was really fascinating. There are major perspective-shifting ideas that changed the way I view history, middle-level summaries and analyses of historical eras, and specific, engaging anecdotes.

Great story

Interesting and well narrated. Thought provoking and comprehensible for the non-scientist. I highly recommend this one if you are interested in how we got to where we are today.

Amazing for everyone

There are zero people who shouldn't lauren to this course. What a fantastic holistic assembly of the learnings of humanity.

Everything In a nutshell ...

If you're curious about how we got here, then this is an excellent perspective. 47 chapters address 14 billion years of history with the modern society as the chewy center.. The 48th chapter tells the story of the preceding 47 chapters but in reverse.. It appropriately end with the lecturer's perspective about our purpose in the universe..

A super excellent review and perspective

A great perspective and learning opportunity that is well worth your while And that will stimulate you're thinking

A truly GREAT course

A complex and long history of our universe told in a very structured and simple way. Professor Christian also provides insightful analysis on the big trends and patterns of our universe including our society, so we are not lost in the big history. I’ll definitely listen again and together with my children when they are slightly older

Excellent road map to our history

This is the second time listening to this book. Vast amount of information but smartly sequenced and presented. Will probably listen to it again in few years. Great book.

GREAT Course

I've listened to this several times now over the years, and it's still so impactful!