Origin Story

A Big History of Everything

By: David Christian

Narrated by: Jamie Jackson

Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

A captivating history of the universe - from before the dawn of time through the far reaches of the distant future.

Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day - and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence?

These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History", the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. In Origin Story, Christian takes readers on a wild ride through the entire 13.8 billion years we've come to know as "history". By focusing on defining events (thresholds), major trends, and profound questions about our origins, Christian exposes the hidden threads that tie everything together - from the creation of the planet to the advent of agriculture, nuclear war, and beyond. With stunning insights into the origin of the universe, the beginning of life, the emergence of humans, and what the future might bring, Origin Story boldly reframes our place in the cosmos.

©2018 David Christian (P)2018 Recorded Books

Interesting-Fascinating-Scary

An enjoyable book to remind us who we are and where we are going. All ages will profit from the lessons in this book. I did not agree with some of the conclusions reached, such as why hominids control the earth. I think the author falls short in his assessments of the other species with whom we share this planet.

man's search for meaming....today and forever

I can't say enough about how profound this origin story is....very thought provoking....with intellectual and emotional messages that alter the human mind set for now and for all times!

Lessened by unnecessary preaching

Very informative book, learned a lot of interesting (and useless) facts about life, the universe, and everything. This was a 5-star book until i got near the end where it became a sermon about global warming. Which throws the entire book into question. Did i just read a genuine origin story or a propaganda piece? I'm irritated that i even have to ask the question. I want to know about ancient history, paleontology, anthropology, and got schooled about climate change by the end. -2 stars for ruining a fascinating book. The author could have given a Baptist sermon at the end and it would have been just as appropriate.

Novel approach to "macro history"

Narration: clear and engaging, mature voice.

Content: sensible, helpful, informative, successful approach to integrating histories of sciences and arts to describe origin of universe and evolution of humans and society.

Great Big Picture View

This is a great big history view of human origin and progress on earth and where we are heading. I highly recommend it for all.

Great narrator

The narrator was excellent and kept my attention through the more technical information. I really enjoyed the analysis of the Anthropocene period, both current and future. This was being written in 2017 and already there are things he predicts that have happened. I'd be curious to hear what the author thinks of the future of the Anthropocene now.

Bracing Micro and Macro Views from a Mountain Top

After reading Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (1885), which focuses mostly on Grant’s experience and understanding of the Civil War, I decided to try a different kind of history, one that casts a wider and more objective view than the history of an individual or a war or a country or an era or a world: David Christian’s Origin Story: A Big History of Everything (2018).

Christian teaches history via a series of “thresholds,” critical turning points in the “Big History of Everything,” starting with the Big Bang (13.8 billion years ago), the first stars (13.2 billion years ago), new elements (13.2 billion years ago), and our sun (4.5 billion years ago); working forwards through life on earth (3.8 billion years ago), the first large organisms (600 million years ago), the mass extinction of the dinosaurs (65 million years ago), Homo erectus (2 million years ago), Homo sapiens (200,000 years ago), the first farming (10,000 years ago), the first agrarian civilizations and cities (5,000 years ago), and the Fossil-fuels revolution (200 years ago); and concluding with a look at the future, the death of the sun (4.5 billion years from now) and the darkening of the universe (gazillions of years from now).

The last part, speculating on what is likely to happen if we continue our current trend of unsustainable growth, overuse of energy resources, and global warming and the chances of our being able to adopt a more stable and cooperative approach to growth, energy, and the biosphere, etc., is necessary reading.

The book as a whole is bracing in its micro and macro visions, for it reminds us of how miraculous life is (dependent on a set of “Goldilocks conditions” or rare perfect chances), how similar and related all organisms are (no matter how different they may superficially seem), and how tiny we and our earth and sun and galaxy are in the larger scheme of things.

Throughout, Christian explains complicated concepts simply and engagingly. We learn about how atoms are made, how molecules bond, how prokaryotes and eukaryotes differ, how photosynthesis made an oxygen boom later reined in by respiration, the role played by the molten core of the earth in plate tectonics and the surface temperature of the world, why foraging humans turned to farming and how the biosphere and humanity changed as a result, how erosion cycles carbon back into the earth, what will happen if (when?) the ice of the poles melts, how the fossil fuel revolution came about and how it has changed human civilizations, how stars are born and live and die, how black holes are formed and behave, and more and more and more. The book relates what scientists currently know about such things and how and when they came to know it and who first came to know it, and so on.

Sometimes Christian’s view “from a mountaintop instead of from the ground” can almost seem almost too detached when relating things like slavery and the exploitation of indigenous people, but overall it really makes you appreciate the miracle of living on our earth in the universe.

Jamie Jackson’s reading of the audiobook is fine.

Too broad and not deep enough

The book covers such broad issue that it seemed very thin on details. Felt bored at times.

10 Incredible Chapters Followed by 2 That Fail

This is a terrific book for the most part that is a throughly enjoyable read for the first ten chapters. The final two, particularly the last chapter is filled with over the top Marxian claptrap denouncing growth and human achievement. The author lost his way here in his eagerness to warn us of the threats of climate change that he completely ignores some of the great achievements that are presently developing or on the horizon.

As you can see from my review scores, I highly recommend the book as a great work. It's unfortunate that in today's hyper partisan environment that the author couldn't restrain himself from spewing this claptrap in his concluding chapters.

Meh.

Not bad, but not great either. The last 25% is particularly...tedious. Just one person's opinion.