David Christian
Maps of Time
An Introduction to Big History
$23.95, £16.95 paperback
9780520244764
Available Now
664 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 11 b/w illustrations, 36 line illustrations, 9 maps, 32 tables
February 2004, Available worldwide
Also in: Natural History: Earth; Evolution
February 2004, Available worldwide
Also in: Natural History: Earth; Evolution
Downloadable eBook version available:
Adobe E-Reader at ebooks.com, $12.95
Adobe E-Reader at ebooks.com, $12.95
An introduction to a new way of looking at history, from a perspective that stretches from the beginning of time to the present day, Maps of Time is world history on an unprecedented scale. Beginning with the Big Bang, David Christian views the interaction of the natural world with the more recent arrivals in flora and fauna, including human beings.
Cosmology, geology, archeology, and population and environmental studies—all figure in David Christian's account, which is an ambitious overview of the emerging field of "Big History." Maps of Time opens with the origins of the universe, the stars and the galaxies, the sun and the solar system, including the earth, and conducts readers through the evolution of the planet before human habitation. It surveys the development of human society from the Paleolithic era through the transition to agriculture, the emergence of cities and states, and the birth of the modern, industrial period right up to intimations of possible futures. Sweeping in scope, finely focused in its minute detail, this riveting account of the known world, from the inception of space-time to the prospects of global warming, lays the groundwork for world history—and Big History—true as never before to its name.
Cosmology, geology, archeology, and population and environmental studies—all figure in David Christian's account, which is an ambitious overview of the emerging field of "Big History." Maps of Time opens with the origins of the universe, the stars and the galaxies, the sun and the solar system, including the earth, and conducts readers through the evolution of the planet before human habitation. It surveys the development of human society from the Paleolithic era through the transition to agriculture, the emergence of cities and states, and the birth of the modern, industrial period right up to intimations of possible futures. Sweeping in scope, finely focused in its minute detail, this riveting account of the known world, from the inception of space-time to the prospects of global warming, lays the groundwork for world history—and Big History—true as never before to its name.
"In Maps of Time, Australian historian David Christian has given us a state-of-the-art instance of Big History, a work of breathtaking synthesis. . . . Christian has done his homework. He freely draws from the best and brightest science writers, economists, sociologists, and world historians. . . . This catalogue of topics and sources does not do justice to the sophistication of the argument in Maps of Time."—Donald A. Yerxa, Books & Culture: a Christian Review
"A remarkable work of synthesis and scholarship. . . . Christian's Olympian perspective on the story of time is exhilarating."—P. D. Smith, The Guardian
"The best historical synthesis I have ever read."—Fred Spier, History & Theory: Stds In the Philosophy of History
"Maps of Time is a noteworthy contribution to an emerging from of historical narrative, and Christian's sensible, evenhanded treatment of information makes it worthwhile reading for anyone seeking an integrated view of the universe's story, and our own."—Paul Bloch, What Is Enlightenment
"No work in this genre [macro-history] is better than David Christian's Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. . . . [I]t is a brilliantly executed act of provocation."—Felipe Fernandez Armesto, The Times
"Forges bold and ingenious connections between the physical and social sciences."—Peter Spinks, The Age
"A good read, a fascinating prospectus for a new kind of history."—Anthony Grafton, American Scientist
"A fascinating read."—Ian Garrick Mason, San Francisco Chronicle
"[Christian's] book is remarkably successful. It has the essential effect of first stimulating and then retaining the reader's interest."—Douglas Palmer, New Scientist
"A remarkable work of synthesis and scholarship. . . . Christian's Olympian perspective on the story of time is exhilarating."—P. D. Smith, The Guardian
"The best historical synthesis I have ever read."—Fred Spier, History & Theory: Stds In the Philosophy of History
"Maps of Time is a noteworthy contribution to an emerging from of historical narrative, and Christian's sensible, evenhanded treatment of information makes it worthwhile reading for anyone seeking an integrated view of the universe's story, and our own."—Paul Bloch, What Is Enlightenment
"No work in this genre [macro-history] is better than David Christian's Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. . . . [I]t is a brilliantly executed act of provocation."—Felipe Fernandez Armesto, The Times
"Forges bold and ingenious connections between the physical and social sciences."—Peter Spinks, The Age
"A good read, a fascinating prospectus for a new kind of history."—Anthony Grafton, American Scientist
"A fascinating read."—Ian Garrick Mason, San Francisco Chronicle
"[Christian's] book is remarkably successful. It has the essential effect of first stimulating and then retaining the reader's interest."—Douglas Palmer, New Scientist
"You've all seen the poster of the milky way galaxy with an arrow to a point about halfway out from the center and the caption, 'You are here.' This book is like that only more so. It locates the human experience in the entirety of space-time."—Alfred Crosby, author of Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900
from the Foreword by William H. McNeill
"Maps of Time unites natural history and human history in a single, grand, and intelligible narrative. This is a great achievement, analogous to the way in which Isaac Newton in the seventeenth century united the heavens and the earth under uniform laws of motion; it is even more closely comparable to Darwin's nineteenth-century achievement of uniting the human species and other forms of life within a single evolutionary process…. [It] is a historical and intellectual masterpiece: clear, coherent, erudite, elegant, adventurous, and concise…. You, who are about to peruse this book, have a great experience before you. Read on, wonder, and admire."
"Maps of Time unites natural history and human history in a single, grand, and intelligible narrative. This is a great achievement, analogous to the way in which Isaac Newton in the seventeenth century united the heavens and the earth under uniform laws of motion; it is even more closely comparable to Darwin's nineteenth-century achievement of uniting the human species and other forms of life within a single evolutionary process…. [It] is a historical and intellectual masterpiece: clear, coherent, erudite, elegant, adventurous, and concise…. You, who are about to peruse this book, have a great experience before you. Read on, wonder, and admire."
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Modern Creation Myth?
PART I. THE INANIMATE UNIVERSE
1. The First 300,000 Years: Origins of the Universe, Time, and Space
2. Origins of the Galaxies and Stars: The Beginnings of Complexity
3. Origins and History of the Earth
PART II. LIFE ON EARTH
4. The Origins of Life and the Theory of Evolution
5. The Evolution of Life and the Biosphere
PART III. EARLY HUMAN HISTORY: MANY WORLDS
6. The Evolution of Humans
7. The Beginnings of Human History
PART IV. THE HOLOCENE: FEW WORLDS
8. Intensification and the Origins of Agriculture
9. From Power over Nature to Power over People:
Cities, States, and "Civilizations"
10. Long Trends in the Era of Agrarian "Civilizations"
PART V. THE MODERN ERA: ONE WORLD
11. Approaching Modernity
12. Globalization, Commercialization, and Innovation
13. Birth of the Modern World
14. The Great Acceleration of the Twentieth Century
PART VI. PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE
15. Futures
Appendix 1. Dating Techniques, Chronologies, and Timelines
Appendix 2. Chaos and Order
Notes
Bibliography
Index
List of Tables
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Modern Creation Myth?
PART I. THE INANIMATE UNIVERSE
1. The First 300,000 Years: Origins of the Universe, Time, and Space
2. Origins of the Galaxies and Stars: The Beginnings of Complexity
3. Origins and History of the Earth
PART II. LIFE ON EARTH
4. The Origins of Life and the Theory of Evolution
5. The Evolution of Life and the Biosphere
PART III. EARLY HUMAN HISTORY: MANY WORLDS
6. The Evolution of Humans
7. The Beginnings of Human History
PART IV. THE HOLOCENE: FEW WORLDS
8. Intensification and the Origins of Agriculture
9. From Power over Nature to Power over People:
Cities, States, and "Civilizations"
10. Long Trends in the Era of Agrarian "Civilizations"
PART V. THE MODERN ERA: ONE WORLD
11. Approaching Modernity
12. Globalization, Commercialization, and Innovation
13. Birth of the Modern World
14. The Great Acceleration of the Twentieth Century
PART VI. PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE
15. Futures
Appendix 1. Dating Techniques, Chronologies, and Timelines
Appendix 2. Chaos and Order
Notes
Bibliography
Index
World History Association Annual Book Prize, World History Association
World History Bestsellers
