The Little Book of Big History

by Ian Crofton, Jeremy Black

The Little Book of Big History is an endeavor to encapsulate the entire story of the cosmos, from the Big Bang to the current day, into an engaging and comprehensive narrative. Combining methods from history, astronomy, physics, and biology to draw together the big story arcs of how the universe was created, why planets formed, and how life developed, the result is a unique perspective of mankind’s place in the universe.


Excited by the alternative "framework for all knowledge" that is offered by this approach, Bill Gates is funding the Big History Project, which aims to bring this concept to a wider audience around the world.

The Little Book of Big History breaks down the main themes of Big History into highly informative and accessible parts for all readers to enjoy. By giving a truly complete timeline of world events, this book shines a whole different light on science as we learned it and makes us think of our history—and our future—in a very different way.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Biology, World History, Reference

272 pages, Hardcover

Published July 4, 2017

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative read that covers a brief history of the world thus far. Hard for me to get through even still, though what history book isn't?

My only complaint is that I did not like how the author used the names of US political parties and assigned them to various other governments throughout history. Now I am not a history buff so forgive me if I am wrong and "Democrat" and "Republican" can be used nationally and in other time periods. To me it just seemed like the author used "Republican" for anything "bad" (e.g. genocide, racism, authoritarianism/totalitarianism/fascism) and "Democrat" for the side opposing, even in situations where a republic or democracy were not relevant. Seemed like a strong political bias to me. I could be wrong, though.

[Hissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished.
It’s a really good book.
Simpel and easy to follow.
Covers a lot of interesting topics.
A beautiful well-rounded journey.

[Georgiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book and also easy to follow through.

I have been interested in a more general history of humanity for a while now but didn’t quite know where to start. So I got my hands on this little piece and I really enjoyed reading it. The short chapters with limited but specific details were on point. Now, if I want to know more about a subject or a part of the history, I have this book as a reference to know where to start.

I recommend this book even for those who are not fans of reading history books. It’s entertaining and informative.

[Mgrdich Minasian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good book if you are looking to get some discrete a concrete information about every important event that happened to man kind , but author servers it in a very dry and non enthusiastic way like they are not interesting .

[Mmiller400m · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big History is the story of how everything fits together. Economics, Science, Politics, Technology, Medicine, Mathematics, Sociology and all other branches of human thought and progress. It's a hard story to tell because you have to know enough about each one on at least a basic level to be able to put it together.

A couple books I've read that are similar are Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' and Jared Diamond's 'Guns, Germs, and Steel'. These books are older and one of the aspects I best liked about this book is that it has a section about the modern world and issues we face today included. You would think at first glance that something like this couldn't possibly have anything new to offer in just 255 pages but sometimes you need to read some of the simple things a second or third time to really grasp it. This is a short read that really everyone should go through.

[Ян Бибиян · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Малка книга за голямата история"-Иън Крофтън, Джереми Блек
Това е едно четиво, което побира в себе си толкова интереснии и значими факти от историята на човечеството, като тръгнем от ГОЛЕМИЯ ВЗРИВ и стигнем до наши дни. Енциклопедията би била полезна не само за възрастни читатели, да опресни и обогати знанията ни от училищната скамейка, но и за малки такива, от гимназиален етап, които са любопитни и четящи деца. Вярвам,че ще им бъде в помощ и в училищата подготовка.

[Wednesday · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, easy to read

[Dara Dem · Rating 2 out of 5]

Много разочароваща!

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book, but.. I have already learnt almost everything I read about. I am indeed happy tho, boosted my smart-ass confidence!

[Muhsin Ulusoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitap adı üzerinde. 200 küsür sayfada evren ve dünya tarihini aktarmaya çalışıyor ve haliyle çok yetersiz kalıyor. Kitabı bir özet kitabı olarak düşündüğümüzde içeriğinden çok fazla bir şey beklemek anlamsız ancak yine de mutlaka değinilmesi gereken bazı olay ve isimleri satırlarda göremediğim için hayal kırıklığına uğradım. Böyle bir kitap yaratmak gerçekten çok zor. Okuması da bir o kadar zor çünkü eğer tarih bilginiz Türk milli eğitim müfredatından ibaretse, bu kitap sizin yüzünüze bir tokat gibi çarpar. Hiçbir şey bilmediğinizi fark ederseniz ve kitaptan zevk alamazsınız çünkü anlatılan olayların detaylarını bilmiyorsunuzdur ve kitabı yarıda bırakabilirsiniz. Ancak bugüne kadar biraz da olsa klasik tarih bilgilerinin dışına çıkmışsanız kitap mutlaka faydalı olacaktır. Ben kitabı bugüne kadar öğrendiklerime bir özet olsun diye okudum. Mutlaka bu açıdan çok katkı sağladı. Ama dedim ya okuması zor bir kitap. Anlatılanlara hakimiyetiniz varsa ele alınan konuları ve ele alınan konuların detaylarına nasıl yaklaşıldığına eleştirel yaklaşıyorsunuz yakaladığınız aksaklıklar canınızı sıkıyor haliyle. Ancak yine de güzel bir çalışma olmuş. Böyle hap kitapların yani özet kitapların kaynak kitaplardan daha çok çok satıyor olması üzücü keşke tarihi olayların kendi kaynaklarından okuma alışkanlığını edinebilsek. Kitabın Say Yayınları'ndan çıkıyor olması beni çeviri konusunda şüpheye düşürmüştü ki yine haklı bir şüphe olduğunu birkaç sayfada anladım. Keşke çevirmen veya editörler noktalama işaretlerinin önemini anlayabilseler. En çok da virgülün önemini... Çünkü bir virgülün eksikliği bile akıcı okumaya engel olabiliyor ki kitap boyu bunu yaşadım. Sayfalar akmıyordu. Maalesef çeviri konusunda yine çok yetersiz bir kitap olmuş. Eğer tarihe gerçekten meraklıysanız ve anlatılan konulardan ilginizi çekenleri de araştırmaya meyilli hissedecekseniz alın okuyun. Güzel bir özet sayılabilir. Kitap 7/10 Çeviri 5/10

[Ali Hassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

How did we get to where we are now? The back story to the chronicle of humanity is a long one. There would be no human history without a physical place for it to unfold. So to truly understand ourselves, we have to understand how the universe came into being, how the stars and planets formed, why our planet has the right conditions for life to have appeared. And we also need to understand how living things work, and how they evolved, and how we have ended up – with us.

This book tells us almost all the events that happened from the origin of this world to the present time. The last chapter also indicates the future of humanity and what challenges it can face. This book can be lucrative if you want to know about Big Bang, the beginning of life on Earth, cultural revolutions, the evolution of human beings, religions, the renaissance and reformation movement, nationalism, industrial revolutions, art and literature, and issues like climate change, globalization and urbanization, etc.

[Gareth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good!

I chose this book on an impulse as I have an interest in cosmology and wanted to read something rather than a story book.

It really does start at the beginning, the big bang and goes through a selection of events leading up to now. It is not a detailed account of what happened however, like a good course, it gives you enough information for you to research further if you wanted to.

From the big bang to Rome to Hitler to global warming this book has it all. Well worth the read if you are feeling a bit inquisitive .

[Belen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting something more juicy. I loved the begining, though, and I found it fascinating what I learned about how "oxygen was toxic before when there were low levels of it, and then it became necessary". That information really made me think (a lot).

For the rest, it was a bit boring at some bits, as it sticks around to certain eras.

[Kyla Hunziger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting in part, but I don’t completely agree with the scientific base.

[AHMED · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting that I'll be here that fast.

[Dwight Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't study much history in school. I wasn't drawn to it. Now I rather like it, but I tend toward quirky and specific histories about individuals or inventions. I plucked this off the shelf in hopes of getting a rounder, bigger picture. It does that reasonably well, but rather blandly. "Big History," apparently, is history without people or events. The Napoleonic Wars get a mention, but Napoleon does not. I was surprised that there weren't a lot of surprises for me. Maybe I've absorbed a better framework of history than I thought I had -- or more likely, I'm good at convincing myself that I "know" things that are merely familiar.

I got what I was expecting, but if you're looking for bold (if debatable) insights try Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel. If you're looking for more of a history of how we've come to know what we know, try Bryson's A Short History Of Nearly Everything. If you're looking for a quick concise recap of the what's happened up until now, and aren't offended at the idea that the topic of genocide gets only one and a half pages, this might work.

[Mahadi B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because of my interest in evolution and how we became who we are now. It has been 14 BILLION years since the Big Bang, and the book tries to wrap that huge period up (the reason why it's called the "Big History") and gives you the whole picture of events happened. It was a well-engaged and thought-provoking read, with so many interesting chapters. The only time periods I didn't enjoy much were wars and politics, especially those related to the First and Second World Wars, and that's why I gave it 4.5/5.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent idea, the first third of the book drew me in a lot more than the rest. Interesting things on every page, things I really didn't know. Like the fact of the echo of the Big Bang being heard within the white noise we get on the radio or TV sometimes.

But I lost interest as it progressed. I think there was quite simply too much history to cram into 200 pages and each little segment lost a little coherence with each other, that they had at the beginning.

But marvelous idea. And worth a look.

[Zach Arnberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good amount of info, but it’s miles wide and centimeters deep. Crofton and Black have done a commendable job making “Big History” approachable. I would recommend this if you have a burgeoning interest in history, because it is a good starting point. I would steer clear if you fancy yourself a “buff” because you will be constantly frustration by the over simplifications needed to pack so much info into such a short book.

[B. Yoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very comprehensive as the title suggests.
Also very superficial in contents as it has to cover 5 billion years and more.
Better than listing of milestones in the big history of the universe including more specifics about the planet of Earth.
Good for beginners who try to kindle a interest in history.

[Michael Goodine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors achieve their goal of describing important events from the big bang to the modern era in bite-sized chunks. The language used, though, is at a high school level, which makes it a rather dull read. That comes as a surprise, given the fact that the book's catchy title invokes the humor of Douglas Adams.

[Andri K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me want to call my high school history teacher, and apologize to him since i rarely pay attention.

I initially got interested to learn about history from a video on YouTube by Bill Wurtz. I feel that this book certainly wet my apetite for world history, and I'll look forward to read more about history!

[Shoevampire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this...you've probably studied a lot of this back in school but it was really fascinating to read this condensed and chronologically ordered this way. Also gives you a lot to think about in terms of how the world started and where we are going as a civilization and as a species.

[Cherif Ben Bacha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative book that contains and covers a wide range of historical events. Easy to read and has a simple narrative.
The first third of the book was the most interesting part then the authors shifted from a chronological to a thematic approach where I lost interest despite the importance of events.

[Luis Ribeiro · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's more like an "old farmer's almanach" about history. It's shallow and lacks analysis. It pretends to be neutral, but it is often politically biased. It's for those who have never read any serious history book. I was expecting an overarching view of history, but it's just a collection of history snippets and half-baked analyses. It's what is now known as "infotainment."

[Haifaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my teachers recommended this book so I can translate it into Arabic as a graduation project. I’ve not finished translating yet. However, I thought the book is all about astronomy but it turns out it’s not. I still recommend reading it for those who like history!

[Matthew Harwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic little book that really does go through the entire history of the universe in a short, compact and easy to read structure. A great book just to give you some answers to questions you really think you should know and help you understand how things have reached where they are today.

[ANTONIO · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writer did a great job of keeping everything concise. It's not the most 'enjoyable' read but it's an awesome book if you want to learn loads of history in less than 300 pages starting from the Big Bang all the way to the 21st century.

[Emma Waide · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book, could read whole books on each chapter. Take it with a grain of salt though, it’s written from a western white perspective so some of it’s a bit too plain to really take in humanity as a whole and there’s a couple of points I’m not sure are correct

[mohammed ahad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

Very informative but not very lengthy explanation. I enjoyed it. I recommend this book to people who wants to know everything but dont want to read too much explanation.