Origin Story: A Big History of Everything by David Christian

Most historians study the littlest 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 up through 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? And how do we understand the place of human beings in the Universe?

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've been, where we are, and where we're 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 big, profound questions about our own origins, Christian exposes the hidden threads that tie everything together — from the creation of the planet to the advent of...