Big History and the Future of Humanity, 2nd Edition

Title Page......Page 5
Copyright Page......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
List of Figures......Page 10
List of Text Boxes......Page 12
Preface and Acknowledgments......Page 13
A Short Time Line of Big History......Page 22
Introduction......Page 25
Studying the Past......Page 26
A Very Short History of Academic History......Page 36
A Short History of Big History......Page 42
A Historical Theory of Everything?......Page 53
Notes......Page 55
Bibliography......Page 57
Recommended Reading......Page 65
Introduction......Page 66
Matter and Energy......Page 69
Complexity......Page 72
Energy Flows and the Emergence of Complexity......Page 78
The Goldilocks Principle......Page 87
Notes......Page 92
Bibliography......Page 95
Recommended Reading......Page 97
Introduction......Page 98
The Big Bang: No Complexity......Page 99
Recent Issues Concerning the Big Bang Scenario......Page 101
The Radiation Era: The Emergence of Complexity at the Smallest Scales......Page 104
The Matter Era: The Emergence of Complexity at Atomic and Molecular Scales......Page 110
Galaxy Formation: The Emergence of Complexity at Larger Scales......Page 113
The Emergence of Stars......Page 119
Stars as Nuclear Forges......Page 124
Notes......Page 126
Bibliography......Page 129
Recommended Reading......Page 130
Introduction......Page 131
The Galactic Habitable Zone......Page 134
The Emergence of Our Cosmic Neighborhood......Page 135
The Solar System Habitable Zone......Page 140
Major Characteristics of Earth......Page 142
Early Inner Planetary History......Page 146
Early Earth History......Page 149
Life Is Very Special......Page 150
The Emergence of Life......Page 154
Notes......Page 158
Bibliography......Page 160
Recommended Reading......Page 162
Life, Energy and Complexity......Page 164
Planetary Energy Flows and Life......Page 171
The Gaia Hypothesis......Page 173
The Emergence of Energy Harvesting from Outside......Page 177
The Emergence of the Biological Food Web......Page 180
The Emergence of Multicellular Organisms......Page 184
The Emergence of Brains and Consciousness......Page 186
The Increase and Expansion of Biological Complexity......Page 190
Conquest of the Land......Page 192
Further Increasing Complexity......Page 194
Notes......Page 197
Bibliography......Page 199
Recommended Reading......Page 201
Introduction......Page 203
What Makes Humans Different......Page 204
Energy and Complexity......Page 207
The Emergence of Early Humans......Page 209
Improving Social Coordination......Page 212
Tool Making and Brain Growth......Page 213
Brains and Intestines......Page 217
Fire Control......Page 218
Migration......Page 221
The Rise of Modern Humans......Page 224
Early Religion......Page 229
Notes......Page 230
Bibliography......Page 233
Recommended Reading......Page 237
Introduction......Page 238
The Agrarian Revolution......Page 244
The Developing Agrarian Regime......Page 253
Social Effects of the Agrarian Revolution......Page 256
The Emergence of Agrarian Religions......Page 258
Increasing Agricultural Complexity and Declining Untamed Complexity......Page 259
Early State Formation......Page 264
The Emergence of Big States......Page 269
The Emergence of Moral Religions......Page 271
Energy and Complexity in State Societies......Page 275
The First Wave of Globalization......Page 280
Industrialization: The Second Wave of Globalization......Page 288
Informatization: The Third Wave of Globalization......Page 295
Energy, Complexity and Goldilocks Circumstances......Page 300
Notes......Page 305
Bibliography......Page 310
Recommended Reading......Page 317
Introduction......Page 319
A Very Short Overview of the Long Future of the Universe......Page 323
The Future of Earth and Life......Page 324
The Future of Humanity......Page 325
The Availability of Matter and Energy......Page 328
Exhaustion of Critical Resources and Growing Entropy......Page 333
Will Humans Migrate to Other Planets?......Page 335
Final Words......Page 337
Notes......Page 338
Bibliography......Page 339
Recommended Reading......Page 341
Index......Page 342
EULA......Page 361