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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's text 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."

Table of contents

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