DK - Big History: The Greatest Events of All Time From the Big Bang to Binary Code

FOREWORD B Y DAV ID CHRISTIAN

About this eBook

Consultants Contributors Andrew McKen na Andrew McKe nna (BCom LLB U NSW , MIntRe l Macquarie) coordina ted Big Histor y as an i ntegrat ed initia tive encompassing researc h, teachin g, and outreach. Andrew led t he strate gic growth and d evelopment of the former B ig Histo ry I nstitute. Tra cy Sullivan Tra cy Sullivan (BA GradDipEd UWS, MA Macquarie) was o n the curriculum development team for Big H istory Project, and o versaw implementation in Au stralian scho ols. T ra cy coord inated educational initiatives to suppor t th e grow th and development of B ig Histor y gl obally . Introduction El ise B ohan Threshold 1 Ro bert D inwiddie Threshold 2 Ja ck Challoner Thresholds 3 and 4 Co lin Stuar t Threshold 5 Derek Harve y Threshold 6 Re becca W ra gg-Syk es Threshold 7 Pe ter Chrisp Threshold 8 Ben Hubbard Lead Senior Editor Helen Fe wster Senior Edi tors Pe ter Fra nces, Dr Ro b Houston Senior Art E ditors Amy Child, Phil Gamble, Sharon Spe ncer Project Art E ditors Pa ul Drislane, Mik G ates, Duncan T u rner , Francis W on g Design Assistant Alex Lloyd , Clarisse Hassan Project Editors Wen dy Horobin, Andy Szudek Editor Kai ya Shang Editorial Assistant Fra ncesco Piscite lli Picture Resear cher Liz Moore Cartography Ro n and Dee B lakey , Ed Merritt, Simon Mumford Jacket Design ers Mark Cavanagh, Suhita Dharamjit , Surabhi W ad hwa Jacket Editor Cla ire G ell Senior DT P Design er (Delhi) Hari sh Aggarwal Jacket Design Development Manager Sophia MTT Managing Jackets Editor (Delhi) Saloni Singh Production Ed itor Jacqueline Street-Elkay am Production C ontroller Mar y Sl ater Senior Pro duction Co ntroller Meske rem Be rhane Managing Art E ditor Mich ael Duff y Managing Editor Angeles Gavira Guerrero Art Dire ctor Kar en Self Design Director Phil Ormerod Publisher Liz Wheeler Publishing Director Jon athan Metcalf Illustrators Rajeev Doshi (Medi-mation) Peter Bull (Pe ter B ull Art Studio) Arran Le wis Dominic Clif ford Jason Pickersgill (Acute Graphics) Mark Clifto n This edition published 2022 First published in G reat Britain in 2 016 by Dorling Kindersley Limited DK, On e Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London, SW 11 7BW The authorized repre sentative in the E EA is Dorling Kindersley V er lag GmbH. Arnulfstr . 124, 8 0636 Munich, Germany . Copyright 2016, 2022 D orling Kindersley Limited A Pe nguin Random House C ompany 2 4 6 8 1 0 9 7 5 3 001325001Apr/2022 All rights reser ved. No p art o f this publication may be re produced, s tored i n a r etrieval system, o r transmit ted i n any form or b y any means, electronic , mec hanical, photo copying, recording o r other wise, without the p rior writ ten p ermission o f the copyright owner . A C IP c atalogue rec ord fo r this book i s ava ilable from the B ritish Libra ry . ISBN: 978-0-2415-1552-5 Printed in Dubai www. dk.com David Christian Professo r David Christian (DPhil Oxfo rd) is Profe ssor Emeritus in the Depar tment o f Histo ry an d Archaeology at Macquarie Universit y and Visiting p rofesso r at the U niversity o f New South W a les. He is co-fo under with Bill Gates of t he Big Histor y Pr oject, presente r of one of the 11 c lassic TED T a lks with ove r 6 m illion views, and i nstructor i n the world s f irst Big Histor y MOOC on C OURSERA . David has g iven hundreds of presentations internationally , including Davos W o rld Economic F orum in 2 012, 2014, and 2 015. He is a member of t he Australian Ac ademy of the H umanities and the R oyal Holland Society of Sciences and H umanities, and a me mber of the editorial board s of the Journal of G lobal Histor y and The Cambridge W o rld Histor y. This book w as made with Fo rest Stewardsh ip Council certied paper o ne small step in DK s commitment to a sustainable future . For mor e inform ation go t o www .dk .com/o ur-g reen-pledge

F OREWORD BY DAV ID CHRIST IAN INTRODUCT ION GOLDILOC KS CONDI TIONS ORIGIN STO RIES T HE NEBR A SKY D ISC ASTRONOMY BEGINS E ART H ORBITS THE SUN S EEING THE LI GHT T HE AT OM AND THE UNIVE RSE T HE UNIVER SE GE TS B IGGER T HE EX PAN DING UNIVERS E T HE BIG BAN G R E-CRE A TI NG THE BIG B ANG B EYO ND THE BIG BA NG GOLDILOC KS CONDI TIONS T HE FIRS T ST AR S T HE PUZZ LE OF GR AV ITY T HE FIRS T GALA XI ES H UBBLE EX TREME DEEP FIELD GOLDILOC KS CONDI TIONS T HE LIFE C YC LE OF A ST AR HOW NEW ELEMENTS FORM INSI DE STA RS W HEN GIAN T ST AR S EX PLODE M AKING SE NSE OF THE E LEMENTS GOLDILOC KS CONDI TIONS O UR SUN IGNIT ES T HE PLA NETS FORM T HE IMIL AC MET EORITE T HE SUN T AK ES CONT ROL H OW WE FIND SOL AR SYSTEMS E ARTH COOLS E ART H SET TLE S INTO LA YE RS T HE MOON S RO LE T HE CONT INENTS A RE BORN D ATI NG EA RTH Z IRCON CRY STA L C ONTINEN TS DRIFT H OW EA RTHS CRUST MO VES O CEAN FLOOR

GOLDILOC KS CONDI TIONS S TOR Y OF LIFE L IFES INGREDIENT S FORM T HE GENET IC CODE L IFE BEGINS H OW LIFE EV OLV ES H ISTOR Y OF EV OLUT ION M ICROBES AP PEAR L IFE DISCO VERS SUNLIGHT O XY GEN FI LLS T HE AIR C OMPLEX CELLS EVO LV E S EX MIXES GENES C ELLS B EGIN TO BUI LD BODIES M ALES AND FEMALES DIVERGE A NIMALS GET A BRA IN A NIMAL L IFE EX PLODES A NIMALS GAIN A BAC KBONE R ISE OF T HE VERT EBRA TE S J AW S CREA TE TOP PRE DAT ORS P LANT S MOVE O NTO L AND W ENLOCK LIMESTO NE ANIMALS INVA DE LA ND R EINVENTI NG THE WING T HE FIRS T SEEDS GOLDILOC KS CONDI TIONS C LIMA TE CHANGES THE LA NDSCA PE F ORAG ERS BECOM E FAR MERS A FFLUENT FORA GERS H UNTERS BEGIN TO GRO W FOOD F AR MING BEGINS W ILD PLA NTS BECO ME CROPS P OLLEN GR AIN S F AR MERS DO MESTICA TE ANIMALS F AR MING SPRE ADS M EASU RING TIME N EW USE S FOR AN IMALS I NNOVA TI ONS INCREA SE YI ELDS S URPLUS BECOMES P OWER P OPULA TI ON ST AR TS TO RISE T HE FENTO N VA SE E ARL Y SET TLEM ENTS S OCIET Y GETS ORGANI ZED R ULERS EMERGE L AW , ORDER, A ND JUSTI CE T HE WRITT EN WORD W RITING D EVELO PS GOLDILOC KS CONDI TIONS T HE INDUSTR IAL REV OLUT ION C OAL FUE LS INDUS TRY S TEAM P OWER DR IVES CHAN GE THE PROC ESS OF INDUSTRIA LIZA TI ON I NDUSTRY GOES GLO BAL G OVERNMENT S EVO LV E C ONSUMERI SM TA KES OFF EQUALITY AND FREED OM N AT IONALISM EMERGES T HE INDUSTR IAL ECO NOMY T HE WORL D OPENS TO TRA DE W AR DRIVES I NNOVA TI ON C OLONI AL EMPIRE S GROW S OCIET Y TRA NSFORM S E DUCA TI ON EXP AN DS M EDICAL A DVA NCES R OAD TO GLOBAL IZA TI ON E NGINES SHRI NK THE WORL D NEWS T RA VE LS FA STER S OCIAL NE TWO RKS EX PAN D G ROWT H AND CON SUMPTION F INDING THE ENERG Y GOLDILOC KS CONDI TIONS T HE PRIMA TE FAM ILY HOMININS EV OLV E A PES BEGIN TO WA LK UPRIGHT G ROWING A L ARG ER BRA IN THE NEA NDERTHAL S K EBRA NEA NDERTHA L E ARL Y HUMANS D ISPERSE A NCIENT DNA T HE FIRST HOMO SAP IENS B RINGING UP B ABIES H OW LA NGUAGE E VOL VE D COLLECT IVE LEA RNING T HE BIRTH OF CREA TI VITY HUNTER-G AT HERERS E MERGE P AL AEO LITHIC AR T T HE INVEN TION OF C LOTH ING H UMANS H ARNESS F IRE B URIAL PR AC TICES HUMANS BECO ME DOMINANT