Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity

Learning whether it is possible to tell a story of everything, from the Big Bang up to the present day; introducing the background and unique aspects of the broad and multidisciplinary perspective on history.

Most history courses cover time spans of a few decades or a few centuries, but big history requires one to survey the past over scales that span billions of years; becoming familiar with the immense scales needed to cover the modern creation story.

Introducing the development of increasing complexity since the creation of the universe; examining the definition of complexity; learning how the universe builds more complex entities.

Learning whether to trust the claims of modern science about events in the distant past; evidence for proving scientific claims; how new dating techniques have allowed scientists to peer further back into the past than previously thought possible.

Encountering the first threshold of complexity; the creation of the universe at the moment of the Big Bang; exploring the scientific evidence that allows one to piece together the ever-evolving story of creation.

Surveying the history of different ideas about the creation of the universe; Ptolemaic theories of an Earth-centered cosmos; the modern notion of a constantly expanding universe.