What's BIG HISTORY?

"Big History is the attempt to understand, in a unified and interdisciplinary way, the history of the Cosmos, Earth, Life and Humanity." 

(International Big History Association, 2010)

How is the creation of stars like the building of cities?

A Grand Synthesis of Knowledge

Arising from a desire to go beyond the specialized and self-contained fields, Big History answers that question by weaving a single story from a variety of scholarly disciplines. Like traditional creation stories told by the world's great religions and mythologies, Big History provides a map of our place in space and time. But it does so using the insights and knowledge of modern sciences such as biology, astronomy, geology, climatology, prehistory, archeology, anthropology, cosmology, natural history, and population and environmental studies.

Getting the "Big" Picture

Big History looks at the past on all time scales, from the Big Bang to modernity, seeking out common themes and patterns, seeking the "shape" of the past. Thanks to this grand perspective it is possible to uncover the remarkable parallels and connections among disciplines. How is the Big Bang like the invention of agriculture? These are the kinds of connections you'll discover with Big History.