All this happened within minutes, but as the universe cooled things slowed down a bit. Within a second, simple matter emerged and was followed by more complex structures, while protons and neutrons – extremely tiny particles – teamed up to become nuclei.
To begin with, we only had energy, which quickly split into different forces, such as gravity and electromagnetism. It’s hard for human brains to comprehend the size of things like atoms, but you could comfortably fit a million of them into the dot of this “i.” And we know what happened next, a fraction of a billionth of a second after that moment.Īt this point, the universe was smaller than an atom. What we do know is that the Big Bang created the universe 13.8 billion years ago – the first of a series of key events in our history. Perhaps the best way to explain what happened is to use the words of science fiction author Terry Pratchett: “In the beginning, there was nothing, which exploded.”
We simply don’t know the conditions that allowed our universe to emerge. These moments happen under what’s known as goldilocks conditions – when things are not too hot or too cold, but just right.įor most of the thresholds in our story, we can explain what those goldilocks conditions were, and why the threshold was reached. With stunning insights into the origin of the universe, the beginning of life, the emergence of humans, and what the future might bring, Origin Story boldly reframes our place in the cosmos.The tale of our origins is told through thresholds – key transition points when more complex things appeared. In Origin Story, Christian takes readers on a wild ride through the entire 13.8 billion years we've come to know as "history." By focusing on defining events (thresholds), major trends, and profound questions about our origins, Christian exposes the hidden threads that tie everything together - from the creation of the planet to the advent of agriculture, nuclear war, and beyond. These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History," the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day - and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence? Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. In Origin Story, he elegantly weaves evidence and insights from many scientific and historical disciplines into a single, accessible historical narrative." -Bill GatesĪ captivating history of the universe - from before the dawn of time through the far reaches of the distant future. "I have long been a fan of David Christian.
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