Maps of Time

"Christian's clarity of style and modesty add grace and subtlety to an ambitious effort." * Journal of Interdisciplinary History * A remarkable work of synthesis and scholarship. . . . Christian's Olympian perspective on the story of time is exhilarating. * The Guardian * "A fascinating read." * San Francisco Chronicle * An ambitious and clearly-written account. * Future Survey * "Christian has hit a home run. . . . This book should be required reading for any extraterrestrials visiting the earth for the first time." * College & Research Libraries News * "[Christian's] book is remarkably successful. It has the essential effect of first stimulating and then retaining the reader's interest." * New Scientist * A good read, a fascinating prospectus for a new kind of history. * American Scientist * Forges bold and ingenious connections between the physical and social sciences. * The Age * "David Christian has given us a state-of-the-art instance of Big History, a work of breathtaking synthesis." * Books & Culture: A Christian Review * "No brief can possible do even minimal justice to an author and his summa cum laude opus." * Journal of World History * "No work in this genre [macro-history] is better than David Christians Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. . . . [I]t is a brilliantly executed act of provocation." * The Times *

David Christian is Professor in the Department of History at San Diego State University. He is the author of Living Water: Vodka and Russian Society on the Eve of Emancipation (1990), Imperial and Soviet Russia: Power, Privilege and the Challenge of Modernity (1997), and A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia: Volume 1: Inner Eurasia from Prehistory to the Mongol Empire (1998).

Introduction: A Modern Creation Myth? 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 4. The Origins of Life and the Theory of Evolution 5. The Evolution of Life and the Biosphere 6. The Evolution of Humans 7. The Beginnings of Human History 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 11. Approaching Modernity 12. Globalization, Commercialization, and Innovation 13. Birth of the Modern World 14. The Great Acceleration of the Twentieth Century 15. Futures