table 1.1 Significant events after the Big Bang (13.798 billion years ago) - 6
table 2.1 Geological periods: eons and eras - 49
table 2.2 Earth’s largest water and land surfaces by area - 64
table 3.1 Cladogram of life - 74
table 3.2 Phanerozoic eras and periods - 76
table 3.3 Cenozoic periods and epochs - 95
table 4.1 Mammal lineages leading to Homo sapiens - 104
table 4.2 When other primates branched off from Homo sapiens - 105
table 4.3 Human population by year - 130
table 4.4. Percentages of world population by region and date - 131
table 5.1 A chronology of prehistoric cultures - 142
table 5.2 Prehistoric cultures in Europe- 143
table 5.3 Branches of the world’s languages - 166
table 5.4. Languages spoken by the most people - 170
table 6.1 Dynasties of ancient Egypt - 182
table 6.2 Dynasties of the Roman empire - 193
table 6.3 Chinese dynasties - 207
table 7.1 Philosophers, prophets, and theologians - 228
table 7.2 The Nicene creed (in appendix) - 443
table 8.1 Some Renaissance personalities - 272
table 8.2. World energy production by type of energy - 294
table 8.3 Employment by industry in the United States, 1800-2010 - 311
table 9.1 Top ten films by box-office receipts - 338
table 9.2 Radios in use in the United States, 1922 to 1975 - 343
table 9.3 Television sets in use in the United States, 1947 to 1975 - 348
table 10.1 Advances in computer switching speed, 1939 to 1990 - 367
appendix 1 Big history's time disparity - 438
appendix 2 Scheme of the five epochs of civilization - 440
List of Illustrations (with page numbers)
Chapter 1
electromagnetic spectrum - 13
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram - 15
blue nebula in space - 24
1890s telescope Red House Observatory, Geneva New York - 26
Whirlpool galaxy Big Dipper constellation - 28
dish antenna - 30
Chapter 2
the sun - 35
Brooks comet #2 observed in 1886 - 39
the earth - 40
Jupiter and Saturn - 41
the moon photographed from Lick observatory, California - 43
earth’s crust - 47
supercontinent Pangaea existed on earth 200-300 million years ago - 54
scene in Monument Valley (Utah) - 59
Chapter 3
DNA molecule the double-helix structure - 70
prokaryotic cell from Armand Delsemme, Our Cosmic Origins,
Cambridge University Press, 1998 - 70
eukaryotic cell from Armand Delsemme, Our Cosmic Origins - 71
an early Paleozoic scene - 79
swamp forest of the carboniferous age - 82
pelycosaur reptile of Permian age - 84
brontosaurus reptile of Jurassic period - 88
archaeopteryx earliest bird, late Jurassic period - 89
crustacean subphylum of Arthropod - 92
tyrannosaurus rex reptile of Cretaceous period - 93
entelodont (giant pig) Oligocene mammal - 97
hairy mammoth early Pleistocene mammal - 99
Chapter 4
scheme of human evolution - 106
chimpanzee - 106
Australopithecus Africanus - 110
Cro-Magnon man ca. 41,000 B.C. - 118
Chapter 5
Palaeolithic chopping tool - 136
Mousterian Age artifacts stone points - 137
flint arrowheads - 138
primitive throwing stick with reindeer horn - 139
painting from cave at Altamira, Spain from Paleolithic period - 142
Sioux Indians hunting mythical moose - 144
Stonehenge megalith near Salisbury, England from third millennium B.C. - 146
Neolithic Swiss lake dwelling drawing in Déchelett’s Manuel de Archéologie - 148
pottery from lake dwelling - 149
Egyptian ploughing and sowing from a papyrus drawing - 153
Pueblo women grinding corn - 154
altar to Yan a religion of Burma - 156
little-dipper constellation includes Polaris, the North Star - 157
Chapter 6
ancient Egyptian brick-making from Thebes - 176
Sumerian warriors in phalanx from Sumerian stone carving - 180
Assyrian king and chief minister - 181
pharaoh Khafra (Chephren) reigned 2558-2532 B.C. - 182
map of the fertile crescent - 185
Assyrian winged bull repellant of evil, guardian of the realm - 186
Alexander the Great 356-323 B.C. - 187
Greek emperor Seleucus I (Nicator) 365-281 B.C. from Tetradrachm coin - 188
Roman scene beneath statute of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf - 190
Julius Caesar 100-44 B.C. Vatican Museum - 191
Augustus Caesar (Octavian) 63 B.C.-14 A.D. Vatican Museum - 192
Roman aqueduct near Nîmes, France built by emperor Antoninus Pius - 192
Roman empire during Trajan’s reign (a map) - 194
Hagia Sophia church in Constantinople later became a mosque - 195
Persian emperor Ardeshir 180-242 A.D. founder of Sasanian empire - 200
Varanhran receiving submission of the Segestani (Croatians) - 201
Persian emperor Bahram II, reigned 274-293 A.D. - 201
mosque of Aurangzeb at Benares, India Mogul emperor 1618-1707 - 205
Tu Fu takes family on a journey T’ang dynasty poet, lived 712-770 A.D. - 210
Temple of Heaven in Beijing - 212
Shan (Burmese) girl - 213
Mayan idol at Copán in Honduras - 216
View of Machu Picchu in Peru - 217
Chapter 7
Egyptian drawing on papyrus - 220
the judgment of the dead weighing of deceased’s heart in the scales of truth - 221
alphabetic writing, several languages - 224
pharaoh Ikhnaton (also Akhenaton or Amenhotep IV) reigned 1375-1358 B.C. - 232
Jesus on the cross 6 B.C.- 29 A.D. - 235
face of Jesus Sinai Jesus - 238
symbols of spiritual and temporal power, St. Peter giving Pope Leo the stola
and Charlemagne the banner of Rome, 9th century mosaic in the Vatican - 242
investiture of a bishop a king giving the crosier to bishop, 10th century - 243
Cologne cathedral in Germany constructed 11th through 19th centuries - 245
Byzantine madonna and child - 246
Kazan cathedral, Red square, Moscow - 247
coin of Persian emperor Shahpuhr - 248
camel caravan - 251
Ka’bah shrine in Mecca - 252
the muezzin from painting by Jean Leon Gerome - 254
Santiago the Moorslayer, St. James, legendary son of Christ’s disciple
seen in 9th century battle in Spain - 256
Buddha 563-483 B.C. - 260
Brahma Hindu god of creation - 262
Hariti 6th Century A.D. Buddhist protector of children, Chinese Turkestan - 264
Tibetan prayer wheel device for automatic praying - 264
Buddha hall Ching-t’ung Lu-ssu - 266
an early Christian saint - 267
Chapter 8
Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) 1304-1374 from portrait by S. Tofanelli - 271
globe of Martin Behaim (1492) German cartographer 1459-1507 - 271
printing press - 274
Martin Luther 1483-1546 - 279
St. Ignatius Loyola 1491-1556 after a painting by Rubens - 280
15th Century university from Geiger’s Renaissance und Humanismus - 282
Christ the Redeemer of the Andes erected between Chile and Argentina - 283
Christopher Columbus 1451-1506 after the Capriolo portrait - 283
Queen Elizabeth I of England 1533-1603 the Ermine portrait - 285
16th Century sea battle between Spanish and English vessels - 286
King Louis XIV of France 1638-1715 the “Sun King” - 288
George Washington 1732-1799 first President of the United States - 290
Isaac Newton 1642-1727 - 292
Galileo Galilei 1564-1642 - 293
Richard Trevithick’s locomotive first operated in 1804 - 293
on the shop floor - 295
Thomas Edison 1847-1931 American inventor - 297
Model T Ford automobile built between 1908 and 1927 - 298
at the stock exchange - 299
May Day in Tiananmen Square, 2000 photograph, picture of Sun Yat-sen - 300
Matthew Arnold 1822-1888 British educator - 303
Czar Peter the Great of Russia 1672-1725 painting by Karol de Moor- 304
Balliol college, Oxford - 305
William Shakespeare 1564-1616 English playwright and poet - 306
a news reporter drawing by W.D. Smedley - 309
in line at the tool room - 310
“nude descending a staircase by Marcel Duchamp, exhibited in 1913 Armory show in New York City - 315
Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany 1859-1941 - 315
Chapter 9
1926 clothing style Vogue magazine in February 1, 1926 from Only Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen - 318
Colosseum in Rome built in 80 A.D., from a photograph - 318
Crystal Palace in London built for Great Exhibition of 1851- 320
Kentucky Derby winner in late 19th century - 321
baseball players (batter and catcher) - 324
basketball players - 325
Greek Olympic wrestlers- 326
Edison’s phonograph player 331
Elvis Presley singer 1935-1977 - 332
Eadweard Muybridge horse photography “The Horse in Motion”, 1878 celluloid film strip - 334
Fred Ott’s Sneeze taken in 1894 by Edison movie studio - 335
poster for "The Glenn Miller Story", 1954 American film- 339
Marilyn Monroe film star 1926-1962 - 340
radio antenna - 342
watching television in early 1950s - 347
Lucille Ball television comedienne starring in the 1950s show “I Love Lucy” - 350
Minnesota Twins victory celebration after World Series victory in 1987 - 353
“down on my luck” - a casino cashout voucher - 354
Shooting Star casino sign at Ojibway-owned casino in Mahnomen, Minnesota - 355
pass to Disneyland for author’s father in 1957 - 356
Chapter 10
Charles Babbage’s “Analytical Engine” computer first described in 1837 - 362
IBM-type computer punch card 80-column card with marked columns - 365
printed circuit board - 370
computer with monitor and keyboard - 372
data center and server room - 375
on-line shopping - 387
some logos of popular websites - 389
Apple iPAD touchscreen - 393
a computer hard drive - 394
face with data - 397
office worker at computer monitor - 399
Chapter 11
diagram of a human neuron - 410
neural network - 412
parts of the human brain - 413
brain waves - 415
robotic arm - 418
the grim reaper “Death on a pale horse” The Doré Bible Gallery by Gustave Doré - 428
view of earth from the moon from a photograph - 430
Appendix Illustrations -
two early views of the world - 452
some devices of written communication - 453
chemical elements - hydrogen to iron - 454
the Nicene creed - 455
diagram of emerging institutions in civilized society - 456