A Big History Reading List – Cosmology, Geology, Evolution, and Human History

August 7th, 2009 | by Digvijay Lamba |

I have recently had an increased interest in the upcoming field of Big History. Big History tries to take the entire history of the universe starting from the Big Bang and present it in a single far reaching story. The different authors take different approaches to connect this story into a single common theme that lasts through the ages. I have been reading several of these books and I’ll use this post as a place to chronicle this reading list.

Books on Big History

First lets take a look at the different books that cover the subject of Big History. I will start with the first and the most important book in the field.

  • Maps of Time:An introduction to big history by David Christian – 4/5
    • This is the introductory text to the subject from the founder of the field himself. A very coherent theme that connects the entire 13 billion years and complex phenomena into a single theme that complex entities form to make use of available gradients in energy.
  • Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present by Cynthia Brown – 4/5
    • This is another attempt at telling the entire story in one go. A much better story teller, Cynthia Brown has just the right amount of detail to make the story interesting. Her central theme is the impact of environmental changes on history and while its relevant for parts of it, the theme does not connect every part of her story. Still, this is a great book for telling it so one remembers.
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.
    • I am currently reading this

Reading more of big history made me want to read about each part of the story in more depth.  Essentially, Big History connects Cosmology, Evolution, Geology, and Human History into one cohesive whole. In the next few sections I will add easy to read books that cover these fields from a laymen point of view.

There are other fields which play an important role in Big History: Physics, Paleontology, Archaeology etc. but most of the big chapters are covered well by introductory texts on the main four fields I am listing below.

Cosmology

Astronomy has been a passion of mine for a long time. I have read a lot of books on Astronomy. It is this that led me to the field of Big History. Let me introduce some of my favorite works on this topic.

  • The Universe at Midnight by Ken Croswell – 4.5/5
    • I am currently reading this book so these are early opinions. Ken Croswell looks at the history of Cosmology as it developed. Taking the reader through the key moments he explains how our view of the origin of the world have changed over time. A great book to understand how we have ended up where we are.
  • The Inflationary Universe by Alan Guth
    • I am still waiting to read this. Written by Alan Guth who himself proposed the theory of an inflationary universe, this book is known as a deep dive for a layman. Recent and updated, this will update you with latest in this rapidly evolving field.
  • The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
    • This is the new classic book on the subject. I am yet to read it but it is popular as the book that manages to explain the most complex mathematical concepts like the Uncertainity Principle, Inflationary Cosmology etc.
  • Cosmos by Carl Sagan – 5/5
    • This the classic book on the subject. It covers the entire story with a lot of detail and connects cosmology to everyday physics and science. Now a little dated, it is still a must read!
  • A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking 4.5/5
    • My favorite book for understanding the physics behind it all. Relativity? Gravity? String Theory? Stephen Hawking makes it all easy to understand. Note that some technical background is required and you may need to read the later chapters more than once. Recently, it is getting a little dated.
  • The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose
    • I am yet to read this book. I am interested because this is the definitive book on the mathematics behind it all. Starting from Geometry, Penrose attempts to explain the math and equations that define cosmology. Not for the faint of heart! Mathematical background is said to be needed!

Evolution

I am currently reading various books by Richard Dawkins. Below are some of his best followed by other books I plan to read soon.

  • The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
    • Clearly one of the epic works on evolution, I am still waiting for this book to be available in my library. Will post a review soon.
  • The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins -4/5
    • My first book by Richard Dawkins and a magnificently written defense of Evolution. The purpose of this book is to look at and debate the popular myths about evolution and Dawkins does this really well. Must read!
  • Evolution: The remarkable history of a scientific theory by Edward J. Larsen
    • A history of the theory itself. Good for placing the development in a historical context.
  • Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin
    • Takes the human body and traces its history and the development  of various parts through evolution.

Human History

  • Guns, Germs, and Steel: The fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond
    • Human history since the Ice Age. A very popular book.
  • Dawn of Man: The story of human evolution by Robin McKie
  • The complete world of human evolution by Chris Stinger
    • Human Evolution along with the tools used to study it are described well.

Geology

I haven’t started tackling Geology as a subject yet and my knowledge is limited to an overview of Plate Tectonics, Formation of the earth, and historical dating with rocks. Following is a shortlist of books I plan to read on this subject.

  • Visualizing Earth History by Loren E. Babcock
    • A visual book that visually takes us through the history of our planet.
  • Supercontinent: 10 Billion years in the life of our planet by Ted Nield
    • Said to be a fascinating look at Geology and the History of Geology though sometimes not focussed.
  • Earth: An intimate history by Richard Fotey
    • What the title says. Another supposedly good history of our planet.
  • Extinction: How life on earth nearly ended 250 million years ago by Douglas H. Erwin
    • An important part of Geology is understanding the various extinction events in our history. This book is a great look at one of the less understood of these events.
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  1. One Response to “A Big History Reading List – Cosmology, Geology, Evolution, and Human History”

  2. By Ridhima on Aug 8, 2009 | Reply

    Very good post. Food for thought.

    Makes me realize how less we really care about where we live, how we live, how we evolved, what our roots are(not national or ethnic roots but evolutionary roots).

    Perhaps a good starting point for someone who wants to explore these fascinating subjects. Thanks!

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