Origin Story: A Big History of Everything

　　跨越自然與人文學科的藩籬，重新構建你對歷史的認知，
　　走過一趟一百三十八億年的「歷史旅程」

　　大多數歷史學家研究的是一小片段的時間，他們凸顯特定的日期、個人及文獻。但研究從大霹靂直到今天，甚至深入遙遠未來的歷史，會是什麼模樣？注視太古以來的時間，又會如何改變我們理解宇宙、地球，以及自身存在的方式呢？這些正是大衛．克里斯欽開始探討「大歷史」觀念時試圖解答的問題，人類從何而來，又會往何處而去。

　　《起源的故事》將打破一般人對歷史的認知，跨越自然與人文學科的藩籬，帶領讀者走過整整一百三十八億年的「歷史旅程」。本書會聚焦於決定性的事件，諸如宇宙大霹靂、地球誕生、人類出現、農業興起與文明發展，連結一切事物的關聯性，構成一個單一卻連貫清晰的「歷史敘事」，為所有人類知識提供宏大的知識架構。

　　作者在自序中提到，一九八○年他任教於澳洲雪梨，時時擔心現代世界充斥著核武威脅，人類間充滿種族文化等等的隔閡與偏見，人們的眼見局限於民族、地區與國家。他深感往昔的歷史教學、歷史觀念無助於客觀傳遞知識，反而更加深、加劇人類的衝突，因而起心動念思索如何教授一門「總和的人類史」，開創所謂的「大歷史」學派。

　　其後，大衛．克里斯欽更跟比爾．蓋茲合作，聯手打造「大歷史計畫」，針對歐美的中學生、大學生，以及有志傳授「大歷史」觀念的教師，設計一系列線上課程，大力推廣綜合天文學、生物學、考古學、物理學、歷史學的跨界新知識。著名的全球史、世界史學者威廉．麥克尼爾（William McNeill）因而讚譽大衛．克里斯欽的成就，足以媲美牛頓的「萬有引力理論」、達爾文的「進化論」。

　　本書關於宇宙源起、生命起始、人類誕生和未來可能走向的驚人洞見，已大膽重構了我們在宇宙中的定位。

　　本文取自馬可孛羅出版《起源的故事》

　　David Christian, creator of Big History ('My favourite course of all time' Bill Gates), brings us the epic story of the universe and our place in it, from 13.8 billion years ago to the remote future

　　'Nails home the point: Life is a miracle ... A compelling history of everything' Washington Post
　　'Spectacular' Carlo Rovelli

　　How did we get from the Big Bang to today's staggering complexity, in which seven billion humans are connected into networks powerful enough to transform the planet? And why, in comparison, are our closest primate relatives reduced to near-extinction?

　　Big History creator David Christian gives the answers in a mind-expanding cosmological detective story told on the grandest possible scale. He traces how, during eight key thresholds, the right conditions have allowed new forms of complexity to arise, from stars to galaxies, Earth to homo sapiens, agriculture to fossil fuels. This last mega-innovation gave us an energy bonanza that brought huge benefits to mankind, yet also threatens to shake apart everything we have created.

　　'Rather like the Big Bang, the book is awe-inspiring ... Superb' The Times

　　'With fascinating ideas on every page and the page-turning energy of a good thriller, this is a landmark work' Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element

Review

　　If you read one book this year, make it this one (Fareed Zakaria, CNN)

　　A journey through billions of years that nails home the point: Life is a miracle ... [A] remarkably cogent and compelling history of everything (Washington Post)

　　Rather like the Big Bang, the book is awe-inspiring. The processes it describes are all familiar, but I'd never seen them explained with such clarity and verve ... Superb (Gerard Degroot The Times)

　　[Origin Story is] long-haul science with wit and oomph (Nature)

　　Christian tells this story very well, providing, in effect, a short course in modern science. This is a brief history of the universe, and an excellent one (Wall Street Journal)

　　I have long been a fan of David Christian. In Origin Story, he elegantly weaves evidence and insights from many scientific and historical disciplines into a single, accessible historical narrative (Bill Gates)

　　In Origin Story, David Christian has found a spectacular way to use history to put order in the entire set of our knowledge about the world. This is a wonderful achievement (Carlo Rovelli author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and The Order of Time)

　　Origin Story is a majestic distillation of our current understanding of the birth of the universe, of the solar system, of the oceans, of mountains and minerals, of all life on earth and of the driving dynamics of human culture and achievement. All of this in just over 300 pages of captivating prose that weaves together innumerable insights from the sciences, arts and humanities. With fascinating ideas on every page and the page turning energy of a good thriller, this is a landmark work that comes at a time when it has never been more important for humanity to have a clearer, more informed understanding of our place on earth and of the earth's place in the cosmos. A spellbinding synthesis (Ken Robinson educator and bestselling author of The Element and You, Your Child and School)

　　A remarkable book that puts us self-important humans in our proper place in the cosmos, yet also explains why the story of human culture and knowledge - what Christian calls collective learning - matters for understanding our present world and shaping its future (Merry Wiesner-Hanks, President of the World History Association)
 

Author

David Christian

　　David Christian is a distinguished professor in history at Macquarie University in Australia and the co-founder, with Bill Gates, of The Big History Project, which has built a free online syllabus on the history of the universe and is taught in schools all over the world. He is also co-creator of Macquarie University Big History School, which provides online courses in big history for primary and high school students. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford. He has delivered keynotes at conferences around the world including at the Davos World Economic Forum, and his TED Talk on the history of the Universe has been viewed over 7 million times.