1. BIG HISTORY
Annalies Smith

2. JAMES BURKE
THE DAY THE UNIVERSE C
• We see what our H
A
knowledge tells us
we are seeing.
N
• What a person thinks the universe is , is dependent on
G
what they know. When that knowledge changes, then the
universe changes also.
• We are what we know today – E
D
yesterday what we knew was different
– and so were we.
• All believe that their version of the truth is best and will
defend it.

3. A culture reveals itself by what it does.
Asking questions is one of our
institutions.
We protect what we know by ritual,
and institutionalize accepted truths.
The only constant in our life is change.

4. THE JOURNEY
OF MAN
Spencer Wells - Geneticist
• L. Luca Cavelli-Sforza held that every living
human is distantly related to each other and • Through the gathering and
that the history of the human race could be evaluation of the blood of isolated
found in the blood. tribes and tracing genetic markers
found on the Y chromosome it was
determined that the origin of every
human on the planet can be traced
back to the San Bushman Tribe of
Africa.
• At some point these San Bushman
had experienced a quantum leap in
thinking and subsequently formulated
a language with which to communicate
these more complex ideas.

5. •Ice and marine cores suggest a monumental
change in climate which resulted in expanding ice
caps. Droughts ensued. Members of this San
Bushman Tribe who had evolved to a higher level
were able to survive by following the herds which
had fled the drought.
•From Africa, genetic markers point that the
migration fleeing the drought went through India
and on to Australia. This route explains 10% of the
world's population.
• The other 90% bearing a different
genetic marker took a route that went
to the Middle East. One branch went
into India, the other into Central Asia
where it split off into two branches.
China was settle by one of these
migratory groups. The other group
continues on up through Siberia and the
frozen tundra, eventually crossing the
Bering Strait into North America by way
of a land bridge created by the second
ice age. The migration continued on into
South America.

6. C David Keys , a writer on
history and archeology, EVIDENCE
A
• Dendrochronologist, Mike Bailey sees evidence of
consulted with more missed summers and long stretches of extreme cold in
than 40 scientists and the mid-6th century. Additionally, evidence of Irish
scholars; including crannogs (forts built over water) suggest that there
T
astronomers, physicists, was a period of tremendous hardship which forced
climatologists, and people to abandon an agricultural based existence and
historians, and return to fishing, and hunting.
A
searched the annals
and chronicles of 6th
and 7th A.D. , to • Numerous written records from around
constructs a theory of a 535-538 A.D., from ancient Rome, Italy,
S
mid century, world- China, and Japan tell of a sun which doesn’t
wide catastrophe. He shine, a summer which never comes, a
holds that this paralyzing cold, and a destructive famine.
T
catastrophe changed
the course of history
and is responsible for • It is theorized that there was the creation of a dense
veil of dust, ash or acid which blocked the sun’s rays from
R
laying the foundation of
the world we know reaching the earth. The only things capable of producing
today. such a massive effect are the eruption of a volcano, or
the impact of a meteor or comet. Ice cores dating back
O
to the year 535 A.D. show high levels of sulphate which
indicates a volcanic eruption.
P
• For the an ash cloud to envelope the world, an eruption
would have had to have taken place close to the equator.
Volcanologist, Professor Haraldur Sigurdsson is able to
carbon date charcoal from the eruption layers, and finds that
H
a major eruption could have occurred during the time period
suggested by David Keys. Additionally, Java’s Book Of Kings ,
which records all of it’s history, tells of a mighty thunder,
E
shaking earth, flood, and dark earth. Geophysicists confirm
this as a description of a volcanic eruption. The only volcano
close enough to Java is Krakatoa.

7. THE SUBSEQUENT IMPACT
ON CIVILIZATION • Scientific study of the city of the Mexican plateau, evidence bacterial
Teotihuacán, a primate
skeletal remains from inhabitants of
• infections which resulted in a higher mortality rate of the younger
• Plagues and epidemics are temperature population – those under the age of 25. The civilization is collapsing.
related. Colder temperatures which This decline was dated as occurring between the middle to late 6 th
resulted from the blocking of the sun, century, concurrent to a prolonged drought.
created an environment conducive for the
production of bacteria and the • The Celtic British still traded with the Roman Empire
propagation of rats. The bubonic plague and brought the bubonic plague to their shores in 547
resulted and fleas brought the disease to A.D.. Weakened as a result, the Anglo-Saxon’s were able
the population of the Roman Empire by to defeat the plague-stricken Britain – and England was
way of trade with Africa. Millions perish. born.
With less population, there are less
recruits for the Roman army, and less • David Keys contends that the catastrophe was also linked to
revenue from taxes to support the troops the religion of Islam. He suggests that the climatic chaos
and the payment of mercenaries. The weakened the Mareb and began the shift of power to Medina
Empire is vulnerable. where Mohammad’s family was already established. The
apocalyptic attitude at the time made for a better field of
reception of the prophet Mohammad’s message.
• 3000 miles away, the Avars, formally the most
feared horseman army in the world are
conquered by the Turks. Their defeat was the
result of the reduction of their horses due to
starvation. The Avars fled to into the Balkans
What if such a catastrophe
where they rebuilt their strength and were to happen in today’s
eventually met up with the Roman Empire –
which they blackmailed – peace for gold. The world? We are encouraged
Avar impact, combined with the plague, and
the ensuing economic problem resulted in the
to be more aware of the
eventual fall of the Empire. ability of natural forces to
change history.

8. GUNS
GERMS QUESTION:
AND What makes one civilization more successful than another?
S
T
E ANSWER:
The environment in which they live.
E
L
Jared Diamond

9. • The success of a civilization begins with the initial resources that
are available for domestication. The ability to use these resources
and develop a successful farming economy allows for population
growth and gives those cultures a tremendous head start.
Well fed, growing populations are able to build bigger and more
With the growth of population complex societies as food surpluses allow some to leave their
comes the opportunity for disease. farms and develop more specialized skills.
These diseases are often caused
from living in close proximity to
animals. Many times through the
ages indigenous diseases have
struck and devastated populations.
Some are genetically better able to
resist the diseases and they develop
immunities to them. People in
isolated places do not have the
opportunity to develop a wide range
of immunities because of lack of
exposure, and remain vulnerable.

10. SOUTH ASIA
With the exception of the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar, all of India is
EUROPE under Muslim domination. Islamic Sultan Muhmud owned the greatest
With their marriage uniting the port in the world where all the riches of the East and West are sold.
peninsula, Ferdinand and
Isabella of Spain, use Italian The Spice Islands (Indonesia) were the desire of both Spain and Portugal.
financial backing to launch their
aggressive program of
exploration with blessings from
Rome.
Muslims ruled the waves of
the Indian Ocean and
Ivan III breaks loose from
Mongol rule and declares controlled all the maritime
Moscow the “Third Rome”. CHINA AND JAPAN trade routes from the far
China had become the richest
Eastern European monarchs and most powerful empire in east. The Muslim cities grew
forced free peasants into the world. With inventions such
TURKEY TO serfdom to grow grain for as paper, the compass, rich as long as the European
AFRICA
western Europe. gunpowder, and their valuable countries had to come to
supply of silk, they could have
A vast Muslim domain also controlled the waters of them to buy. The greater the
stretches across North exploration. However, they
Africa, and from Persia to believed that naval exploration Muslim strength, the greater
Serbia. was a waste of Chinese the cost of Eastern goods.
resources.
Jews, expelled from Europeans had to break the
Spain, arrive in Turkey. Japan remained independent of
China’s domination. Marco Polo grip of the Muslim trade – an
Christian Ethiopia
became an important
spoke endless stories of the alternate route to the orient
wealth to be found in this
information post where country, firing the imagination had to be found.
the Portuguese would of Christopher Columbus.
THE WORLD AND TRADE
discover how to travel to
travel onto the Indian
subcontinent.
THE WORLD OF THE 15TH CENTURY

11. THE EUROPEAN VOYAGES AND HOW
THE WORLD CHANGES
Horses and cattle are brought to the
Americas which alters the way of life
for Native Americans. They become
Potatoes are brought
mobile and are able to hunt buffalo
back from the Andes
which improves their way of life.
and are soon
increasing
The abundance of cattle produces
populations around
wealth and the eventual rise of the
the globe as an
iconic cowboy. The native Americans
important food
will be driven from their lands to
staple. The Irish
accommodate the growth spurned
Slaves and sugar cane Potato Famine
from these herds.
were both brought to results in the death
the Caribbean by of over a million
Columbus. The wealth people and solidifies
of a few came at the a hostility against an
expense of many, as indifferent Britain.
sugar cane slaves had Refugees flood into
the highest death rate the United States ,
. impacting American
culture.
The cassava root
was brought by
slave traders back
Corn is an adaptable There is hardly a corner
crop that has
to Africa. It traveled from of either the old world or
remains a staple
food of the poor
America. It supplies the new which has not
the necessary
ever since. carbohydrates for been impacted by the
world-wide
populations. Columbian Exchange.