01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Big History as a Fable Part II
Sex and death evolved – processes that vastly increased the rate of natural
selection. Some organisms evolved hard parts, climbed onto, and survived on the
land. The pace of production of more complex forms accelerated. Flight evolved.
Enormous four-legged beasts thundered across the steaming jungles. Small beasts
emerged, born live, instead of in hard-shelled containers filled with replicas of the
early oceans. They survived through swiftness and cunning – and increasingly long
periods i...Folksonomies: wonder big history
Folksonomies: wonder big history
Carl Sagan's account of the history of our Universe continued.
18 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Books Changed Everything
For 99 per cent of the tenure of humans on earth, nobody could
read or write. The great invention had not yet been made. Except
for first-hand experience, almost everything we knew was passed
on by word of mouth. As in the game of 'Chinese Whispers', over
tens and hundreds of generations, information would slowly be
distorted and lost.
Books changed all that. Books, purchasable at low cost, permit
us to interrogate the past with high accuracy; to tap the wisdom of
our species; to understand ...They made it possible to interrogate the past, see other view points, and communication across time.