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  • Hero image: Milky Way. Night sky and silhouette of a standing man. © bjdlzx / E+ / Getty Images.
  • Earthrise. Credit: NASA, public domain.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter 1: Tarantula Nebula. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team.
  • Chapter 2: Saturn and Its Aurora. Credit: NASA, ESA, John Clarke (Boston University), Zoltan Levay (STScI).
  • Chapter 3: A baby humpback whale plays as it swims near the surface in blue water off Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. © Craig Lambert / iStock / Getty Images Plus.
  • Chapter 4: Wat Saam Prasob, © Getty Images.
  • Chapter 5: NASA celebrates 50 years of spacewalking. Credit: NASA.

Chapter 1

  • Hero image: Tarantula Nebula. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team.

The Cosmic Microwave Background

  • The cosmic microwave background reveals the slight temperature variations of the early Universe, about 13.77 billion years ago. Credit: CMB (left) and timeline of the expansion of the Universe (right), by NASA / WMAP Science Team, public domain.

How Do We Know About the Big Bang?

  • A photo Hubble took of the Andromeda Galaxy. It helped him prove that it was a separate galaxy, which enabled him to measure distances and prove the Universe is expanding. © Carnegie Science.
  • The Holmdel Horn Antenna was used by Penzias and Wilson to discover the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) that permeates the universe. Credit: NASA, public domain.

Structure of the Universe

  1. Stellar nursery. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team.
  2. Gravity pulls a star together. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Anton Koekemoer (STScI), public domain.
  3. Galaxy group. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, public domain.
  4. Galaxy cluster. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, public domain.
  5. Supercluster. Credit: NASA, ESA, C. Heymans (University of British Columbia, Vancouver), M. Gray (University of Nottingham, U.K.), M. Barden (Innsbruck), the STAGES collaboration, C. Wolf (Oxford University, U.K.), K. Meisenheimer (Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg), and the COMBO-17 collaboration, public domain.

Further reading for Chapter 1

Cynthia Stokes Brown. Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present. New York: The New Press. 2007.

Bill Bryson. A Short History of Nearly Everything. New York: Broadway Books. 2003.

David Christian. Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2004.

Fred Spier. Big History and the Future of Humanity. Malden, MA. Blackwell Publishing. 2010.

Chapter 2

  • Hero image: Saturn and Its Aurora. Credit: NASA, ESA, John Clarke (Boston University), Zoltan Levay (STScI).

What Is the Solar System?

  • Pale Blue Dot, a photo of Earth from 3.7 billion miles away. NASA/JPL-Caltech, public domain.

What's in the Solar System?

  • One star, by NASA/Goddard/SDO, public domain.
  • Eight planets, Collage by CactiStaccingCrane, CC BY-SA 4.0.
  • Five dwarf planets, by NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI, public domain.
  • 970 moons, by Lick Observatory (Moon); Io (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona); NASA/JPL-Caltech/DLR (Europa), public domain.
  • Millions of asteroids, comets, and other objects, by NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCAL/MPS/DLR/IDA (Asteroid Vesta); Giotto Project, ESA (Halley's Comet), public domain.
  • Lots of dust and gas, by NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI), public domain.

Activity: The Lifecycle of Our Sun

  • All images © Corbis

A Tour Across the Solar System

  1. The Sun. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Solar Dynamics Observatory, public domain.
  2. Mercury. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington, public domain.
  3. Venus. Credit: NASA, public domain.
  4. Earth. Credit: NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), public domain.
  5. Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS, public domain.
  6. Jupiter. Credit: Enhanced image by Kevin M. Gill (CC-BY) based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS.
  7. Saturn. Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), public domain.
  8. Uranus. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), public domain.
  9. Neptune. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Naomi Rowe-Gurney (NASA-GSFC), public domain.
  10. Pluto—a planet in our hearts. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute, public domain.
  11. And a bunch of other stuff. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, public domain.

History of Astronomy

  1. Ptolemy © Bettmann/Corbis
  2. Ibn al-Haytham, public domain.
  3. Copernicus © Bettmann/Corbis
  4. Galileo © Bettmann/Corbis
  5. Newton © Bettmann/Corbis
  6. Leavitt © Photo Researchers
  7. Hubble © Science Source

Models of the Solar System

  1. About 1,900 years ago, the Greek thinker Ptolemy standardized a model of the geocentric Universe, in which the Sun, Moon, and stars all orbit the Earth. Credit: Bartolomeu Velho's illustration of a Ptolemaic geocentric system, public domain.
  2. In 1543 CE, Nicolaus Copernicus developed a new model of a heliocentric Universe, in which the Sun sat at the center of everything. Credit: Andreas Cellarius's illustration of the Copernican system, public domain.

Activity: Goldilocks Conditions

  • All images © Corbis

A Restless Planet: Plate Tectonics Explained

  • Plate Tectonics Explained, By OER Project, CC BY 4.0.

How Do We Know About Continental Drift?

  • Alfred Wegener, Courtesy of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research.
  • Harry Hess, Courtesy of Princeton University Archives.

Further reading for Chapter 2

Marcia Bartusiak. The Day We Found the Universe. New York: Random House. 2009.

Simon Singh. Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe. New York: Harper Collins. 2004.

Chapter 3

  • Hero image: A baby humpback whale plays as it swims near the surface in blue water off Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. © Craig Lambert / iStock / Getty Images Plus.

The Evolution of Life

  1. Spewing life © National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
  2. The first named cell © Robert Hooke.
  3. Two billion year-old colonies © Norman Kuring/NASA Ocean Color.
  4. Making oxygen © Kristian Peters.
  5. A single-celled predator © Carolina Biological/Visuals Unlimited/Corbis.
  6. Moving to dry land © National Science Foundation.
  7. From mouse to man? © Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
  8. Mini-moments of life, by Big History Project, CC BY 4.0.

How Does DNA Work? graphic

  1. Chloroplasts in leaf cells, by Kristian Peters, CC BY-SA 3.0.
  2. Thermal image of a rat, by Lakmus3041, CC BY 4.0.
  3. A sperm cell fertilizing an egg cell, public domain.
  4. Darwin's finches, public domain.

Charles Darwin and Natural Selection slideshow

  1. Origin of Species: An evolutionary idea © Bettmann/Corbis.
  2. "Natural" evidence growing © Bettmann/Corbis.
  3. The shape of survival © Bettmann/Corbis.
  4. The evidence builds © Bettmann/Corbis.
  5. Artificial selection © the food passionates/Corbis.
  6. Galápagos Islands, by NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS, public domain.

The Tree of Life, LUCA

  1. Archaea: Methanohalophilus mahii, by Spring, S. et al., CC BY 4.0; Pyrococcus furiosus, by Michelle Kropfl, CC BY-SA 4.0; Haloquadratum walsbyi, by Rotational, public domain; Promethearchaeum, by Hiroyuki Imachi et al., CC BY-SA 4.0.
  2. Eukaryota: Boletus edulis, by Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0; Cetonia aurata, by I, Chrumps, CC BY-SA 3.0; Ranunculus asiaticus, by Leif Stridvall, CC BY-SA 2.5.
  3. Bacteria: Streptomyces, by CDC, public domain; E. coli, by NIAID, public domain; Streptococcus pneumoniae, by CDC, public domain; Campylobacter jejuni, by USDA, ARS, EMU, public domain.

Further reading for Chapter 3

Edward Dolnick. The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World. New York: Harper Collins. 2011.

Sam Kean. The Disappearing Spoon. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 2010.

Special thanks to the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. (http://www.awi.de)

Roger M. McCoy. Ending in Ice: The Revolutionary Idea and Tragic Expedition of Alfred Wegener. New York: Oxford University Press. 2006.

Walter Alvarez. T.rex and the Crater of Doom. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 1997.

Ross A. Slotten. The Heretic in Darwin's Court: The Life of Alfred Russel Wallace. New York: Columbia University Press. 2004.

Gerard Helferich. Humboldt's Cosmos: Alexander von Humboldt and the Latin American Journey that Changed the Way We See the World. New York: Gotham. 2004.

Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert. The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 2013.

Chapter 4

  • Hero image: Wat Saam Prasob, © Getty Images.

Using Tools, Shelter, and Fire

  1. Using Tools, Shelter, and Fire: Out of Africa © Carolina Biological/Visuals Unlimited/Corbis.
  2. Cousins? © Fiona Rogers/Corbis.
  3. Earliest tools © Alfredo Dagli Orti/The Art Archive/Corbis.
  4. Shelter from the elements © John Reader / Photo Researchers, Inc.
  5. Controlling fire © Anthony Bannister/Gallo Images/Corbis.

The Rise of Civilization slideshow

  1. The pace of collective learning grows © Tom Martin/JAI/Corbis.
  2. Farming power © Bojan Brecelj/Corbis.
  3. Irrigation produces a surplus © George Steinmetz/Corbis.
  4. The first law of the land © Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis.
  5. Cornerstones of the earliest civilization, by Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What Came First, Farming or Religion?

  • Göbekli Tepe, © Vincent J. Musi/National Geographic Society/CORBIS

Activity: Ancient Cities

  • All images © Corbis

Further reading for Chapter 4

Evan Fraser and Andrew Rimas, Empires of Food: Feast, Famine, and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. New York: Free Press. 2010.

David B. Abernathy. The Dynamics of Global Dominance. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 2000.

Jared Diamond. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1999.

Chapter 5

  • Hero image: NASA celebrates 50 years of spacewalking. Credit: NASA.

What's the Evidence for the Anthropocene? slideshow

  1. The relentless rise of carbon dioxide. Credit: Data: Luthi, D., Et Al.. 2008; Etheridge, D.M., Et Al. 2010; Vostok Ice Core Data/J.R. Petit Et Al.; NOAA Mauna Loa CO2 Record. Some Description Adapted from the Scripps CO2 Program Website, "Keeling Curve Lessons."
  2. How has world population growth changed over time? Credit: By Our World in Data, CC-BY.
  3. The largest mammals went extinct in the past and are at the greatest risk of extinction today. Credit: By Our World in Data, CC-BY.
  4. Temperature change relative to the pre-industrial period, World. Credit: By Our World in Data, CC-BY.
  5. Sea level rise. Credit: By Our World in Data, CC-BY.

Further reading for Chapter 5

Joseph Tainter. The Collapse of Complex Societies. New York & Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 1988.