Big History
Articles and Readings

Compiled by: W. Huitt
Last Revised: March 2014

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I.  Introduction

• Angur, R. (2007). Major transitions in 'big' history. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 74,  1137-1163. Retrieved December 2009, from http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/users/anilg/files/Articles/history%20of%20technology.pdf
• Christian, D. (2003). World history in context. Journal of World History, 14(4), 437-458. Retrieved August 2011, from http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jwh/14.4/christian.html
• Christian, D. (2009). Contingency, pattern, and the S-curve in human history. World History Connected, 6(3). Retrieved from http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/6.3/christian.html
• Spier, F. (2008). Big history: The emergence of an interdisciplinary science? Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 33(2), 141-152. Retrieved January 2012 from http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/6.3/spier.html
• Metanexus Institute. (2011, October 25). Explore big history. New York, NY: Author. Retrieved December 2011, from http://www.metanexus.net/essay/explore-big-history
• Einstein, A. (1941). Science and religion. Science, Philosophy and Religion, A Symposium. The Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion in Their Relation to the Democratic Way of Life, Inc., New York. Retrieved May 2002, from http://www.update.uu.se/~fbendz/library/ae_scire.htm
• Goertzel, B. (1996). Unification of science and spirit: Hyperrealism. Retrieved December 2007, from http://goertzel.org/books/spirit/contents.htm 
• Grassie, W. (2005). Universal reason: Science, religion, and the foundations of civil societies. Paper presented at the Institute for Wisdom and Philosophy, Tehran, Iran, May 9. Retrieved December 2009, from http://www.grassie.net/articles/2005_universalreason.html
• Nicholi, A., Jr. (1999). The real issue: When worldviews collide. Part one. C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud: A comparison of their thoughts and viewpoints on life, pain and death. Addison, TX: Leadership U. Retrieved May 2002, from http://www.leaderu.com/real/ri9801/nicholi.html
• Sharpe, K. (1988). Relating the physics and religion of David Bohm. Revision of paper delivered at the Annual Summer Conference of Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS), Star Island, New Hampshire, July-August. Retrieved April 2012, from http://www.ksharpe.com/word/BM05.htm

II.  Threshold 1 (Creation)

• Jones, H. (2008). The God confusion. Network Review, 96, 4-8. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.scimednet.org/pdf/ntwrk96.pdf
• Maritain, J. (1959). God and science. Retrieved March 2005, from http://www.ewtn.com/library/THEOLOGY/JM2404.HTM
• Musser, G. (2014, April 3). Gravitational waves reveal the universe before the big bang: An interview with physicist Gabriele Veneziano. Scientific American: Blogs. Retrieved April 2014, from http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/critical-opalescence/2014/04/03/gravitational-waves-reveal-the-universe-before-the-big-bang-an-interview-with-physicist-gabriele-veneziano/
• Sluder, K. (2003). God, Genesis, and the big bang. The Origins of the Universe. Retrieved from http://www.hpcisp.com/~kls/page4.html

III. Threshold 2 (Stars)

• Britt, R. (2005, February 7). Forces of creation: Black holes spark star formation. Space. Retrieved from http://www.space.com/767-forces-creation-black-holes-spark-star-formation.html

IV. Threshold 3 (Chemicals)

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (2004). Origins of the elements. In Guide to the nuclear wallchart. Berkeley, CA: Author. Retrieved from http://www.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/10/0.html 

V. Threshold 4 (Planets)

• Armitage, P. (2008). Planetary formation and migration:. Scholarpedia, 3(3), 4479. Retrieved from http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Planetary_formation_and_migration 

VI. Threshold 5 (Life)

• Brooke, J.H. (2008, March 4). Christianity and Darwinism: Can there be no common ground? The Global Spiral. Retrieved March 2008, from http://www.metanexus.net/Magazine/Default.aspx?TabId=68&id=10325
• Fenner, J. (2013, August 29). The origins of earth life: Are we Martians? Retrieved from http://guardianlv.com/2013/08/the-origins-of-earth-life-are-we-martians-video/
• Hoffmeyer, J. (1993). The changing concept of information in the study of life. Paper prepared for the Symposium "Nature and Culture in the Development of Knowledge. A Quest for Missing Links," Uppsala, September 8-11. Retrieved December 1999, fromhttp://www.molbio.ku.dk/MolBioPages/abk/PersonalPages/Jesper/History.html
• Moritz, A. (2010). The origin of life. The TalkOrigins Archive. Retrieved from http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/abioprob/originoflife.html
• Mullen, L. (2009, February 5). The enduring mystery of life's origins. Astrobiology Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.space.com/3511-enduring-mystery-life-origin.html

VII. Threshold 6 (Humanity)

• Boeree, C. G. (2009). Human evolution. General psychology. Shippensburg, PA: Shippensburg University. Retrieved from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/humanevol.html
• Clarken, R. (2004). Unfolding pattern of human development. Northern Michigan University. Retrieved December 2004, from http://mediasite.nmu.edu/MediasiteLive30/LiveViewer/NoPopupRedirector.aspx?peid=d941d792-ea65-4df7-9531-19ca1c3456bb&shouldResize=False
• Fischer, K., & Bidell, T. (2005). Dynamic development of action, thought, and emotion. In R. Lerner (Ed.), Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., Vol. 1). New York: Wiley. Retrieved August 2005, from http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~ddl/articlesCopy/FischerBidellRevGeneral.0105.APA.pdf
• Ridley, M. (2010, May 22). Humans: Why they triumphed. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 2010, from http://www.design.caltech.edu/erik/Misc/Human_Triumph.pdf
• Smith, L., & Thelen, E. (2003). Development as a dynamic system. TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences, 7(8), 343-348. Retrieved August 2005, from http://www.indiana.edu/~iusocs/Smith&Thelen-Developmentasadynamicsystem.pdf

VIII. Threshold 7 (Agriculture)

• Bareja, B. (2011, August). What is agriculture: Definition of agriculture, Crop Agriculture Review. Retrieved from http://www.cropsreview.com/what-is-agriculture.html
• Hefner, P. (2006). Religion and science--Two way traffic? Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 41(1).  Retrieved August 2007, from http://www.zygonjournal.org/editorial_6.html
• Wadley, G., & Martin, A. (1993). The origins of agriculture: A biological perspective and a new hypothesis. Australian Biologist, 6, 96-105. Retrieved from http://ranprieur.com/readings/origins.html

IX. Threshold 8 (Industry)

• D'Adamo, A. (2004). Science without bounds: A synthesis of science, religion, and mysticism. Retrieved July 2004, from http://www.adamford.com/swb/src/ScienceWithoutBounds.pdf
• Hackett, L. (1992). Industrialization: The first phase. Industrial revolution. International World History Project. Retrieved from http://history-world.org/Industrial%20Intro.htm
• Kreis, S. (2011). The origins of the industrial revolution in England. The History Guide: Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. Retrieved from http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture17a.html
• Montagna, J. (1981). The industrial revolution. New Haven, CT: Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Retrieved from http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html

X. Threshold 9 (Digital)

• Bainbridge, W., & Roco, M. (Eds.). (2006). Managing nano-bio-info-cogno innovations: Converging technologies in society. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Publishers. Retrieved December 2006, from http://www.wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies/3/NBIC3_report.pdf
• Dent, H. S., Jr. (2004). Using demographics to predict economic trends: Key concepts. Allen, TX: H. S. Dent Foundation. Retrieved October 2004, from http://www.hsdent.com/home.cfm?NF=1&CFID=80235&CFTOKEN=43696219
• El-Darwiche, B., Singh, M., & Ganediwalla, S. (2012, August 28). Digitization and prosperity. strategy+business. Retrieved September, 2012, fromhttp://www.strategy-business.com/article/00127?pg=all
• Huitt, W. (2007). Success in the conceptual age: Another paradigm shift. Paper presented at the 32^nd Annual Meeting of the Georgia Educational Research Association, October 26. Retrieved September 2007, from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/papers/conceptual-age.pdf
• Philips, W. (1998). The "S" curve. Washington, DC: Qm2. Retrieved June 2010, from http://www.qm2.org/S_Curve.pdf
• Pink, D. (2005, May). Why the world is flat. Wired Magazine. Retrieved August 2005, from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.05/friedman.html
• Prensky, M. (2007, July-August). Changing paradigms. Educational Technology. Retrieved July 2008, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-ChangingParadigms-01-EdTech.pdf
• Ridley, M. (2010, July). Ideas having sex: How prosperity and innovation exceeded the expectations of John Stuart Mill and Adam Smith. Reason. Retrieved March 2011, from http://reason.com/archives/2010/06/14/ideas-having-sex
• Sahtouris, E. (2000). Living systems, the internet and the human future. Talk presented at Planetwork, Global Ecology and Information Technology a conference held at the San Francisco Presidio, May 13. Retrieved December 2000, from http://www.ratical.org/LifeWeb/Articles/LSinetHF.html
• Warburg, M. (2001). Religious organizations in a global world: A comparative analysis. Paper delivered at the International Conference of The Center for Studies on New Religions, London, April 19-22. Retrieved May 2003, from http://www.cesnur.org/2001/london2001/warburg.htm
• Whitney-Smith, E. (2009). Winning information revolutions: From the Ice Age to the Internet. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved May 2011, from http://information-revolutions.com/

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