A Most Improbable Journey: A Big History of Our Planet and Ourselves

Author(s): Walter Alvarez

Science

One in a million doesn't even come close.

Not when we're talking about the odds that you would happen to be alive today, on this particular planet, hurtling through space. Almost fourteen billion years of cosmic history, over four billion years of Earth history, a couple million years of human history, the rise and fall of nations, the unbroken string of generations necessary to lead to you--it's staggering to consider. Yet behind everything in our world, from the phone in your pocket to even the force of gravity itself, lies a similarly grand procession of highly improbable events.

This panoramic viewpoint has captured the imagination of historians and scientists alike, and together they've created a new field--Big History--that integrates traditional historical scholarship with scientific insights to study the full sweep of our universe and its past. Walter Alvarez brings his unique expertise and infectious curiosity to give us a new appreciation for the incredible occurrences--from the Big Bang to the formation of supercontinents, the dawn of the Bronze Age, and beyond--that have led to our improbable place in the universe.
35 illustrations

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Product Information

Walter Alvarez a professor of geology at the University of California, Berkeley, is one of the founding members of the International Big History Association. He was awarded the 2002 Penrose Medal, the top honor in geology, and is the author of The Mountains of St. Francis and the best-selling T. rex and the Crater of Doom.

General Fields

  • : 9780393355192
  • : W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated
  • : W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated
  • : 0.204117
  • : December 2017
  • : United States
  • : March 2018
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : 35 illustrations
  • : 256
  • : 509
  • : English
  • : Paperback
  • : Walter Alvarez