Description: Big History is a seemingly novel approach that seeks to situate human history within a grand cosmic story of life. It claims to do so by uniting the historical sciences in order to construct a linear and accurate timeline of 'threshold moments' beginning with the Big Bang and ending with the present and future development of humanity itself. As well as examining the theory and practice of Big History, this Element considers Big History alongside previous largescale attempts to unite human and natural history, and includes comparative discussions of the practices of chronology, universal history, and the evolutionary epic.
Review Quotes: '... things might look different if we see Big History neither as an ambitious research programme nor as a scientistic creation myth but, in line with the middle option outlined above, as a narrative popularization of the tremendous progress made by the historical sciences over the last two hundred years - and for that purpose it could perhaps be described as 'true enough' (Elgin 2017). As such an amalgam, it would make a fascinating object of further study for both philosophers and historians. Both groups would do well to start this engagement with Hesketh's short and incisive book.' Georg Gangl, Metascience