                                                            Review the course syllabus
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                                                       From the Big Bang to the Future

I. Cosmogonies (cosmos = universe, gonos = birth, origin), also known as Creation Myths/Stories. So far humans
       have developed about four general types of cosmogonies--i.e., explanations of how the world was created, who we are,
       why we are here, and what we should be doing. Human beings probably began to ask WHY? as early as the first
       hominid, Lucy, but we only have actual evidence since c.100,000 - 35,000 bce. Link

           1. Mother Goddess cosmogony, c. 100,000 - 35,000, years ago.--creation by a nurturing mother goddess--Gaea
           2. Warrior God cosmogony, c. 8,000 - 4,000 bce (before the common era--BCE--and the common era--CE,
                   instead of BC and AD). -- creation by a warrior god-man; stressing rules, order, kingdoms, empires, and war.
           3. Reformist/Humanist cosmogony (The Axial Age), 6th century bce. -- creation by religious or philosophical
                  leaders; stressing community, love, peace, justice, forgiveness, and empathy
                     Confucius
                     Zoroaster
                   Jeremiah
                     The Buddha
                     Thales, Pythagoras
          4. Scientific cosmogony, 16th century ce. -- reason, logic, experimentation

II. The Big Bang -- a Scientific Cosmogony, 13.7 billion years ago

(http://www.nasa.gov/)

3.5 million years ago = Lucy (human evolution) Link

35,000 BCE = Homo Sapiens Sapiens

10,000 BCE = end of the last Ice Age, leading to an agricultural revolution and urbanization.

History of the Universe as a One Year Cosmic Calendar (Strayer, p. Lii)
Big Bang	January 1	13.7 billion y.a.
Stars and galaxies begin to form	Late-January to mid-February	12 billion y.a.
Milky Way galaxy forms	March-early April	10 billion y.a.
Origin of the solar system	September 9	4.7 billion y.a.
Formation of the earth	September 15	4.5 billion/ 5 billion y.a.
Earliest life on earth	Late-September-early October	4 billion y.a.
Oxygen forms on earth	December 1	1.3 billion y.a.
First worms	December 16	658 million y.a.
First fish, first vertebrates	December 19	534 million y.a.
First reptiles, first trees	December 23	370 million y.a.
Age of dinosaurs	December 24-28	329-164 million y.a.
First humanlike creatures	December 31 (late evening)	2.7/3.5 million-"Lucy"
First agriculture Sumerian Civilization	December 31, 11:59:35 pm December 31, 11: 59:45 pm	12,000 y.a. 6,000 y.a.
Birth of the Buddha/Greek civilization	December 31, 11:59:55 pm	2500 y.a.
Birth of Jesus	December 31, 11:59:56 pm	2000 y.a.
Aztec and Inca Civilizations	December 31, 11:59:59 pm	500 y.a.
All of human civilization occupies only the last hour of the last day of the last month of the year. Humans and civilization are very recent things.

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Humans settle down: civis (es) - settler (polites), civitas - city (polis), civilitatis - civilization (politikos)

Definition of Civilization: "Civilization is a complex society with urbanization at the center of political and governmental
institutions, an organized system of religious beliefs and practices, job specialization, social class ranking, visual arts and
structures and a system of public works. . . all this sophisticated interaction was made possible by the introduction of writing."
Gregory G. Guzman, "A working Definition of the Term 'Civilization' for Introductory Survey Courses," World History Bulletin, VIII, #1, pp. 23-27, 1991.

4,000 BCE - 2000BCE = Origins of Major Civilizations
Middle East, Egypt, India, China, Europe, Americas, S.E. Asia

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III. By the 15th century most of the major civilizations of the World were pretty much EQUAL to one another--
          with Europe being the weakest (see Chpt. 13 of Strayer "The Worlds of the 15th Century"--our readings for
          next week).

IV. But by the 16th Century, Europe begins to "take off" internally through what are called, The 16th Century
           Revolutions of geography, religion, humanism & science, politics, and economics. But was Europe's "Take Off"
           of the 16th Century Revolutions GOOD for the world as well as for Europe, or did it simply lead to imperialism and
           colonialism that was good for Europe and no one else?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama

Geography--1492 Columbus, Vasco da Gama 1497/98, 1522 Magellan (Age of Discovery) Link

Religion-- 1517 Martin Luther, 1648 Peace of Westphalia (Protestant Reformation) Link

Humanism & Science -- 1504 "David", 1543 Copernicus & Heliocentric Theory (Renaissance) Link

Politics -- Tudors (1485), Bourbons, Romanovs, Hohenzollerns, Hapsburgs (Enlightened Absolutism) Link

Economics -- 1453 Fall of Constantinople (Istanbul), 1511 fall of Malacca (Mercantilism and Free Trade) Link

IV. The West's Attack on the Rest --Imperialism & Colonialism, 16th through the 19th Centuries
(Enlightenment) Link

V. World War I, 1914-1919; World War II, 1939-1945; and the Cold War, 1948 --1989, Europe's suicide? (20th Century) Link

VI. Colonial Liberation, 1950 -. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonization#Charts_of_the_independences)

VII. Globalization, 1989 -.   "Financial Globalization and the Crisis" Link

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        NB: As background for next week's lectures--September 9th & 11th, read Chpt. 13 Strayer, and consult
the outline of that chapter online at: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/strayer2e/#t_810421____. You can also
consult this link for outlines on future chapters/lectures.