Big History

The title here refers to a newly popular multidisciplinary academic discipline that—according to Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, narrator of this 17-part series broadcast on the H2 network—involves “taking simple things and making epic connections,” along the way setting aside the tendency to think of history as a chronological timeline and instead approaching it as a web of complex relationships extending over billions of years. The final episode actually presents this argument in its broadest sense, describing eight “threshold moments,” beginning with the Big Bang and finally looking toward the eventual end of our solar system. Each of the preceding episodes traces particular connections that intersect over long periods, such as the importance of gold, silver, and salt in the rise and fall of civilizations; ways that the domestication of the horse allowed people to indirectly harness the energy of the sun; how weaponry evolved in relation to human anatomy; and the significance of water, cold, and caffeine as determining factors in the development of societies. Slickly produced, Big History skillfully blends archival footage, computer graphics, dramatic re-enactments, and interviews. Extras include 10 bonus segments. Based on the bestselling book The Big History Project by Bill Gates and David Christian, this miniseries often feels amorphous and reductionist, but is nevertheless fascinating. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)