Author Talk: David Baker

Join history and science writer David Baker as he discusses his new book, The Shortest History of the World, which follows the continuum of historical change in the cosmos – from the Big Bang, through the evolution of life, to human history. Combining knowledge from chemistry, biology and physics with insights from the social sciences and humanities, The Shortest History of the World takes a bird’s eye view of 13.8 billion years.

David Baker is a Macquarie University academic and the world’s first PhD in Big History, a new approach to the history of the world that combines understandings from chemistry, physics and biology, archaeology and anthropology. He is also the writer of the YouTube series Crashcourse Big History, co-hosted by bestselling YA author John Green in partnership with the Big History Project.