Our place in the Universe.

 http://www.historyoftheuniverse.com/

 Fundamental Questions

“Why am I here?”

“Where did I come from?”

“Where am I going?”

 I try to answer some of these age-old questions by telling the story which science has discovered about the origin and development of the Universe, Earth, life, humanity, and technology to the present day with a glimpse into the future.

This story is a modern myth of creation. It is rightly called a myth because it is not the complete truth. Science does not claim to tell us the truth, merely to provide plausible explanations for the observed facts. But a new observation can (and often does) cause a revolution in science.

I call it a myth also because, clearly, the Universe has a very long history (there is nothing longer!) so I have had to simplify many things to keep the story both reasonably short and understandable to the non-scientist.

This story clearly reveals that we are children of the Universe, that we belong here, and that we might even be the most advanced organisms which exist. If that is true then we have an enormous responsibility to protect this tiny, fragile planet upon which we find ourselves, so that life may be handed down to future generations.

Seeing ourselves in a universal context is a salutary experience, giving us a new perspective on our current problems, many of which are on a global scale. To solve them will require global solutions. We all need to make important decisions about our ways of life. We need to understand what caused our problems and what options we have for solving them. We can only obtain this by taking a global perspective.

By studying the past, themes and patterns emerge which enable us to grasp the big picture more easily. By considering these themes we can make some predictions about the future and these should help us when we make our decisions.

This story organizes a wide range of key scientific, economic, political and technological concepts into a natural sequence, structuring them and so helping people to understand their relationships more efficiently and so remember them more effectively. It defines a natural science curriculum which could form the basis for teaching science at school in an integrated and meaningful way.

Scientists too can benefit from this story. Science is split into many disciplines (such as physics, cosmology, biology, chemistry, economics and anthropology) yet knowledge does not recognize our artificial barriers. Interdisciplinary studies are increasingly important in scientific research. Failing to understand the links between the branches of science means scientists find it more difficult to see the whole tree of knowledge. This story might help remedy this situation.