Big History

2013 • H2
4,6
56 reviews
TV-PG
Rating
Eligible
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Season 1 episodes (17)

1 The Superpower of Salt
13/11/02
We all know that mankind can't live without air, food and water...the same is true of salt. The salt on your table is a key to unlocking the story of our planet and the cosmos. Big History reveals how this simple molecule underpins our civilization.
2 Horse Power Revolution
13/11/02
The horse has been a revolutionary animal in unexpected ways. It has changed how we speak, what we wear, and sets the hidden limit for the size of our most massive empires. It's a story that spans the cosmos.
3 Gold Fever
13/11/09
This episode asks why mankind is gold crazy, and discovers there's a hard-wired reason we lust after it, and a microscopic explanation for why it shines. We reveal how the science behind our favorite metal drives men across oceans and continents.
4 Below Zero
13/11/09
Reveals how cold has the power to turn men into Barbarians, spark history's longest running war, and create the concept of race. After the heat of the Big Bang, cold creates the Universe and the planet as we know it.
5 Megastructures
13/11/16
From the Great Pyramid at Giza to the towering skyscrapers of today, humans have engineered massive constructions for at least 5,000 years. But why? How do biology and human emotions affect our desire to build gigantic structures?
6 Defeating Gravity
13/11/16
Flight takes more than wings. We need the right kind of air, the perfect materials cooked up over billions of years, and cosmic forces that are just right for us to leave the ground without tumbling off into space.
7 World of Weapons
13/11/23
Humans have small teeth and no claws or armor, so how do we project our power? Warfare has defined traditional history, but Big History digs deeper to reveal how it all began.
8 Brain Boost
13/11/23
Behind that cup of coffee or tea is a global story that goes back to the collision that created the Moon and the evolution of plant and animal life. The key is the molecule that gives your morning cup its kick: caffeine, the most popular drug in history.
9 Mountain Machines
13/11/30
They form natural boundaries, dictate how we spread around the planet, create natural defenses, and control our weather. From the World War that began with a gunshot in the Balkans to the feuds of the Appalachians, mountains have also been flashpoints.
10 Pocket Time Machine
13/11/30
They form natural boundaries, dictate how we spread around the planet, create natural defenses, and control our weather. From the World War that began with a gunshot in the Balkans to the feuds of the Appalachians, mountains have also been flashpoints.
11 Decoded
13/12/07
They form natural boundaries, dictate how we spread around the planet, create natural defenses, and control our weather. From the World War that began with a gunshot in the Balkans to the feuds of the Appalachians, mountains have also been flashpoints.
12 Deadly Meteors
13/12/07
They form natural boundaries, dictate how we spread around the planet, create natural defenses, and control our weather. From the World War that began with a gunshot in the Balkans to the feuds of the Appalachians, mountains have also been flashpoints.
13 The Sun
13/12/14
They form natural boundaries, dictate how we spread around the planet, create natural defenses, and control our weather. From the World War that began with a gunshot in the Balkans to the feuds of the Appalachians, mountains have also been flashpoints.
14 Rise of the Carnivores
13/12/14
Eating meat made us human...by giving us bigger brains, better tools, and spoken language. The human need for beef has driven history across the hemispheres, but how did we turn an ancient mega-beast into the cow we have today?
15 H2O
13/12/21
Water is the miracle molecule, and mankind has used its perfect properties to revolutionize our lives. It was our first superhighway, the lifeblood of civilization, and gives us 90% of all the power we use today.
16 Silver Supernova
13/12/21
At critical moments in history, our second place metal was the most important metal on Earth. Big History reveals how silver's place in our minds was determined by the heat of exploding stars, and how this one metal saved democracy.
17 The Big History Of Everything
13/12/28
An epic 2-hour journey through time and space. This special pulls all that we know about science and history into one grand narrative of the universe and humanity, and uncovers the mysterious link between eight critical thresholds on the path.

About this show

From the creators of "The Universe" and "Life After People", BIG HISTORY puts a sci-fi spin on history, linking iconic events to our daily lives. For example, we carry the legacy of the Titanic every day -- in our own pockets: every time we make a cell phone call, we use radio wave lanes assigned after Titanic telegraph rescue calls went unanswered.

Ratings and reviews

4,6
56 reviews
Christopher Lane
24 March 2014
The storytelling is ok, the information is interesting, the only problem is the constant re-telling of the main idea every few minutes, and the constant repeating use of the footage, some of which was shot years ago for other shows. Hungry for information so I watch alot of documentaries, and this one breaks my heart every time they replay footage that was just shown a few minutes prior. The episodes (about 20 minutes long) could literally be 10 minute clips if you eliminate the repeating. Most of the season 1 episode 17 is just small clips from the previous 16 episodes. Only 3 stars, I subtract 2 stars from a 5 star rating for the repeating host, and the constant re-use of the same footage.
6 people found this review helpful
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oRiGiNaL SWeDiES
18 December 2013
Great show! Love to watch anything that will teach me something new. I'm a "visual" learner so programs such as this one are excellent. P.S. If anyone at Google cares, the Google+ "like" button, that should be above to the left, is missing... Just an FYI.
3 people found this review helpful
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John Kuri
20 January 2014
Love these show.
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