00:00:01 00:00:07 00:00:12 00:00:18 00:00:22 00:00:27 00:00:33 00:00:39 00:00:43 00:01:06 00:01:09 00:01:14 00:01:23 00:01:30 00:01:45

00:01:49 00:01:52 00:01:55 00:02:04 00:02:07 00:02:14 00:02:21 00:02:24 00:02:28 00:02:31 00:02:40 00:02:46

What if we could tell you everything, the entire history of the world? Now, what if we told you, we could do it in just two hours? We're going to tell the whole story, from the Big Bang to the present day. How the planet prepared, for the rise of man. How the Stone Age, led to the steam engine. How the first seeds sprouted, into cities and civilizations. Everything is connected, and the path leads to you. lt took history 1 3.7 billion years to unfold. We'll show you everything you, need to know in the next two hours. This is our infant universe. Everything that will ever exist,everything that will ever happen, all begins here, within this tiny bundle of energy,smaller than an atom. And right now, history as we know it is about to mysteriously begin. For reasons we may never know,our universe suddenly erupts. ln a millionth of a millionth, of a millionth of a millionth of a millionth, of a millionth of a second, it went from a size, smaller than an atom to bigger than a galaxy. What you're seeing is energy, and it's one key to understanding, everything that will unfold in the next two hours. Within a fraction of a second, the Big Bang creates, all the energy that will ever exist, all the energy that will power the stars, that will fuel, anything that ever lives. All the energy, that you will ever consume dates back to the beginning of time. When you put gas into your car, you're tapping energy, that was created during the Big Bang. You're tapping, the energy of the universe itself.

00:02:58 We're only a few minutes into our two-hourjourney,but already 380,000 years have passed. You are about to witness the birth of your original ancestors, the first atoms. 00:03:20 00:03:23 This is hydrogen. The universe will use it to make

everything in the world around us. 00:03:27 00:03:29 00:03:31 00:03:32 You say, "What player do l want to start my team with?" 00:03:34 00:03:34 Well, if l want to start a universe, l want to start it with hydrogen. 00:03:37 00:03:37 Because from that, with a lot of heat and a lot of pressure, 00:03:39 00:03:39 00:03:41 00:03:43 The first atoms blast through the early universe. 00:03:46 00:03:49 And luckily for us, they don't spread out evenly, 00:03:52 00:03:54 because in those tiny pockets with more atoms, 00:03:57 00:03:57 gravity, the great sculptor of the early universe, 00:04:01 00:04:01 00:04:03 00:04:10 The first galaxies begins to work its magic. you can build more kinds of atoms. Hydrogen is like a baseball team.

are beginning to form, 00:04:13 00:04:14 revealing a timeless secret of the universe. 00:04:17 00:04:23 00:04:24 00:04:24 whenever more matter and energy can be drawn together in one place, 00:04:28 00:04:28 00:04:31 00:04:32 We have all of these urban centers around the planet 00:04:36 00:04:36 where so much creativity, so much art, so much science, 00:04:40 00:04:40 00:04:42 00:04:43 because of all these opportunities for things to interact with each other. 00:04:46 00:04:47 Really, in a sense, where there is stuff, new stuff can develop. 00:04:51 00:04:51 And where there isn't anything, nothing much can develop. 00:04:54 00:05:01 300 million years after the Big Bang, so much culture came about more complex things can emerge. Throughout history,

00:05:04 00:05:05 00:05:08 00:05:09 gravity continues to squeeze together clouds of gas and dust, 00:05:13 00:05:14 causing pressure and heat to violently rise. 00:05:17 00:05:21 When the temperature reaches 1 8 million degrees Fahrenheit, 00:05:25 00:05:25 hydrogen atoms slam together, creating a new element, helium, 00:05:30 00:05:30 00:05:32 00:05:34 00:05:37 00:05:39 Suddenly there were these new beacons of light 00:05:42 00:05:42 shining forth, pouring energy into the universe. 00:05:46 00:05:48 00:05:49 00:05:51 But something is missing from this early universe. 00:05:54 Let there be light. The first stars are born. and radiating bursts of energy. inside of forming galaxies,

00:05:54

There are billions of stars, yet not a single planet.

00:05:58 00:05:59 00:06:03 00:06:03 to take the next leap that would make all of history possible, 00:06:06 00:06:07 the universe needs more to work with than just hydrogen and helium. 00:06:11 00:06:12 00:06:14 00:06:14 the heavier things that we build stuff out of, 00:06:16 00:06:16 for example, iron or life built out of carbon and things like that, 00:06:21 00:06:21 they're actually manufactured in stars. 00:06:23 00:06:23 We may see stars like our own sun as sources of light, 00:06:27 00:06:27 but there is something bigger happening deep inside. 00:06:31 00:06:31 00:06:34 Stars are element factories. The complicated elements, To form planets and eventually people,

00:06:34

They fuse hydrogen into helium, helium into lithium,

00:06:38 00:06:38 forging 25 of the most common elements we'll need to live, 00:06:42 00:06:42 including carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and iron. 00:06:46 00:06:48 00:06:51 00:06:51 stars are already creating the element that will spur the lron Age, 00:06:56 00:06:56 00:06:59 00:06:59 and the creation of some of mankind's most famous monuments. 00:07:03 00:07:08 00:07:10 00:07:10 reveals the next challenge awaiting the early universe. 00:07:13 00:07:14 00:07:17 00:07:17 her skin requires an element too heavy to be made in stars. 00:07:21 00:07:27 For Lady Liberty to have While the statue's frame is iron, But a look at the Statue of Liberty allow for the building of cities So more than 1 2 billion years ago,

material for her skin, 00:07:30 00:07:32 for there to be gold for wedding rings, 00:07:35 00:07:36 00:07:39 00:07:39 some elements had to be created another way. 00:07:42 00:07:42 Stars don't have enough energy to do the job, 00:07:45 00:07:46 but if the element factory isn't powerful enough, 00:07:49 00:07:49 00:07:52 00:07:56 Just a few million years after the first stars formed, 00:07:59 00:07:59 00:08:01 00:08:02 00:08:06 00:08:06 are the biggest blasts in the universe since the Big Bang, 00:08:09 00:08:09 providing the extra boost of energy needed to fuse heavier elements. These explosions, known as supernovas, some of them exploded. how about blowing up the factory? or uranium for nuclear reactors,

00:08:14 00:08:15 ln the fiery blast of their own destruction, 00:08:18 00:08:20 00:08:24 00:08:27 all the rest of the elements that will fill our world, including copper. 00:08:32 00:08:35 00:08:37 00:08:37 is sort of the library of matter in the universe. 00:08:41 00:08:42 00:08:44 00:08:44 everything that is coming out of that particular chemistry set. 00:08:47 00:08:55 Supernovas are absolutely necessary for us to be here. 00:08:59 00:08:59 00:09:02 00:09:02 We have little bits of old supernova, therefore, 00:09:04 00:09:05 00:09:06 00:09:07 We are all stardust. just floating around through us. You know, we have iron in our blood. Those are your building blocks, The periodic table of the elements stars create uranium, gold,

00:09:09 00:09:10 00:09:12 00:09:12 Without supernovas, there's no Bronze Age. 00:09:15 00:09:16 Go to any supermarket and buy a multivitamin 00:09:17 00:09:19 00:09:20 00:09:20 You'll find copper. You'll find zinc. You'll find selenium. 00:09:23 00:09:23 You'll find all sorts of elements that can only be made in a supernova. 00:09:28 00:09:29 The elements made by stars will become the seeds of life on Earth 00:09:34 00:09:34 00:09:37 00:09:38 00:09:40 00:09:41 Before there can be life, the universe has to build us a suitable home. 00:09:47 00:09:49 To build a proper house, you have to assemble the right materials 00:09:53 But the journey has just begun. and the drivers of human history. and go and look in the ingredients. Copper and tin, Bronze Age.

00:09:53 00:09:55 00:09:57

all in one place.

Now when planets form, it's the same thing,

00:10:00 00:10:00 it's the materials that you have at hand 00:10:03 00:10:03 that's gonna dictate the kind of house that your planet's gonna be. 00:10:06 00:10:07 To get enough of the right material in the right place all at once 00:10:11 00:10:11 00:10:14 00:10:14 00:10:17 00:10:17 more than half of history as we know it, 00:10:19 00:10:19 the element factories continue their work. 00:10:22 00:10:23 00:10:27 00:10:30 each generation with more heavy elements than the last. 00:10:33 00:10:37 Until 4.6 billion years ago. Stars explode and are reborn, Over the next eight billion years, takes a very long time.

00:10:40 00:10:41 Finally there are enough materials gathered 00:10:44 00:10:44 00:10:47 00:10:53 00:10:55 00:10:56 00:10:58 00:10:58 00:11:00 00:11:00 99.9% of the gas and dust in the solar system, 00:11:04 00:11:05 but there's still just enough left behind 00:11:07 00:11:07 for gravity to build some other things, 00:11:10 00:11:10 00:11:12 00:11:13 The third one out from this star will be our home. 00:11:16 00:11:19 By the time Earth emerges just over four and a half billion years ago, 00:11:23 00:11:23 two-thirds of the history like planets. lt's so massive that it's gathered up This is our sun. A new star is born. for the next step on the path to us.

of the universe has already passed. 00:11:27 00:11:31 The first sunrises sweep across a foreboding alien planet, 00:11:36 00:11:37 a world spinning so rapidly that a day lasts only six hours. 00:11:41 00:11:45 When you go back to the early Earth, right after the planet formed, 00:11:49 00:11:50 you really have to think of the Earth as another planet. 00:11:53 00:11:54 The sun would have looked out over a hellacious scene 00:11:57 00:11:59 00:12:00 00:12:04 And in places you would see rafts of black volcanic rock. 00:12:09 00:12:11 Within the liquefied rock the elements are all in a jumble. 00:12:15 00:12:16 Something has to bring order out of this chaos. 00:12:20 00:12:20 And once again that something is gravity. ofjust molten lava.

00:12:23 00:12:25 Lighter material drifts toward the surface 00:12:28 00:12:28 00:12:30 00:12:33 while heavier material sinks toward the center, 00:12:36 00:12:36 00:12:39 00:12:40 00:12:42 00:12:42 creates a magnetic field that reaches out into space. 00:12:45 00:12:46 Like a force field, it will protect our future home 00:12:49 00:12:49 from the sun's deadly charged particles. 00:12:52 00:12:52 Soon this magnetic field will allow for life to grow, 00:12:56 00:12:56 and later, guide the explorers who will connect two halves of the world. 00:13:00 00:13:01 But for all this to unfold, the Earth will need a critical partner. This churning liquid metal forming a molten iron-nickel core. and forms a solid crust,

00:13:06 00:13:14 00:13:16 00:13:17 an object the size of Mars smashes into the planet 00:13:20 00:13:20 00:13:23 00:13:29 Earth swallows up much of the impactor. 00:13:31 00:13:39 But a spray of molten debris is whipped off into space. 00:13:43 00:13:44 Within as little as a year, gravity gathers this debris 00:13:48 00:13:48 into a secondary sphere in orbit around the Earth, 00:13:51 00:13:52 00:13:54 00:13:57 00:13:58 00:13:58 was an incredibly important event in Earth's history. 00:14:01 00:14:02 And in fact, its creation, over four billion years ago, 00:14:03 The formation of the moon where it has been ever since. at 25,000 miles per hour. Four and a half billion years ago,

00:14:06

is really important to the Earth's climate today.

00:14:08 00:14:08 00:14:11 00:14:11 lts gravitational pull prevents the planet from wobbling, 00:14:15 00:14:15 00:14:18 00:14:18 And the collision that formed the moon leaves Earth tilted on its axis, 00:14:23 00:14:24 giving the planet a key ingredient to life, 00:14:26 00:14:27 00:14:29 00:14:32 00:14:34 00:14:34 for the evolution of life on the Earth, 00:14:36 00:14:36 and having some stability in the tilt of those axes, 00:14:40 00:14:40 that's very, very important also for maintaining life on the Earth. 00:14:43 00:14:46 The moon's gravity Having seasons is very, very important seasons. saving us from wild climate swings. The moon keeps Earth steady.

also begins to slow Earth's rotation, 00:14:51 00:14:51 which will eventually lengthen our days from six hours to 24. 00:14:57 00:15:07 00:15:10 00:15:11 lt's too hot on Earth for liquid water to exist, 00:15:15 00:15:15 but there's water vapor, steam in the atmosphere. 00:15:19 00:15:21 The trick is how to get it out of the sky. 00:15:24 00:15:24 Onto any world where you hope to have life, a little rain must fall. 00:15:29 00:15:36 For millions of years as the planet cools, rain pours down, 00:15:41 00:15:41 forming puddles, lakes, and eventually our oceans. 00:15:47 00:15:50 00:15:53 00:15:53 our planet has a moon and permanent oceans, 00:15:57 By 3.8 billion years ago, 4.4 billion years ago.

00:15:57

but it hardly resembles the place we now call home.

00:16:00 00:16:02 To become the stage for all of human history, 00:16:05 00:16:05 00:16:08 00:16:08 fertile continents for people to discover and develop. 00:16:12 00:16:12 00:16:15 00:16:15 There's a trillion of them crawling on your skin right now. 00:16:19 00:16:28 We're telling the history of the world in two hours, 00:16:31 00:16:31 00:16:35 00:16:35 And our modern world holds important clues to the story. 00:16:39 00:16:39 00:16:42 00:16:42 hide a mysterious link to the first life on Earth. 00:16:46 00:16:53 3.8 billion years ago, ln fact, structures like this from the Big Bang to the present day. Who will create our modern world? Earth needs an oxygen-rich atmosphere,

00:16:55 00:16:57 beneath the surface of our primeval oceans, 00:17:00 00:17:02 00:17:05 00:17:09 Six simple elements, including hydrogen from the Big Bang, 00:17:13 00:17:13 and oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen created by stars, 00:17:17 00:17:17 have combined to form the key substances 00:17:19 00:17:19 that will make up all life, including us. 00:17:23 00:17:26 00:17:29 00:17:31 Within its spirals hide the secret codes of life. 00:17:34 00:17:37 700,000 years after the planet first formed, 00:17:41 00:17:42 00:17:44 00:17:46 We stand not on the shoulders of giants, life on Earth begins. The most spectacular is DNA. a revolution is taking place.

00:17:49 00:17:49 00:17:52 00:17:55 We're very egocentric. We think that we animals run the world, 00:17:59 00:17:59 00:18:02 00:18:03 lt was an empire of bacteria long before animals. 00:18:06 00:18:06 00:18:07 00:18:07 and we like to think that we wiped out that empire. 00:18:11 00:18:11 Well, we would be dead if we wiped out that empire. 00:18:14 00:18:15 l have within me an entire zoo of bacteria. 00:18:18 00:18:19 00:18:21 00:18:21 has more bacteria living in our bodies than there are people on the planet. 00:18:26 00:18:28 00:18:30 00:18:30 microbes like these For billions of years, ln fact, each one of us Animals come along, but in fact we are very late entrants. but of tiny organisms, bacteria.

will have Earth to themselves. 00:18:34 00:18:36 00:18:38 00:18:38 the first life is small, simple, and full of possibilities. 00:18:43 00:18:44 00:18:45 00:18:45 into all of the incredible forms we see today, including us, 00:18:50 00:18:50 00:18:52 00:18:53 00:18:54 00:18:54 all the energy that will ever exist was created in the Big Bang. 00:18:58 00:19:00 All creatures need to grab their share of this energy to survive. 00:19:05 00:19:05 The more we harness, the more efficiently we use it, 00:19:09 00:19:09 00:19:11 00:19:12 And almost all of our share of the Big Bang's energy 00:19:15 the more complex we can become. As we've seen, goes back to the beginning of time. The secret of how it explodes Like our infant universe,

00:19:15 00:19:18 00:19:21 00:19:23 00:19:24 00:19:26 00:19:26

is beamed to us by the sun.

Two and a half billion years ago,

some very special bacteria

figure out how to consume the sun's energy to live.

00:19:30 00:19:32 00:19:34 00:19:35 the most important waste product in the history of the world, 00:19:38 00:19:40 00:19:42 00:19:45 00:19:47 00:19:48 but first, it has another important job to do. 00:19:51 00:19:53 Earth's ancient seas are full of iron particles, 00:19:56 00:19:56 and everyone knows what happens when oxygen meets iron. 00:20:01 00:20:03 Here l'm a little bacterium. l've produced this oxygen molecule, 00:20:06 Soon, oxygen will remake our world, oxygen. ln doing this, they also create

00:20:06

and here's a big piece of iron and clump, l rust it.

00:20:09 00:20:12 The rusted iron collects on the sea floor. 00:20:14 00:20:17 Billions of years later, these huge deposits will be raised up 00:20:22 00:20:22 to become major sources of the world's iron and steel. 00:20:26 00:20:30 00:20:31 00:20:31 that later on drove the lndustrial Revolution. 00:20:34 00:20:36 00:20:38 00:20:39 and the other early landmarks of the lndustrial Age 00:20:42 00:20:42 are a direct link to some of the first life forms on Earth. 00:20:46 00:20:49 Once there's no more iron left in the sea to rust, 00:20:52 00:20:52 these ancient bacteria have a mission to complete. ln this way, the Brooklyn Bridge lt was these iron deposits

00:20:56 00:20:56 00:20:59 00:20:59 that it fills the oceans and escapes into the atmosphere. 00:21:04 00:21:06 And from then on we have a very different planet 00:21:09 00:21:09 from all the other planets in the solar system. 00:21:11 00:21:12 00:21:14 00:21:15 For the first time, some bacteria learn to live on oxygen. 00:21:19 00:21:21 Every human breath is a ritual two and a half billion years old. 00:21:26 00:21:29 00:21:30 00:21:32 even over the course of billions of years. 00:21:33 00:21:34 00:21:36 00:21:36 00:21:38 00:21:38 life has found By taming its power, Oxygen is a game changer. Life tends to stick with what works Now, life takes a giant leap. They create so much oxygen

a better way to energize itself. 00:21:41 00:21:41 Twenty times more efficient than anything used on Earth before. 00:21:45 00:21:46 What life does with all this new energy 00:21:49 00:21:49 00:21:51 00:21:58 Over the next two billion years, life becomes more complex. 00:22:02 00:22:05 00:22:07 00:22:08 and so do the oceans that reflect them. 00:22:11 00:22:12 00:22:15 00:22:15 Earth is beginning to look more like the place we now call home. 00:22:19 00:22:28 00:22:30 00:22:31 as the planet celebrates its four billionth birthday, 00:22:35 00:22:36 oxygen levels in the atmosphere have risen from next to nothing 550 million years ago, Large, solid continents appear. Skies become blue, will be the story that leads to us.

00:22:39 00:22:40 00:22:42 00:22:44 00:22:46 00:22:46 because life on Earth is about to go wild. 00:22:49 00:22:55 This is the Cambrian explosion, biology's version of the Big Bang. 00:23:00 00:23:02 Right after you have abundant oxygen, you get size and complexity. 00:23:05 00:23:07 00:23:10 00:23:13 lt's in this breathtaking span of roughly 30 million years 00:23:17 00:23:17 that most of the major animal groups evolve. 00:23:20 00:23:22 By 500 million years ago, the first bony fish have evolved in the seas. 00:23:28 00:23:29 00:23:31 00:23:32 00:23:34 00:23:34 they evolve the body parts that will Though they look nothing like us, These fish are our direct ancestors. And oxygen lets you do that. Take a deep breath, to as much as 1 3%.

make our own bodies possible, 00:23:38 00:23:38 including a spine, and a mouth with jaws and teeth. 00:23:42 00:23:44 We owe a great deal to our fish ancestors. 00:23:46 00:23:46 00:23:47 00:23:47 really represent modifications of the original fish body plan. 00:23:50 00:23:53 For the first four billion years of Earth's history, 00:23:56 00:23:56 plants and animals have stuck to the seas. 00:23:59 00:24:02 00:24:04 00:24:04 00:24:07 00:24:07 protecting us from dangerous radiation. 00:24:10 00:24:13 00:24:15 00:24:25 Around 400 million years ago, animals are ready to take the leap. Plants make the move first. With oxygen comes an ozone layer, But that all begins to change. ln fact, all vertebrates today

00:24:30 00:24:32 Among the first ashore are the amphibians, 00:24:35 00:24:35 00:24:38 00:24:39 The most amazing thing about animal evolution ever, for me personally, 00:24:42 00:24:44 00:24:46 00:24:46 walks out of the primeval ocean onto land 00:24:50 00:24:50 00:24:52 00:24:54 Kind of like great-great-greatgreat-great-great grandpa 00:24:57 00:24:57 coming out of the ocean and seeing this fantastic world. 00:25:01 00:25:03 00:25:05 00:25:05 "Look at those trees. Look at those bugs. 00:25:06 00:25:06 00:25:08 00:25:14 Eventually, humans will conquer "There's food here. l can do this." And it's like, "Hey! l can live here. and takes a big gulp of air. is that moment that first amphibian whose descendants will include us.

every imaginable terrain. 00:25:18 00:25:21 00:25:23 00:25:23 our ancestors must first cut their final tie to the water, 00:25:27 00:25:28 00:25:29 00:25:33 00:25:35 00:25:35 they have jelly-like eggs that would dry out on land. 00:25:38 00:25:41 But some amphibians eventually solve the problem. 00:25:44 00:25:45 00:25:47 00:25:48 with a shell that keeps the moisture in. 00:25:50 00:25:51 This allows us to carry the ocean with us onto land 00:25:55 00:25:56 and signals the evolution of amphibians into reptiles. 00:26:01 00:26:01 You could be 300, 400, 500, 1 ,000 miles away from water They evolve a new form of egg Like modern frogs, mating season. But before we can do that,

00:26:06 00:26:06 and still have the water in that egg in order to birth. 00:26:09 00:26:10 00:26:11 00:26:12 00:26:15 00:26:16 That way we could colonize the rest of the land. 00:26:19 00:26:33 300 million years ago, life flourishes in massive tropical swamps 00:26:40 00:26:40 where planet Earth is cooking up a surprise. 00:26:43 00:26:44 00:26:46 00:26:47 they are buried, compacted, and cooked. 00:26:52 00:26:53 00:26:55 00:26:55 and radiated by the sun to plants on Earth 00:26:59 00:27:00 is now locked away underground as coal, 00:27:05 Energy created in the Big Bang As plants die here, lt cuts that final tie to the ocean. That is the key.

00:27:05

a gift to be opened by human beings millions of years in the future.

00:27:10 00:27:19 00:27:21 00:27:23 00:27:25 00:27:26 The biggest spike in volcanic activity since the early days of the planet. 00:27:31 00:27:32 The atmosphere is choked with carbon dioxide, 00:27:36 00:27:36 and the diversity of animal life spawned in the Cambrian explosion 00:27:40 00:27:40 00:27:42 00:27:46 More than 70% of all species on Earth go extinct 00:27:50 00:27:50 in the worst mass die-off in history, the Permian extinction. 00:27:55 00:27:58 Extinction is a recurring character in the story of planet Earth. 00:28:02 00:28:04 Five times in the last 500 million years, 00:28:07 is stopped dead in its tracks. an apocalypse unfolds. 250 million years ago,

00:28:07

some cataclysm wiped out the dominant species.

00:28:11 00:28:12 lt's a reshuffling of the deck that allows new creatures to take hold. 00:28:16 00:28:17 00:28:21 00:28:24 Dinosaurs will reign for the next 1 60 million years. 00:28:28 00:28:30 During that time, the first hardwood forests appear. 00:28:34 00:28:36 And after more than four billion years, 00:28:39 00:28:39 the moon's gravity finally settles Earth into a 24-hour day. 00:28:44 00:28:47 00:28:48 00:28:49 00:28:51 00:28:51 into a single landmass we call Pangaea. 00:28:53 00:28:54 00:28:57 00:29:00 Africa separates from South America. But now they start to break apart. the continents are clustered together At the start of the dinosaur era, New creatures like the dinosaurs.

00:29:03 00:29:04 00:29:06 00:29:07 creating what will become one of the defining barriers of human history, 00:29:11 00:29:12 the gulf between the old and new worlds. 00:29:15 00:29:19 The undisputed stars of the dinosaur era 00:29:21 00:29:21 are animals like Triceratops and T-Rex. 00:29:25 00:29:25 But there are some important creatures scurrying around their feet. 00:29:29 00:29:30 lf we were to trace our lineage back far enough, 00:29:33 00:29:33 we would come to really small shrew-like mammals 00:29:37 00:29:37 surrounded by these titans of reptile life. 00:29:40 00:29:41 During that time, mammals, we were living on the fringes. 00:29:44 The vast Atlantic Ocean opens up,

00:29:44

We were maybe stealing dinosaur eggs, maybe just eking out an existence.

00:29:49 00:29:49 00:29:52 00:29:53 The biggest headline of the history of dinosaurs, 00:29:56 00:29:56 which is 1 60 million years, is that we lost! 00:29:59 00:30:00 00:30:01 00:30:02 We couldn't get much bigger than a small cat. 00:30:05 00:30:05 For 1 60 million years, all the medium-size, medium-big, 00:30:09 00:30:09 big, gigantic and stupendous animals were dinosaurs, for that whole time! 00:30:14 00:30:15 00:30:18 00:30:20 But the deck is about to be reshuffled. 00:30:23 00:30:32 00:30:34 00:30:34 a six-mile wide object, Sixty-five million years ago, They beat us fair and square. Mammals lost. So the dinosaurs kind of held us back.

likely an asteroid, 00:30:38 00:30:38 00:30:40 00:30:48 00:30:51 00:30:51 00:30:53 00:30:54 Every creature on land weighing over 50 pounds goes extinct. 00:30:58 00:31:00 00:31:03 00:31:05 The greatest gift that the dinosaurs ever gave us was dying. 00:31:09 00:31:10 When they went extinct, it gave the mammals time to rise. 00:31:14 00:31:16 lt doesn't take long after the disappearance of the dinosaurs 00:31:19 00:31:19 00:31:22 00:31:23 Like their later versions, including us, 00:31:26 00:31:26 these mammals have evolved forward-facing eyes 00:31:29 for the first true primates to appear. The reign of the dinosaurs is over. Temperatures plummet. A dust cloud blocks out the sun. slams into the Earth.

00:31:29

allowing for accurate depth perception and flexible hands with five digits.

00:31:35 00:31:35 They have five fingers, just like us, which means we can grasp things. 00:31:40 00:31:40 lf you think about other animals that don't have digits 00:31:42 00:31:44 organized the way ours are, their ability to hold things, 00:31:46 00:31:46 to manipulate objects, is much more limited. 00:31:49 00:31:52 00:31:54 00:31:54 our primate ancestors are evolving on a planet that is warming. 00:31:58 00:31:59 lt's so hot, there are jungles at the poles. 00:32:02 00:32:05 00:32:07 00:32:07 the Americas and Africa have almost fully taken shape. 00:32:10 00:32:12 00:32:13 But in northern Africa, As the continents drift, Fifty million years ago,

00:32:14

modern-day Egypt is submerged beneath an ancient sea.

00:32:17 00:32:19 On the floor of that sea live small, shelled creatures called nummulites. 00:32:24 00:32:24 Their shells, made of calcium and carbon, 00:32:26 00:32:26 pile up on the sea bottom over millions of years, 00:32:29 00:32:29 00:32:32 00:32:33 Limestone that will be used to build the Great Pyramids. 00:32:36 00:32:37 lf you look closely at the pyramids today, 00:32:39 00:32:40 you can still see evidence that these 4,000-year-old monuments 00:32:43 00:32:43 are in fact made of 50-million-year-old seashells. 00:32:48 00:32:56 00:32:58 00:32:58 Earth is morphing into a world most of us would recognize. By 1 0 million years ago, where they form into limestone.

00:33:02 00:33:02 The Colorado River is carving out the Grand Canyon. 00:33:05 00:33:06 Mountain ranges like the Himalayas have arisen. 00:33:09 00:33:09 They're so tall, they disrupt weather patterns 00:33:12 00:33:13 00:33:16 00:33:20 The lsthmus of Panama emerges to connect North and South America, 00:33:25 00:33:25 cleaving the connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific, 00:33:29 00:33:29 00:33:30 00:33:30 and tipping the world even more towards an ice age. 00:33:34 00:33:37 00:33:39 00:33:39 our primate ancestors hang on in the tropics, 00:33:42 00:33:42 but a new creature is coming in that threatens to destroy them. With the planet getting colder, disrupting ocean currents setting the stage for a colder planet.

00:33:47 00:33:56 00:33:58 00:34:00 our primate ancestors live safely in the trees. 00:34:03 00:34:04 But their neighborhood is about to be invaded. 00:34:07 00:34:08 This newcomer will have as profound an effect on human history 00:34:11 00:34:11 00:34:14 00:34:16 00:34:19 00:34:19 but one of the most important things that will lead to the emergence of us, 00:34:23 00:34:24 00:34:27 00:34:29 The grasslands appear almost simultaneously around the world. 00:34:33 00:34:35 00:34:37 00:34:39 00:34:41 00:34:42 00:34:45 we get the North American prairies, we get the Eurasian steppe lands, We get the African savannas, is the emergence of grass. lt seems almost impossible to believe, as any other living thing on Earth. Seven million years ago,

00:34:46

we get the great grasslands ofArgentina,

00:34:49 00:34:50 appearing simultaneously around the world. 00:34:53 00:34:56 ln Eastern Africa, grasslands invade the traditional woodland habitat 00:35:00 00:35:01 00:35:02 00:35:03 With fewer trees and greater gaps between them, 00:35:06 00:35:06 00:35:09 00:35:09 Apes would notice that there's more and more apes in the same tree 00:35:12 00:35:12 00:35:14 00:35:15 00:35:16 00:35:16 to go from one patch of food to a different one, 00:35:18 00:35:18 00:35:19 00:35:20 Now, one way to do it is to run like hell, you know. separated by grasslands. increasing incentives for apes and less and less food, our ancestors have to adapt. of our ape ancestors.

00:35:23 00:35:23 The other way to do it is to extend one's food sources into the grasslands 00:35:27 00:35:27 to seek out the foods that are available there. 00:35:30 00:35:32 And so, some apes make the move down into this stark, new habitat. 00:35:37 00:35:40 lt's a landscape better suited to primates that can walk on two legs. 00:35:45 00:35:46 Keeping their heads up above the tall grasses to watch for predators. 00:35:51 00:35:54 Standing on two feet is a revolutionary advance. 00:35:57 00:35:59 00:36:01 00:36:03 Hands we will need to shape human history. 00:36:06 00:36:16 00:36:18 00:36:21 00:36:24 00:36:24 walk an Earth whose rocks are loaded with the element silicon. early proto-humans or hominids 2.6 million years ago, Because it frees up our hands.

00:36:28 00:36:31 Created in the cores of stars billions of years before, 00:36:36 00:36:36 silicon is the second-most abundant element in Earth's crust. 00:36:40 00:36:40 One of its chemical quirks is the ability to bond with oxygen 00:36:44 00:36:44 to form crystals that combine into solid rocks, 00:36:48 00:36:49 rocks that can be chipped and shaped without shattering. 00:36:52 00:36:54 Hominids started doing this 2.6 million years ago, 00:36:57 00:36:58 breaking cryptocrystalline silicates to make sharp edges, 00:37:01 00:37:01 and people use them for millions, literally 2.6 million years. 00:37:05 00:37:10 Simply having a modified stone with a sharp edge on it, 00:37:13 00:37:13 00:37:15 now suddenly you have a hammer.

00:37:15 00:37:18 00:37:18

You have a crude cutting edge.

A simple modified stone means a human can suddenly do

00:37:22 00:37:22 a thousand more things than we could do previously. 00:37:26 00:37:31 00:37:34 00:37:34 enabled our ancestors to persist and eventually turn into us. 00:37:40 00:37:43 Silicon launches the first technological revolution, 00:37:46 00:37:47 00:37:49 00:37:51 Millions of years after it powers our first handheld devices, 00:37:56 00:37:56 another chemical quirk of silicon will make it 00:37:59 00:37:59 00:38:01 00:38:04 The next leap towards becoming truly human 00:38:07 00:38:07 relies on a little-known secret the height of technology once again. the Stone Age. That little extra bit of technology

of our home planet. 00:38:10 00:38:10 00:38:12 00:38:12 it turns out Earth may have a rare and special power. 00:38:15 00:38:21 Of all the planets and moons in the solar system, 00:38:24 00:38:24 we think that Earth is unique in the ability to sustain fire. 00:38:29 00:38:32 Other planets and moons have lightning and lava. 00:38:35 00:38:38 But only on Earth do we have the two critical things 00:38:40 00:38:41 00:38:43 00:38:45 a vast fuel supply in the form of plants and trees, 00:38:48 00:38:49 and an atmosphere full of oxygen to fan the flames. 00:38:52 00:38:53 lf fire wasn't a possibility, you'd have nothing like us running around. 00:38:57 we need for fire to burn, ln the known universe,

00:39:01

Homo sapiens, they made a world with fire.

00:39:04 00:39:10 Our ancestors have fire firmly under control by 800,000 years ago. 00:39:15 00:39:19 lt's a skill that connects us back to the very beginning. 00:39:22 00:39:24 Remember that all energy was created in the Big Bang 00:39:27 00:39:27 and all life is in a competition for our share of this energy. 00:39:31 00:39:33 00:39:35 00:39:35 an external stomach to break down foods, 00:39:38 00:39:38 releasing more calories, giving us more energy, 00:39:42 00:39:42 which in turn allows us to support bigger brains. 00:39:45 00:39:48 Fire is also the ultimate gateway technology. 00:39:51 00:39:52 We will soon use it Using fire to cook is like having

to turn clay into pottery, 00:39:55 00:39:56 00:39:58 00:39:59 00:40:01 00:40:03 lf you don't have fire, you can't have the internal combustion engine. 00:40:06 00:40:06 00:40:08 00:40:08 00:40:09 00:40:11 lt's a technology that opens a world of possibilities 00:40:14 00:40:14 00:40:16 00:40:22 00:40:24 00:40:27 the modern human has fully taken shape. 00:40:29 00:40:31 00:40:33 00:40:33 which is high up in the throat in our ancestors, descends. 00:40:37 00:40:38 00:40:41 More complex sounds are now possible. The larynx or voice box 200,000 years ago, for creatures that know how to use it. No fire, no rubber. No fire, no metal. water into steam power. metal into weapons,

00:40:44 00:40:47 00:40:49

We begin to speak.

For the first time, information can be shared

00:40:52 00:40:52 between individuals and across generations. 00:40:56 00:40:57 Humans have gained a critical advantage 00:40:59 00:40:59 00:41:01 00:41:02 You can tell, "My grandfather said that when the elephants didn't show up 00:41:05 00:41:05 00:41:06 00:41:07 You know, "My aunt told me that her cousin found this water hole 00:41:10 00:41:10 00:41:11 00:41:13 00:41:14 00:41:14 and we can all understand what they mean when they were describing 00:41:17 00:41:17 00:41:19 what they found out on that landscape. And we can all benefit "on the other side of that river." "we go off and hunted zebras." over every other creature on Earth.

00:41:20

Language changes humans from being like stand-alone computers

00:41:24 00:41:24 to being networked computers where you can share information. 00:41:27 00:41:30 Now, one doesn't need to depend on one's own personal experience. 00:41:32 00:41:33 One can borrow the personal experience of anyone 00:41:36 00:41:36 00:41:37 00:41:38 00:41:39 00:41:39 00:41:41 00:41:42 As a species, humans become exponentially smarter. 00:41:46 00:41:47 The global game board has been set, and we are now ready to play. 00:41:51 00:41:54 00:41:58 00:41:59 We have agile hands and primitive tools. 00:42:02 00:42:02 We can communicate and control fire. 1 00,000 years ago, man can move. No other creature has that. That's a powerful advantage. with whom one can communicate.

00:42:05 00:42:06 We are finally ready to expand out of our African home 00:42:09 00:42:11 on a path millions of years in the making. 00:42:14 00:42:19 Shifting continents have linked Africa and Eurasia 00:42:22 00:42:22 into the largest contiguous landmass on Earth, Afro-Eurasia. 00:42:27 00:42:29 00:42:31 00:42:31 more than twice the surface area of our entire moon. 00:42:34 00:42:36 00:42:37 00:42:37 this means more than half the land on Earth can be reached on foot. 00:42:42 00:42:47 Human dispersal was a crucial game changer. 00:42:50 00:42:51 00:42:53 00:42:53 that live on more than one continent simultaneously. We are one of the few primates For early humans, 33 million square miles,

00:42:56 00:42:57 So what that means is that we're better insulated 00:43:00 00:43:00 from the kinds of things that caused big mammals to become extinct 00:43:02 00:43:03 00:43:04 00:43:05 lt's extinction insurance. Dispersal is extinction insurance. 00:43:08 00:43:12 But just as the world begins to open itself up to man, 00:43:16 00:43:16 00:43:18 00:43:20 00:43:22 00:43:24 Now the planet will test us like never before. 00:43:27 00:43:29 By 50,000 years ago, glaciers begin to advance down from the North Pole. 00:43:34 00:43:34 At the same time, humans continue their conquest of the globe, 00:43:38 00:43:38 00:43:40 arriving in China and Australia. An ice age begins. the planet turns on us. than other primates are.

00:43:41

By 30,000 years ago, Homo sapiens reach Europe for the first time.

00:43:45 00:43:46 By 20,000 years ago, with the ice nearing its most extreme, 00:43:50 00:43:51 the march of man reaches the frigid tundra of Northeast Siberia. 00:43:55 00:43:57 00:43:59 00:44:00 man endures and develops the last skills we will need to be truly human. 00:44:07 00:44:12 00:44:14 00:44:16 00:44:18 00:44:18 00:44:21 00:44:21 beyond what is simply needed to survive. 00:44:24 00:44:25 We can only start saying we have an organism that is human, 00:44:28 00:44:28 00:44:29 00:44:29 when we start seeing evidence of symbolic thought. that is the same as us, to think beyond the here and now, We have taken an intellectual leap, The clues lie in these symbols. Despite the trials of the lce Age,

00:44:31 00:44:33 lt's when we start seeing a picture of a cow 00:44:37 00:44:38 that everybody will recognize as the picture of a cow. 00:44:41 00:44:41 Because only when we start seeing all of those things 00:44:44 00:44:44 00:44:46 00:44:47 People or creatures that think like us, 00:44:50 00:44:51 that see the world in the same way as us. 00:44:53 00:44:54 00:44:55 00:44:55 human history was marked to be radically different 00:44:56 00:44:58 00:45:00 00:45:01 Now, with huge amounts of the planet's water locked up in ice, 00:45:05 00:45:05 00:45:09 sea levels plummet by 300 to 400 feet. to any other species on this planet. And from that moment on, can we say that is a human.

00:45:10

The last great barrier to the spread of man is erased.

00:45:14 00:45:14 We come across the Bering Land Bridge from Siberia to North America. 00:45:19 00:45:23 We are telling the history of the world in two hours, 00:45:26 00:45:26 and in just one hour, more than 1 3 billion years have already passed. 00:45:31 00:45:31 These years of preparation have allowed man 00:45:34 00:45:34 to finally emerge and spread out across the planet. 00:45:37 00:45:38 And human history as we know it can truly begin. 00:45:41 00:45:48 Our history of the world began with the beginning of time, the Big Bang. 00:45:53 00:45:54 lt has taken us on a journey of nearly 14 billion years. 00:45:58 00:46:01 00:46:04 00:46:04 it's important to remember Now, as humans take center stage,

00:46:06 00:46:07 just how small a slice of history we actually occupy. 00:46:11 00:46:12 00:46:13 00:46:13 imagine compressing 14 billion years of history 00:46:17 00:46:18 00:46:20 00:46:22 On this scale, the Earth would have existed only for the past five years. 00:46:28 00:46:29 So that's about a third of the history of the universe. 00:46:31 00:46:32 Large complex creatures would have developed seven months ago. 00:46:36 00:46:37 On this scale, dinosaurs went extinct only about three weeks ago. 00:46:42 00:46:43 00:46:45 00:46:46 would span only the last three minutes. 00:46:49 00:46:50 00:46:51 Modern industrial societies, The entire recorded history of humans down to just 14 years. To make things simple,

00:46:52

the lndustrial Revolution, effectively, six seconds ago.

00:46:55 00:46:57 What this shows me is that we humans have been around 00:47:00 00:47:00 for only a very brief instant in the recorded history of the universe. 00:47:05 00:47:06 Mankind has waited billions of years for our brief instant to shine, 00:47:11 00:47:12 00:47:14 00:47:14 carried out the slow work of organizing the elements 00:47:17 00:47:18 in a way that would make human history possible. 00:47:20 00:47:27 00:47:29 00:47:29 less than 1 00,000 years after expanding out ofAfrica, 00:47:34 00:47:34 00:47:36 00:47:37 Humans have met the adversity of the ice age head on, 00:47:40 man has reached South America. lt's 1 0,000 B.C., as the stars and our evolving planet

00:47:41 00:47:42 00:47:43

and rather than die off,

we have adapted, become even more intelligent.

00:47:46 00:47:47 And now we have colonized the entire globe. 00:47:50 00:47:52 00:47:55 00:47:58 00:48:03 00:48:04 00:48:06 00:48:07 Our closest living ancestors, the chimpanzees, live in the tropics. 00:48:11 00:48:11 00:48:13 00:48:13 Humans have managed to colonize the entire globe. 00:48:16 00:48:18 lce age land bridges allowed man to spread around the world, 00:48:22 00:48:22 but now the ice begins to melt and sea levels rise again. 00:48:28 00:48:28 Humans are trapped and separated in two vast and unconnected hemispheres. They only live in the tropics. humans are there. from tundra to desert, From coast to mountaintop,

00:48:33 00:48:33 Each pocket of humanity left to make the best of what it has been given. 00:48:38 00:48:39 00:48:41 00:48:41 they carve out lakes, rivers, and bays. 00:48:45 00:48:46 00:48:48 00:48:51 00:48:52 00:48:52 increased rainfall causes Lake Victoria and Lake Albert to overflow 00:48:56 00:48:58 00:49:00 00:49:02 00:49:04 00:49:05 the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia, modern-day lraq. 00:49:09 00:49:11 The lndus in modern-day Pakistan and China's Yellow and Yangtze. 00:49:16 00:49:18 These river valleys become critically important 00:49:20 00:49:20 for how human history will now be ln Eurasia, other rivers emerge, and form Egypt's Nile River. ln Africa, The map as we know it emerges. As the glaciers recede,

played out 00:49:23 00:49:23 following the retreat of these ice sheets. 00:49:25 00:49:27 These are the river valleys whose waters and fertile soils 00:49:31 00:49:31 will allow the first seeds of civilization to be planted. 00:49:35 00:49:38 With temperatures warming after the ice age, 00:49:41 00:49:41 00:49:44 00:49:45 and man can finally choose to stop moving. 00:49:48 00:49:50 00:49:52 00:49:54 00:49:55 00:50:00 With more mouths to feed, our ancestors have to get clever. 00:50:04 00:50:06 They had to find a way to increase the amount of food 00:50:08 00:50:08 they could get from the surroundings. Populations grow. Permanent settlements begin. plants and animals are more plentiful,

00:50:10 00:50:11 Now, one discovery forever changes the planet and the path of mankind. 00:50:17 00:50:20 00:50:22 00:50:25 And the seeds we sow come from the same plants 00:50:28 00:50:28 that millions of years earlier spurred our evolution from ape to man, 00:50:33 00:50:33 the unheralded hero of human history, grass. 00:50:38 00:50:40 A grass seed is tiny, right? lt's no food. 00:50:42 00:50:42 l can hunt a bison or l can take grass. 00:50:44 00:50:45 00:50:47 00:50:47 lronically, grass seeds become the most important food crops 00:50:50 00:50:50 in the world, but they're the things that are ignored by hunter-gatherers 00:50:53 00:50:53 for thousands and thousands of years. You hunt a bison, right? We learn to plant seeds.

00:50:55 00:50:55 People don't start using them until they absolutely have to use them. 00:50:58 00:51:00 Some of the species of grass that we are most familiar with 00:51:03 00:51:03 00:51:05 00:51:05 00:51:09 00:51:09 all of the cereal crops are types of grass. 00:51:12 00:51:13 So it's not just that beautiful green lawn 00:51:16 00:51:16 that we measure our middle class success from. 00:51:18 00:51:19 lt's also the staple crop upon which civilization depends. 00:51:24 00:51:24 lt is the majority of our calorie intake. 00:51:27 00:51:29 Once again, it all goes back to the Big Bang. 00:51:32 00:51:34 Central to the story of all life lt includes wheat and rye and barley, includes sugarcane.

is our competition for that energy 00:51:37 00:51:37 00:51:39 00:51:40 00:51:43 00:51:43 just as fire allowed us to consume more calories, 00:51:47 00:51:47 switching to farming is an energy revolution. 00:51:50 00:51:51 A hunter-gatherer needs 1 0 square miles of territory 00:51:54 00:51:54 to provide himself with enough sustenance, 00:51:57 00:51:57 enough energy in the form of plants and meat to survive. 00:52:01 00:52:02 A farmer can harvest the sun's energy so efficiently, 00:52:06 00:52:06 he can fulfill his needs using only a tenth of a square mile of land. 00:52:11 00:52:14 ln the warming after the last ice age, farming begins to take hold 00:52:18 Just as oxygen gave us an edge, created at the beginning of time.

00:52:18

in a half dozen places around the globe,

00:52:21 00:52:21 but by the fortunes of geography, no place in the ancient world 00:52:25 00:52:25 has a better concentration of plants and animals 00:52:28 00:52:28 00:52:30 00:52:30 than the Middle East's Fertile Crescent. 00:52:33 00:52:33 ln the Middle East, we have this remarkable convergence 00:52:36 00:52:36 of species that seem to have been susceptible 00:52:39 00:52:39 to domestication, both plants and animals. 00:52:42 00:52:43 ln terms of animals, we're talking about cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats. 00:52:47 00:52:47 ln terms of plants, two varieties of wheat, rye, barley, lentils, figs, 00:52:52 00:52:52 all in this very small part that can be domesticated

of the world. 00:52:55 00:52:56 Unlike the Fertile Crescent and the rest ofAfro-Eurasia, 00:53:00 00:53:00 places like sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas 00:53:03 00:53:03 have very few wild species that can be easily domesticated. 00:53:08 00:53:10 00:53:13 00:53:13 People blessed with the right mix of plants and animals 00:53:16 00:53:16 00:53:18 00:53:18 and get a massive head start on the road to the modern world. 00:53:22 00:53:30 One animal that gives any human who can tame it 00:53:33 00:53:33 an almost unbeatable edge is the horse. 00:53:37 00:53:39 lt's a little-known fact that although horses first evolved in the Americas, 00:53:43 will become more powerful lt's a critical difference.

00:53:43

they died out there along with many other large mammals

00:53:47 00:53:47 00:53:49 00:53:49 There were at least three species of ice age horses in North America, 00:53:52 00:53:52 maybe more, some as small as ponies, some as big as Clydesdales. 00:53:56 00:53:56 And they had evolved in North America for 40 million years. 00:53:59 00:53:59 They're part of the whole history, and then... They're gone. They're gone. 00:54:03 00:54:04 00:54:06 00:54:06 disappear before they can be used by the first North Americans. 00:54:10 00:54:10 00:54:12 00:54:12 large numbers of horses escaped back across the Bering Strait land bridge 00:54:16 00:54:16 and spread out across the great grasslands 00:54:18 Fortunately before that happened, These powerful potential allies around 1 0,000 B.C.

00:54:18 00:54:20 00:54:22

and steppe lands of Central Eurasia.

A narrow escape that had a profound effect on human history.

00:54:26 00:54:27 00:54:29 00:54:29 nomadic people in Central Asia learn to tame them for the first time. 00:54:34 00:54:36 Domesticated horses will be harnessed across Eurasia, 00:54:40 00:54:40 advancing everything from work to warfare. 00:54:43 00:54:47 Perhaps no other animal has had a bigger influence 00:54:50 00:54:50 00:54:52 00:54:54 And the circle wouldn't be complete for another 5,000 years 00:54:58 00:54:58 when Christopher Columbus would bring horses with him 00:55:01 00:55:01 00:55:04 00:55:05 His horses would be the first on his second voyage to the Americas. on the course of human history. Around 4,000 B.C.,

to set hooves in the Americas 00:55:09 00:55:09 since the great die-off over 1 0,000 years earlier. 00:55:13 00:55:21 6,000 years ago, domestication of animals and plants 00:55:25 00:55:25 sets the stage for the next phase of human history. 00:55:29 00:55:30 Like clouds of interstellar dust gathering in material to form stars, 00:55:35 00:55:35 a type of gravity is at work as places like Sumeria, 00:55:39 00:55:39 located in part of the Fertile Crescent known as Mesopotamia, 00:55:43 00:55:43 draw in people, support large populations, 00:55:46 00:55:46 and spin up into centers of power and innovation. 00:55:50 00:55:52 00:55:54 00:55:54 some of these Sumerian settlements can truly be called our first cities. By 3,000 B.C.,

00:55:59 00:56:01 One of them, Uruk, has around 50,000 people 00:56:05 00:56:05 00:56:09 00:56:09 a population density that rivals modern-day New York City. 00:56:13 00:56:16 Humans have become so efficient at deriving energy 00:56:19 00:56:19 from domesticated food that this land area, 00:56:22 00:56:22 which would have supported only a single hunter-gatherer, 00:56:25 00:56:26 00:56:28 00:56:30 But a change in diet also triggers a new dependence. 00:56:34 00:56:39 00:56:41 00:56:41 you are depending for 80, 90% of your calories 00:56:44 00:56:44 00:56:46 on perhaps one or two species. Once you move to agriculture, now can support thousands. living in less than one square mile,

00:56:46

ln the case of the Middle East, wheat and barley.

00:56:48 00:56:49 00:56:50 00:56:50 they both ripen at about the same time. 00:56:53 00:56:53 Humans have to gather the seeds at the same time. 00:56:56 00:56:56 So now we have our food for the year that has arrived in one hit. 00:57:00 00:57:01 lt's like getting your salary paid once a year. 00:57:04 00:57:04 You need to record it. You need to plan, 00:57:06 00:57:06 because if inevitably your crop fails, you have famine. 00:57:10 00:57:11 And you're not gonna have another go for another 1 2 months. 00:57:14 00:57:19 00:57:23 00:57:25 00:57:27 To keep track of them, ln these first cities, crops are king. ln the case of wheat and barley,

00:57:27

our ancestors develop the first writing.

00:57:30 00:57:30 00:57:33 00:57:34 And to administer them, the beginnings of politics. 00:57:37 00:57:38 When you have hundreds or thousands of people who are living together, 00:57:42 00:57:42 00:57:43 00:57:43 to sort of run around and create a census. 00:57:45 00:57:45 00:57:48 00:57:49 lt creates a need for some form of social and political hierarchy. 00:57:53 00:57:55 Planting seeds has set man on a new path. 00:57:57 00:57:59 00:58:01 00:58:02 But to take the next epic step from city to civilization, 00:58:07 00:58:07 we'll need the help Settlements have grown into cities. lt creates a need for government. there's simply too many people To protect them, the first armies.

of a very surprising creature. 00:58:11 00:58:22 00:58:25 00:58:25 after wandering the Earth for more than 1 00,000 years, 00:58:29 00:58:30 00:58:32 00:58:35 We cluster near rivers, along the Tigris and Euphrates, 00:58:39 00:58:41 00:58:45 00:58:47 00:58:49 00:58:49 00:58:51 00:58:54 But first, they must all master one thing, trade. 00:58:58 00:58:59 The more they exchange goods and learn from other lands, 00:59:02 00:59:02 00:59:04 00:59:05 lt seems that long-distance trade and communication 00:59:08 00:59:08 the faster they grow. Civilizations are about to take off. the Yellow and Yangtze. the Nile, the lndus, mankind has begun to settle down. 5,000 years ago,

00:59:10