Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari Sapiens : a brief history of humankind

In loving memory of my father, Shlomo Harari

Timeline of History

Years Before the Present

13.5 billion

Matter and energy appear. Beginning of physics. Atoms and molecules appear. Beginning of chemistry.

4.5 billion

Formation of planet Earth.

3.8 billion

Emergence of organisms. Beginning of biology.

6 million

Last common grandmother of humans and chimpanzees.

2.5 million

Evolution of the genus

Homo

in Africa. First stone tools.

2 million

Humans spread from Africa to Eurasia. Evolution of different human species.

500,000

Neanderthals evolve in Europe and the Middle East.

300,000

Daily usage of fire.

200,000

Homo sapiens

evolves in East Africa.

70,000

The Cognitive Revolution. Emergence of fictive language.

Beginning of history. Sapiens spread out of Africa.

45,000

Sapiens settle Australia. Extinction of Australian megafauna.

30,000

Extinction of Neanderthals.

16,000

Sapiens settle America. Extinction of American megafauna.

13,000

Extinction of

Homo floresiensis. Homo sapiens

the only surviving human species.

12,000

The Agricultural Revolution. Domestication of plants and animals. Permanent settlements.

5,000

First kingdoms, script and money. Polytheistic religions.

4,250

First empire – the Akkadian Empire of Sargon.

2,500

Invention of coinage – a universal money.

The Persian Empire – a universal political order ‘for the benefit of all humans’.

Buddhism in India – a universal truth ‘to liberate all beings from suffering’.

2,000

Han Empire in China. Roman Empire in the Mediterranean. Christianity.

1,400

Islam.

500

The Scientific Revolution. Humankind admits its ignorance and begins to acquire unprecedented power. Europeans begin to conquer America and the oceans. The entire planet becomes a single historical arena. The rise of capitalism.

200

The Industrial Revolution. Family and community are replaced by state and market. Massive extinction of plants and animals.

The Present

Humans transcend the boundaries of planet Earth. Nuclear weapons threaten the survival of humankind. Organisms are increasingly shaped by intelligent design rather than natural selection.

The Future

Intelligent design becomes the basic principle of life?

Homo sapiens

is replaced by superhumans?

Part One The Cognitive Revolution

1. A human handprint made about 30,000 years ago, on the wall of the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in southern France. Somebody tried to say, ‘I was here!’

1 An Animal of No Significance

ABOUT 13.5 BILLION YEARS AGO, MATTER, energy, time and space came into being in what is known as the Big Bang. The story of these fundamental features of our universe is called physics.

About 300,000 years after their appearance, matter and energy started to coalesce into complex structures, called atoms, which then combined into molecules. The story of atoms, molecules and their interactions is called chemistry.

About 3.8 billion years ago, on a planet called Earth, certain molecules combined to form particularly large and intricate structures called organisms. The story of organisms is called biology.

About 70,000 years ago, organisms belonging to the species Homo sapiens started to form even more elaborate structures called cultures. The subsequent development of these human cultures is called history.

Three important revolutions shaped the course of history: the Cognitive Revolution kick-started history about 70,000 years ago. The Agricultural Revolution sped it up about 12,000 years ago. The Scientific Revolution, which got under way only 500 years ago, may well end history and start something completely different. This book tells the story of how these three revolutions have affected humans and their fellow organisms.

There were humans long before there was history. Animals much like modern humans first appeared about 2.5 million years ago. But for countless generations they did not stand out from the myriad other organisms with which they shared their habitats.