The "Essence" of History.....

What is History?
This is one of the toughest questions to answer.....


As a start we could simply state that HISTORY is the Record of the Order / Arrangement of Events in "TIME" (i.e. Chronology.....).

In basic terms, History is "whatever" happened in the Past..... Da!


But this raises an even more perplexing Philosophical / Scientific Question of the "Meaning of TIME"!


Science treats "Time as a Fundamental Property of the Universe", but so far Scientists and Philosophers have failed come up with a coherent all-encompassing definition that is agreeable to everyone.....

In Science, the way to "Quantify the Direction of the Passing of Time" (i.e. to separate the Past from the Present and the Future) is through the Concept of Entropy (Amount of Disorder). The total Entropy of an Isolated System (the Universe being a classic example) is "by definition" increases with the "Passing of Time"......

Within the last few centuries, science has gone through revolutions in it's "Understanding of Time", from the "Absolute Time" of Galileo/Newton to the "Relative Time" of Einstein.


When confronted with the above complexities, it is reasonable to claim that "History" in the "Broadest" sense "Investigates" the "Whole of Existence"!


The "purpose" of Historical Inquiry is find out how things came to be.

And the "goal" of Scientific Inquiry is to figure out why things are the way they are.

These two paradigms of inquiry can be considered as being opposite sides of the same coin, thus making both Science & History closely inter-linked.


So, can History be studied as a Science? May be.....
But it could also be argued that all Sciences need to be studied from a Historical Viewpoint!


One aspect of History which Historians contemplate on is that History tends to repeat itself.... an indication of the inability of people to learn from their mistakes.


At the current state of "Scientific Knowledge", the "Ultimate Beginning of TIME" (hence History itself....) is the "BIG BANG", although some Scientists and Philosophers the questioning validity of such an "Absolute Beginning".....

The various Categries of History;

History of the Universe
- How the Universe come into being at the beginning of Time
- How the structures of he Universe such as Stars, Galaxies and Planets formed

History of the Earth
- How the Solar System and our "Spaceship Earth" formed
- How the Geological forces shaped the Earth Structure
- How the Earth became "Habitable" for Lifeforms

History of Life
- How Life Originated from Inanimate Matter
- How Simple Lifeforms Evolved into the Complex variety of Life seen today
- How some lifeforms become winners in the struggle for existence whereas others became Extinct


History of Humankind
- Where and when did the Human Species first appear on Earth
- How and when did Humans migrate to all corners of the globe
- How the great diversity of Humanity seen today (both in terms of Biology and Culture) came about


History of Civilization
- Societies & Power Structures
- Cultures & Ideas
- Sciences & Technologies
- Arts & Architecture
- Economic Forces
- Migrations
- Warfare

An Executive Summary of the History of Everything....

Great Periods of History:


History of the Universe - Big Bang, Planck Era, Separation of Fundamental Forces, Cosmic Inflation, Elementary Particles, Radiation, Formation of Nuclei, Formation of Atoms, Formation of Stars, Formation of Galaxies, Nucleo-Synthesis of Heavy Elements, Stellar Evolution, Evolution of Cosmic Landscape, Formation of Solar System


Earth & Life History - Formation of Earth, Origin of Life, Formation of Continents, Origin of Eukaryotes, Cambrian Explosion, Vertebrates, Colonization of Land & Air, Tetrapods, Dinosaurs, Asteroids, Mass Extinctions, Flowering Plants, Mammals, Birds, Primates, Apes


Human Prehistory - Missing Link?, Bipedalism, Australopithecines, Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Stone Tools, Making Fires, Neanderthals, Homo Sapiens, Out of Africa, Hunter Gatherer Bands, Woolly Mammoths, Saber-Tooth Cats, Ice Age, Cave Art, Rituals


Agricultural Revolution & Settled Societies - Fertile Crescent, Staple Crops (e.g. Wheat, Rice, Barley, Corn), Domestication of Animals, Tribes, Chieftains, Pottery, Villages, Towns, Defensive Walls, Tribal Warfare, Horticulture, Social Stratification


Earliest Civilizations & God Kings - Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, China, Minoans, Persians, Hittites, Kings & Empires, Writing, Wheel, Pyramids, Horses & Chariots, Bronze & Iron, Vedas, Taxation & Accounting, Public Works, Money


Classical Age - Greece, Democracy, Birth of Scientific Thinking, Mathematics, flowering of Arts, India, 1st Unification of China, great Philosophers, Traders, Buddha, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Roman Empire, Jesus Christ, Christianity


Middle Ages - Barbarian Invasions, Collapse of Rome, Prophet Mohamed, Islam, Caliphate of Baghdad, Viking raids, Knights, Crusades, Maya, Byzantium, Feudalism, Incas, Aztecs, Japan, Tang & Song Dynasties in China, Mongol Hordes, Black Death, Cathedrals, Castles, Popes, Silk Road, Hindu-Arabic Numerals


Renaissance & Exploration - Italy, Florence, Brunelleschi, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, European Navel Powers, Spain, Portugal, Printing Press, Guns & Cannon, Mogul India, Ottoman Empire, Americas, East India Companies, Conquistadors, Inquisition, Copernicus, Columbus, Slavery, Plantations, Birth of Modern Science


Reformation & Enlightenment - Martin Luther & Reformation, Holland, England, France, USA, Germany, Galileo, Descartes, Isaac Newton, Modern Philosophy, Hobbes, Locke, Noble Savage, Republicanism, Rights of Man, Economics of Adam Smith, Geology of Jame Hutton, Baroque, Wars over Religion


Revolution & War - Industrial Revolution, Napoleon, European Imperialism, Darwin & Evolution, Luise Pasteur & Germ Theory, Marxism, US Civil War & Emancipation of Slaves, Freud, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Bolshevik Russia, Nationalism, Einstein & Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Great Depression, World Wars I & II, Nazis & Fascists, Atom Bomb, Cubism, Universal Suffrage, Modernism, Penicillin


Modern Age - Independence of Colonies, Communist China, Mass Consumerist Culture, Environmentalism, Discovery of DNA, Triumph of Capitalism & Democracy (may be...), Global Superpowers, Terrorism, Emerging Markets, Information Age, Post-Modernism, The Pill, Post-Colonialism, Civil Rights, Vietnam, AIDS, Collapse of Communism (almost...), Globalization, Environmental Disasters, Black Gold (Oil) & Oil Shocks, Genetic Engineering, 9-11, Obama

General Trends of History (possibly)......

It is fair to claim that The Judeo-Christian West, Confucian China, India and Islam are the 4 Great "Enduring Civilizations" of the World!

Cultures in wide ranging regions such as Japan, Middle East, South East Asia, Russia, Central Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific can possibly be considered as "Variations" and/or "Amalgamations" of the above mentioned "Primary Civilizations".

Egypt, Mesopotamia, Native Meso-America (e.g. Maya, Inca) and the Andes (i.e. Inca) are examples of civilizations which have disappeared with the tide of history, with limited relevance to modern human societies.

But Mesopotamia should be revered as the "Birth Place of Civilized Life", as it gave Humanity everything from Writing, Law Codes, Wheel and Government etc.

Although "Africa" was unquestionably, "the Motherland of All Humanity", it was "Eurasia" which was the main "Theater" of the "Human Drama" at least within the last 10,000 or so years (i.e. ever since the Birth of Agriculture in the Middle-East).

The first true "Conqueror" in Recorded History is King Sargon of Akkad around 2300 BC.

Egypt can be considered as the first "Empire State" in History from around 1500 BC.

Arguably the first "Great Military Power" in History would have been the Assyrian Empire (around 700 BC).

Most Historians would also agree that the first truly "Global Superpower" was the Persian Empire, which stretched from modern day Greece and Egypt in the West, all the way to Pakistan in the East by around 500 BC.