This Fleeting World Book Review

Since the dawn of time, historians have been trying to piece out the gaps in history and explain how we got here based on the events of the past. Surprisingly, historian David Christian, author of This Fleeting World, summed up the astonishments and confusions of humanity in 113 pages. This short world history book tells us about the prequel of the Universe (first 14 billion years of the earth without humans) to the modern era in history (how we are today). Christian wrote the book to help readers comprehend world history through concise facts and helpful examples. Throughout the book, he argues the central defining characteristics of each era, events that triggered the transitions of the next era, and the difficulties of periodization.

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By that timeframe, people were from small communities that sustained life by hunting for food, or seek out things they need because they didn’t manufacture and grow food (1). Christian defines this era as the “foundations” where human history was laid down. An example of a foundation is the technological creativity of human foragers. Technological creativity proved to be useful the foragers because it “...enabled them to explore and settle lands quite different from those in which they had evolved,” (14). For example, our ancestors replaced the Acheulian stone technologies with a more precise and varied engineered stone tools in Africa. New stone tools like these were so small that they might be hafted, “...which would have greatly increased their versatility and usefulness,” (14). Acceleration was shown through migrations to new environments and technological changes. As a result, foragers adopted more intransitive techniques, which “...allowed them to extract more resources from a given area,” (20). Innovational ideas; such as, eel traps in the state of Victoria, harvesting wild millet with stone knives, and using grindstones to grind seed paved the way for agriculture (21-22). “...communities of affluent foragers prepared the way for the next fundamental transition in human history,”

Christian highlights this era as increase in human population and productivity. Human numbers increased eightfold because productivity increased faster (60). New technological advances augmented productivity. Advances, such as, improved crop rotations, increased use of irrigation, artificial fertilizers and pesticides, and genetically modified crops kept up with the growing pace of population growth, lead humans to consume an average of 230,000 kilocalories each day (60). Nowadays, transportations and communication have changed dramatically from the past. For instance, we can send messages instantly across the world, in comparison, with message delivering via horseback back then (62). In a cultural aspect, religious traditions are challenged by modern science. The theory of evolution, proposed by Charles Darwin, states life might be a product of blind force (72), questions religious ideologies. To describe unstable, the Modern Era had world wars because of imperialism (extending a country's power and influence through military force and diplomacy). After it ended, capitalism and communism emerged as the two conflicting powers. As a consequence, the Cold War started. Communist governments tried to shift towards capitalist ideals because it did not work that well (85-86). The Soviet Union disbanded. Today, essentials are “...basic medical care, clean water, and adequate food” (89). Unfortunately,