In words and pictures, this book maps the great advances and crises of human history from 20 000 years ago to now. Read about the first sculptures and paintings, first cultivated crops, new hunting methods, the earliest city, grand temples and pyramids, the taming of cats and dogs, a sudden mini Ice Age. Find out who were the great Arab thinkers of the Middle Ages, when bubonic plague struck, which scientist discovered electricity, what a hadron collider does, and lots more!

Dr John Long is Head of Sciences at Museum Victoria. A previous publication, The Big Picture Book, won a Wilderness Society award and an award for Excellence in Educational Publishing, and was shortlisted for a Children's Book Council of Australia award. He has also wrote The Big Picture Book of Environments.