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A Short History of the World

H. G. Wells

The book traces Earth's origins through the development of life, early civilizations, and human thought, concluding with World War I and the League of Nations.

"A Short History of the World" by H. G. Wells is a historical account. The book traces Earth's origins through the development of life, early civilizations, and human thought, concluding with World War I and the League of Nations.

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The story of our world is a story that is still very imperfectly known. A couple of hundred years ago men possessed the history of little more than the last three thousand years. What happened before that time was a matter of legend and speculation. Over a large part of the civilized world it was believed and taught that the world had been created suddenly in 4004 B.C., though authorities differed as to whether this had occurred in the spring or autumn of that year. This fantastically precise misconception was based upon a too literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, and upon rather arbitrary theological assumptions connected therewith. Such ideas have long since been abandoned by religious teachers, and it is universally recognized that the universe in which we live has to all appearances existed for an enormous period of time and possibly for endless time. Of course there may be deception in these appearances, as a room may be made to seem endless by putting mirrors facing each other at either end. But that the universe in which we live has existed only for six or seven thousand years may be regarded as an altogether exploded idea.

Contents

  1. 01A Short History of the World
  2. 02The World in Space
  3. 03Luminous Spiral Clouds of Matter
  4. 04Nebula seen Edge-on
  5. 05The World in Time
  6. 06The Great Spiral Nebula
  7. 07A Dark Nebula
  8. 08Another Spiral Nebula
  9. 09Landscape before Life
  10. 10The Beginnings of Life
  11. 11Marine Life in the Cambrian Period
  12. 12Fossil Trilobite
  13. 13Early Palæozoic Fossils of various Species of Lingula
  14. 14Fossilized Footprints of a Labyrinthodont, Cheirotherium
  15. 15The Age of Fishes
  16. 16Pterichthys Milleri
  17. 17Fossil of Cladoselache
  18. 18Sharks and Ganoids of the Devonian Period
  19. 19The Age of the Coal Swamps
  20. 20A Carboniferous Swamp
  21. 21Skull of a Labyrinthodont, Capitosaurus
  22. 22Skeleton of a Labyrinthodont: The Eryops
  23. 23The Age of Reptiles
  24. 24A Fossil Ichthyosaurus
  25. 25A Pterodactyl
  26. 26The Diplodocus
  27. 27The First Birds and the First Mammals
  28. 28Fossil of Archeopteryx
  29. 29Hesperornis in its Native Seas
  30. 30The Ki-wi
  31. 31Slab of Marl Rich in Cainozoic Fossils
  32. 32The Age of Mammals
  33. 33Titanotherium Robustum
  34. 34Skeleton of Giraffe-camel
  35. 35Skeleton of Early Horse
  36. 36Comparative Sizes of Brains of Rhinoceros and Dinoceras
  37. 37Monkeys, Apes and Sub-Men
  38. 38A Mammoth
  39. 39Flint Implements from Piltdown Region
  40. 40A Pithecanthropean Man
  41. 41The Heidelberg Man
  42. 42The Piltdown Skull
  43. 43The Neanderthaler and the Rhodesian Man
  44. 44A Neanderthaler
  45. 45Europe and Western Asia 50,000 years ago
  46. 46Comparison of Modern Skull and Rhodesian Skull
  47. 47The First True Men
  48. 48Altamira Cave Paintings
  49. 49Later Palæolithic Carvings
  50. 50Bust of Cro-magnon Man
  51. 51Later Palæolithic Art
  52. 52Primitive Thought
  53. 53Relics of the Stone Age
  54. 54Gray’s Inn Lane Flint Implement
  55. 55The Beginnings of Cultivation
  56. 56Neolithic Flint Implement
  57. 57Australian Spearheads
  58. 58Neolithic Pottery
  59. 59Primitive Neolithic Civilizations
  60. 60Relationship of Human Races

About this edition

Author
H. G. Wells
Era
Modern (c. 1800–1945)
Reading level
Advanced: for close, demanding reading
Formats
EPUB, PDF
Length
663 pages
This edition
Modern Philosophers