xix, 364 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.

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Introduction -- The Nature of World History -- The Nature of Big History -- The Nature of World Environmental History -- Earth's History and Human Origins -- Mass Migrations and the Rise of Agriculture -- Population Growth and the Rise of Cities -- Cities and the Rise of Manufacturing and Industry -...

Climatic Changes and Evolution -- Another Effect of the Closing of the Mediterranean Sea -- Human Ancestry -- The Birth of Human Intelligence -- Early Diets and Their Nutritional Value -- Translating Human Intelligence into Action -- Tectonic Upheavals, Landscape Changes, and Climate -- Population M...

The Role of Disease in Calculating Population Size -- The Impact of Migration and Settlement on Global Population Growth -- The Role of Nutrition in Early Population Growth -- The Role of Animal Domestication in the Spread of Infectious Disease -- Nutrition, Climate Change, and Population -- A Popul...

Manufacturing in Colonial America -- Manufacturing in the Modern World -- Notes -- Introduction -- The Economies of China and India -- European Hegemony and British Industrialization -- Economic Developments in China, Japan, and India -- Harnessing the Power of Water -- Disease, Death, and a Public...

The Eotechnic World: Waterwheels and Windmills -- The Paleotechnic World: Energy from Coal -- The Neotechnic World: Energy from Oil -- The Developing World's Demands for Energy -- The Case for Natural Gas: A Neotechnic Energy Solution -- Hydraulic Fracturing of Rock, or "Fracking," to Release Natura...