This short history of humankind is not a traditional chronological list of events and rulers like those in many textbooks or popular science publications. Yuval Noah Harari gradually reveals how Homo sapiens, an undistinguished species of apes, became the dominant force reaching today’s heights of economic, technological, and intellectual development.
Starting with the Cognitive Revolution 70,000 years ago, the author explores humanity’s migration across the globe, the Agricultural Revolution around 12,000 years ago, and the recent Industrial and Scientific Revolutions that gave us tools not only for technical advancement but to alter our very biology.
More than that — humanity now holds the power to destroy itself, whether through nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or by creating intelligent beings beyond our current comprehension based on the sapiens’ blueprint.
