Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity

Lecture 40: The Early Modern Cycle, 1350–1700

of traditional social structures may help explain why, on a global scale,

innovation remained sluggish.

In the early Modern Malthusian cycle, as in the medieval cycle, there was

much change, yet the basic structures of the Agrarian era remained in place,

and that may explain why rates of innovation remained low. When, where,

and why did the breakthrough to modernity occur? Ŷ

Bentley and Ziegler, Traditions and Encounters, chaps. 23–26.

Christian, Maps of Time, chap. 12.

Crosby, The Columbian Exchange.

McNeill, The Pursuit of Power.

1. What were the most important changes during the early Modern
   Malthusian cycle?


2. What were the most important consequences of the ¿ rst wave of
   “globalization” between 1500 and 1700?

Essential Reading

Supplementary Reading

Questions to Consider