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

Lecture 10: The Early Earth—A Short History

different from today’s Earth. How did its surface change to create the

familiar geography that has done so much to shape human history? The next

lecture will tackle this question by describing the fundamental geological

paradigm of plate tectonics. Ŷ

Chaisson, Epic of Evolution, chap. 4.

Christian, Maps of Time, chap. 3.

Delsemme, Our Cosmic Origins, chap. 4.

Macdougall, A Short History of Planet Earth.

1. How and when did the Earth acquire the layered structure it has today,
   with a metallic center, a semimolten mantle, a thin but rigid crust, and
   an atmosphere?


2. What have been the crucial stages in the history of the
   Earth’s atmosphere?

Essential Reading

Supplementary Reading

Questions to Consider