Bill Gates plans to teach Australian man’s history course in schools worldwide
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-10/bill-gates-big-history/4946140

Billionaire Bill Gates is seeking to revolutionise the way history is taught in high schools across the world, based on the work of Australian academic Professor David Christian.

He designed a course called Big History which covers nearly 14 billion years of history from the Big Bang to the internet and beyond.

It gives students a wide-angle look at the universe and humanity’s presence on the cosmic timeline, by combining the sciences, history and economics into one cohesive story.

more…

CrazyNeutrino said:

Bill Gates plans to teach Australian man’s history course in schools worldwide
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-10/bill-gates-big-history/4946140

Billionaire Bill Gates is seeking to revolutionise the way history is taught in high schools across the world, based on the work of Australian academic Professor David Christian.

He designed a course called Big History which covers nearly 14 billion years of history from the Big Bang to the internet and beyond.

It gives students a wide-angle look at the universe and humanity’s presence on the cosmic timeline, by combining the sciences, history and economics into one cohesive story.

more…

Very sensible, hope it cuts down the number of wacky ideas that idle minds dream up in order to rule the world.

Good to see it’s being taught by a Christian.

Peak Warming Man said:

Good to see it’s being taught by a Christian.

I think it is more about the fact, than the content of the mind

It makes a lot of sense, its very logical and it should have been done years ago, maybe the concept could even be developed further somehow to include subbranches of science and become a kind of a teaching interconnected encyclopedia where all of the interconnected discoveries make logical sense, historically as per the original concept and holistically, Ive had glimpses of this idea in the past, its a great idea and its good that someone has done it. well done!

Peak Warming Man said:

Good to see it’s being taught by a Christian.

cuts out all that pesky pre-4000 BC history I guess

they are not worthy of your humour PWM.

A similar concept about Australia was detailed in ‘The Future Eaters’ by Tim Flannery that was first published in 1994. It ties everything together so you gain a clearer vision of the country and the events that have led to what it is today. Still a great read, which every school student should read.

Boris said:

they are not worthy of your humour PWM.

Perhaps we just chose to ignore it and regard it as a minor distraction from the main theme.

PermeateFree said:

Boris said:

they are not worthy of your humour PWM.

Perhaps we just chose to ignore it and regard it as a minor distraction from the main theme.

fnar fnar fnar

but you quoted it so didn’t ignore it. just didn’t get it.

Boris said:

but you quoted it so didn’t ignore it. just didn’t get it.

Didn’t say I ignored it, only regarded it as a minor distraction.

but you did say you ignored it.

Perhaps we just chose to ignore it and regard it as a minor distraction from the main theme.

why not just admit you missed it and that way you wont keep digging that hole?

Boris said:

but you did say you ignored it.

Perhaps we just chose to ignore it and regard it as a minor distraction from the main theme.

why not just admit you missed it and that way you wont keep digging that hole?

Why don’t you go and trash some other thread.

so you’re not by responding? bloody hypocrites, first up against the wall…

aww you guys.. it’s just like the good old days!

wistful sigh

pfffft bugger changing. i love the way i am.

;-)

Boris said:

so you’re not by responding? bloody hypocrites, first up against the wall…

Nobody would accuse you of having brains Boris, so why don’t you go back down your hole.

i’d give up trying to insult me, i’ve been on forums far too long for a nobody like you to get to me. but hey if it makes you feel like a man then continue.

Boris said:

pfffft bugger changing. i love the way i am.

;-)

Like Rihanna says, I love the way it hurts

Boris said:

i’d give up trying to insult me, i’ve been on forums far too long for a nobody like you to get to me. but hey if it makes you feel like a man then continue.

Sorry about this crap CrazyNeutrino, you raised a most important and interesting issue. It seems a few people here have set out to trash whatever I post or support. Sad really, as these are the people who would benefit the most from such an education, but they chose not to partake.

I would be happy if Gates could convince Science teachers to stop telling kids Glass is a liquid, while he’s at it.

What’s this “Australian man’s”?

There are several good history books around suitable for use as a curriculum.

The same idea led to the non-fiction book “The Outline of History”, subtitled either “The Whole Story of Man” or “Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind”, by H. G. Wells first appeared in an illustrated version of 24 fortnightly instalments beginning on 22 November 1919 and was published as a single volume in 1920. This broke the British-centred way that history had previously been taught. Nowadays it appears quaintly Euro-centred.

My favourite history book is “The chronicle of the world” by Jerome Burne from 1996. This massive hardcover book with 1296 pages is a thorough history of the whole world, including Asia, Africa and Oceana. The concept is to write up world history as if it was a series of newspaper articles. It works beautifully and I’ve often wanted to see it used as a framework for a High School history curriculum.

The there’s the “Horrible Histories” series, first as books and then as a TV series. This goes more for the histrionic than the historic, has some glaring errors (such as a refusal to consider Herodotus), and is heavily British-centred, but at least it makes history fun. It overcomes the Alice in Wonderland complaint: “The first question of course was, how to get dry again: At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them, called out, ‘Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I’ll soon make you dry enough! This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! ‘William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown. William’s conduct at first was moderate. But the insolence of his Normans — ‘ “ Nothing is drier than British History.

mollwollfumble said:

What’s this “Australian man’s”?

There are several good history books around suitable for use as a curriculum.

The same idea led to the non-fiction book “The Outline of History”, subtitled either “The Whole Story of Man” or “Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind”, by H. G. Wells first appeared in an illustrated version of 24 fortnightly instalments beginning on 22 November 1919 and was published as a single volume in 1920. This broke the British-centred way that history had previously been taught. Nowadays it appears quaintly Euro-centred.

My favourite history book is “The chronicle of the world” by Jerome Burne from 1996. This massive hardcover book with 1296 pages is a thorough history of the whole world, including Asia, Africa and Oceana. The concept is to write up world history as if it was a series of newspaper articles. It works beautifully and I’ve often wanted to see it used as a framework for a High School history curriculum.

The there’s the “Horrible Histories” series, first as books and then as a TV series. This goes more for the histrionic than the historic, has some glaring errors (such as a refusal to consider Herodotus), and is heavily British-centred, but at least it makes history fun. It overcomes the Alice in Wonderland complaint: “The first question of course was, how to get dry again: At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them, called out, ‘Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I’ll soon make you dry enough! This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown. William’s conduct at first was moderate. But the insolence of his Normans — ‘ “ Nothing is drier than British History.

The are other “The chronicle of …” books in the same series, eg. one for Australia.

There’s also “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson in 2005. Although an excellent book that goes right back to the Big Bang, it’s not directly suitable for use as a history curriculum.

I strongly approve of any reform of the school history curriculum.

mollwollfumble said:

What’s this “Australian man’s”?

There are several good history books around suitable for use as a curriculum.

The same idea led to the non-fiction book “The Outline of History”, subtitled either “The Whole Story of Man” or “Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind”, by H. G. Wells first appeared in an illustrated version of 24 fortnightly instalments beginning on 22 November 1919 and was published as a single volume in 1920. This broke the British-centred way that history had previously been taught. Nowadays it appears quaintly Euro-centred.

My favourite history book is “The chronicle of the world” by Jerome Burne from 1996. This massive hardcover book with 1296 pages is a thorough history of the whole world, including Asia, Africa and Oceana. The concept is to write up world history as if it was a series of newspaper articles. It works beautifully and I’ve often wanted to see it used as a framework for a High School history curriculum.

The there’s the “Horrible Histories” series, first as books and then as a TV series. This goes more for the histrionic than the historic, has some glaring errors (such as a refusal to consider Herodotus), and is heavily British-centred, but at least it makes history fun. It overcomes the Alice in Wonderland complaint: “The first question of course was, how to get dry again: At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them, called out, ‘Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I’ll soon make you dry enough! This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! ‘William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown. William’s conduct at first was moderate. But the insolence of his Normans — ‘ “ Nothing is drier than British History.

Of course there are MANY good books that specialise on various aspects, but they do not bring the subject together to show the interrelationship. You are not trying to educate uni students here, but the general public going through high school to give them a better idea on how the world was created, its passage through time and our impact upon it.

PermeateFree said:

mollwollfumble said:

What’s this “Australian man’s”?

There are several good history books around suitable for use as a curriculum.

The same idea led to the non-fiction book “The Outline of History”, subtitled either “The Whole Story of Man” or “Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind”, by H. G. Wells first appeared in an illustrated version of 24 fortnightly instalments beginning on 22 November 1919 and was published as a single volume in 1920. This broke the British-centred way that history had previously been taught. Nowadays it appears quaintly Euro-centred.

My favourite history book is “The chronicle of the world” by Jerome Burne from 1996. This massive hardcover book with 1296 pages is a thorough history of the whole world, including Asia, Africa and Oceana. The concept is to write up world history as if it was a series of newspaper articles. It works beautifully and I’ve often wanted to see it used as a framework for a High School history curriculum.

The there’s the “Horrible Histories” series, first as books and then as a TV series. This goes more for the histrionic than the historic, has some glaring errors (such as a refusal to consider Herodotus), and is heavily British-centred, but at least it makes history fun. It overcomes the Alice in Wonderland complaint: “The first question of course was, how to get dry again: At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them, called out, ‘Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I’ll soon make you dry enough! This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! ‘William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown. William’s conduct at first was moderate. But the insolence of his Normans — ‘ “ Nothing is drier than British History.

Of course there are MANY good books that specialise on various aspects, but they do not bring the subject together to show the interrelationship. You are not trying to educate uni students here, but the general public going through high school to give them a better idea on how the world was created, its passage through time and our impact upon it.

it is always about interrelationships.. a good point, well made.

World timelines displayed in away that compares across nations (or regions) are always useful. It is sometimes surprising to find events, constructions, and people that are contemporaries of each other.

Skunkworks said:

World timelines displayed in away that compares across nations (or regions) are always useful. It is sometimes surprising to find events, constructions, and people that are contemporaries of each other.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-11/un-says-wasted-food-is-third-biggest-carbon-emitter/4952126