1 00:00:06,591 --> 00:00:10,679 [ Man Narrating] U.S. Marines hunker down in their foxholes. 2 00:00:13,264 --> 00:00:15,892 A Japanese soldier takes aim. 3 00:00:17,769 --> 00:00:20,021 Both sides stare down the barrel... 4 00:00:20,105 --> 00:00:22,065 and prepare to kill... 5 00:00:22,148 --> 00:00:24,651 or be killed. 6 00:00:24,734 --> 00:00:26,778 - [ Gunshot] - [ Gunshots ] 7 00:00:28,655 --> 00:00:31,574 A ritual as old as humankind. 8 00:00:33,743 --> 00:00:36,413 - With a secret' link- - [ Gunshot ] 9 00:00:38,957 --> 00:00:41,710 To the science of the planet... 10 00:00:41,793 --> 00:00:46,047 and one of the most sophisticated machines on Earth. 11 00:00:46,131 --> 00:00:48,800 Connections that are only revealed... 12 00:00:50,719 --> 00:00:52,637 through big history. 13 00:00:53,805 --> 00:00:56,391 We think of history as a timeline... 14 00:00:56,474 --> 00:01:00,937 a series of events stretching a few thousand years into the past. 15 00:01:01,020 --> 00:01:03,523 It's time to think bigger. 16 00:01:03,606 --> 00:01:08,194 Instead of a line, imagine a web of infinite connections... 17 00:01:08,278 --> 00:01:10,655 interacting over billions of years... 18 00:01:10,739 --> 00:01:14,242 linked together to create everything we've ever known- 19 00:01:14,325 --> 00:01:17,579 our universe, our planet... 20 00:01:17,662 --> 00:01:19,122 and us. 21 00:01:19,205 --> 00:01:23,251 When we consider our most epic moments though the lens of science... 22 00:01:23,334 --> 00:01:25,587 we unleash a revolutionary new idea- 23 00:01:26,421 --> 00:01:30,341 the movement of atoms steered the movements of men... 24 00:01:30,425 --> 00:01:33,136 civilizations, galaxies. 25 00:01:33,219 --> 00:01:37,182 History as we know it is about to get big. 26 00:01:42,604 --> 00:01:44,147 [ Gunshot] 27 00:01:44,230 --> 00:01:46,149 - [Narrator] The Second World War. - [ Gunshot] 28 00:01:48,026 --> 00:01:51,279 Americans and Japanese fight and die... 29 00:01:51,362 --> 00:01:54,866 - for control of a vital island. - [ Gunshot ] 30 00:01:55,950 --> 00:01:58,661 Their bodies are no match for bullets... 31 00:01:58,745 --> 00:02:02,165 traveling at speeds of 2,800 feet per second. 32 00:02:08,421 --> 00:02:11,216 Traditional history counts the casualties... 33 00:02:11,299 --> 00:02:15,011 and tells us which strategy wins the day. 34 00:02:15,094 --> 00:02:17,639 [ Gunshots ] 35 00:02:17,722 --> 00:02:21,810 But big history connects every battle ever waged by mankind... 36 00:02:23,061 --> 00:02:24,646 into a single story. 37 00:02:25,939 --> 00:02:29,651 Big history reveals the link between our biology... 38 00:02:29,734 --> 00:02:32,028 and how we fight. 39 00:02:45,250 --> 00:02:47,502 We are now in the Stone Age. 40 00:02:52,382 --> 00:02:53,883 For fragile humans... 41 00:02:55,218 --> 00:02:57,512 It's easy to die... 42 00:02:57,595 --> 00:02:59,597 but much harder to kill. 43 00:03:02,809 --> 00:03:04,185 [ Grunts I 44 00:03:09,524 --> 00:03:12,527 Look at the natural world. How do you kill something? 45 00:03:12,610 --> 00:03:16,406 Almost always you kill something by getting up close and personal. 46 00:03:17,699 --> 00:03:21,035 You do it with your claws. You do it with your teeth. 47 00:03:21,119 --> 00:03:23,371 Now look at your claws. 48 00:03:23,454 --> 00:03:24,956 Look at your teeth. 49 00:03:25,957 --> 00:03:29,919 Do you really want to get up close and personal and try to kill something... 50 00:03:30,003 --> 00:03:33,089 with these pathetic teeth, these pathetic claws? 51 00:03:33,172 --> 00:03:34,716 I don't think so. 52 00:03:37,051 --> 00:03:41,723 [ Narrator] To survive, humans must figure out how to inflict damage from a distance. 53 00:03:44,642 --> 00:03:47,729 We create tools to extend our reach. 54 00:03:49,105 --> 00:03:51,774 Tools that we can use to slice... 55 00:03:51,858 --> 00:03:54,235 smash... 56 00:03:54,319 --> 00:03:55,987 and attack. 57 00:03:59,908 --> 00:04:02,243 Some early weapons just as simple as a spear... 58 00:04:02,327 --> 00:04:06,539 a long spear puts you at a distance... 59 00:04:06,623 --> 00:04:09,000 from your enemy or something that you're hunting. 60 00:04:15,131 --> 00:04:19,260 It's the ability to reach out and touch someone or something... 61 00:04:19,344 --> 00:04:21,930 without putting yourself at harm's way. 62 00:04:23,932 --> 00:04:27,769 [ Narrator] Humans everywhere use materials from nature- 63 00:04:27,852 --> 00:04:30,813 wood, stone and metals- 64 00:04:30,897 --> 00:04:34,359 to create weapons that are powered by muscle... 65 00:04:36,819 --> 00:04:42,033 until one ancient civilization stumbles on a new energy source. 66 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,080 Big history connects the birth of weapons... 67 00:04:47,163 --> 00:04:49,666 to the chemistry that revolutionizes them. 68 00:04:59,550 --> 00:05:01,678 [Whinnies ] 69 00:05:01,761 --> 00:05:03,805 [ Narrator] In Imperial China... 70 00:05:05,014 --> 00:05:06,891 an alchemist mixes elements... 71 00:05:07,934 --> 00:05:10,061 looking for the secret to eternal life. 72 00:05:12,522 --> 00:05:15,316 He combines sulfur and carbon... 73 00:05:16,067 --> 00:05:19,153 with a mysterious compound called saltpeter... 74 00:05:20,071 --> 00:05:22,699 and accidentally creates a killer formula- 75 00:05:23,783 --> 00:05:24,742 gunpowder. 76 00:05:26,327 --> 00:05:28,496 We all know it's power. 77 00:05:32,417 --> 00:05:36,546 But big history zooms in to reveal its source. 78 00:05:41,050 --> 00:05:45,763 Saltpeter is made up of potassium, oxygen and nitrogen. 79 00:05:45,847 --> 00:05:50,101 Elements that can break apart with the right amount of energy. 80 00:05:53,604 --> 00:05:56,024 Exposed to a flame... 81 00:05:56,107 --> 00:05:59,152 the sulfur and carbon ignite... 82 00:05:59,235 --> 00:06:01,696 adding the energy boost... 83 00:06:01,779 --> 00:06:04,824 that tears the atoms in saltpeter apart... 84 00:06:04,907 --> 00:06:09,120 releasing nitrogen and oxygen gas that expand so rapidly... 85 00:06:09,203 --> 00:06:13,374 it launches a deadly 200-mile-an-hour shock wave- 86 00:06:14,876 --> 00:06:16,544 [ Explosion ] 87 00:06:16,627 --> 00:06:19,047 That will change the world. 88 00:06:21,466 --> 00:06:24,385 Traditional history would end the story there. 89 00:06:25,553 --> 00:06:27,889 But big history digs deeper... 90 00:06:27,972 --> 00:06:29,557 and brings in science... 91 00:06:30,641 --> 00:06:34,228 to explain why of all the places on Earth... 92 00:06:34,312 --> 00:06:37,607 gunpowder is born in China. 93 00:06:42,945 --> 00:06:47,075 Saltpeter, the ingredient that gives gunpowder its kick... 94 00:06:47,158 --> 00:06:49,327 is relatively rare. 95 00:06:49,410 --> 00:06:52,371 But China is sitting on a mother lode. 96 00:06:53,581 --> 00:06:57,460 Other places around the world simply didn't have access... 97 00:06:57,543 --> 00:07:01,172 to large deposits of this mineral. 98 00:07:02,256 --> 00:07:05,927 [ Narrator] Most saltpeter, also known as potassium nitrate... 99 00:07:06,010 --> 00:07:09,514 can be traced back to a very special source. 100 00:07:17,271 --> 00:07:22,360 [ Kean ] Potassium nitrate is formed naturally through a couple processes. 101 00:07:22,443 --> 00:07:25,113 Most of them, actually, involve animal poop. 102 00:07:26,447 --> 00:07:30,868 There is bat poop in caves that reacts with limestone on the walls... 103 00:07:30,952 --> 00:07:32,620 and mixes with water. 104 00:07:32,703 --> 00:07:36,124 When the water evaporates, you're left with nitrate compounds... 105 00:07:36,207 --> 00:07:39,460 that you can then pick up and use in gunpowder. 106 00:07:41,379 --> 00:07:44,423 [ Narrator] The same process can happen out in the open... 107 00:07:44,507 --> 00:07:46,509 with birds instead of bats. 108 00:07:47,552 --> 00:07:52,056 But either way, it takes the right kind of climate to finish the job. 109 00:07:53,891 --> 00:07:57,103 A climate that can be found in the caves and deserts... 110 00:07:57,186 --> 00:07:59,480 of southern and western China. 111 00:08:01,315 --> 00:08:06,445 In China, you can find natural deposits of saltpeter just on the ground. 112 00:08:06,529 --> 00:08:10,950 It's basically due to the weather, the climate in the area. 113 00:08:11,033 --> 00:08:15,163 You need the rainy seasons to break things down to promote decay. 114 00:08:15,246 --> 00:08:19,083 You need the dry season to get the water out... 115 00:08:19,167 --> 00:08:25,047 and leave the nice solid crystals of nitrate that you can use in gunpowder. 116 00:08:29,427 --> 00:08:33,681 [ Narrator] Gunpowder is the spark that ignites the world. 117 00:08:33,764 --> 00:08:36,642 It spreads along the Silk Road... 118 00:08:36,726 --> 00:08:39,437 across Asia to Europe... 119 00:08:40,855 --> 00:08:44,358 and crosses the Atlantic to the New World. 120 00:08:49,906 --> 00:08:52,575 [ Kean ] All of this history through warfare... 121 00:08:52,658 --> 00:08:56,913 would not really have been possible without animal poop. 122 00:09:02,752 --> 00:09:07,048 [Narrator] To traditional history, it's a perpetual arms race. 123 00:09:07,131 --> 00:09:11,385 But to big history, it's a simple chemical reaction... 124 00:09:12,511 --> 00:09:14,555 that connects back... 125 00:09:14,639 --> 00:09:17,767 to our need to strike prey from a distance. 126 00:09:21,729 --> 00:09:24,023 Whether stone-age spears... 127 00:09:25,524 --> 00:09:26,984 or modern bullets... 128 00:09:29,070 --> 00:09:30,821 to war is human. 129 00:09:32,657 --> 00:09:34,825 Because our greatest secret weapon... 130 00:09:36,327 --> 00:09:38,663 is hidden in our bones. 131 00:09:43,793 --> 00:09:45,419 [ Narrator] Big history has shown... 132 00:09:47,046 --> 00:09:50,341 that' our need to project power from a distance... 133 00:09:53,844 --> 00:09:56,597 connects to some explosive chemistry... 134 00:10:01,102 --> 00:10:05,606 and kick starts a global arms race. 135 00:10:05,690 --> 00:10:07,900 But big history uncovers... 136 00:10:10,069 --> 00:10:13,364 that this perpetual arms race started... 137 00:10:14,365 --> 00:10:15,950 in us. 138 00:10:22,790 --> 00:10:26,210 Using an explosion to launch a projectile... 139 00:10:29,255 --> 00:10:31,924 is just a more powerful way to do something... 140 00:10:32,008 --> 00:10:35,386 that the human body was built to do itself. 141 00:10:39,557 --> 00:10:43,894 To find out how our bodies became projectile throwing machines... 142 00:10:46,105 --> 00:10:49,483 Big history links back seven million years... 143 00:10:59,952 --> 00:11:02,705 to mankind's giant leap. 144 00:11:03,748 --> 00:11:06,709 Grasslands have appeared throughout the world. 145 00:11:11,088 --> 00:11:14,216 Our primate ancestors come down from the trees. 146 00:11:15,885 --> 00:11:18,721 But on all fours, they're vulnerable. 147 00:11:18,804 --> 00:11:21,432 They can't see above the grass. 148 00:11:23,601 --> 00:11:28,272 By standing up, their hands are free to use tools. 149 00:11:29,607 --> 00:11:32,401 And since they no longer need to swing from trees... 150 00:11:34,487 --> 00:11:36,989 their anatomy begins to change. 151 00:11:38,282 --> 00:11:43,746 An ape's shoulders angle upward to help propel them from branch to branch. 152 00:11:44,413 --> 00:11:47,833 But in humans, the shoulders shift down and out... 153 00:11:47,917 --> 00:11:50,211 increasing our range of motion. 154 00:11:52,421 --> 00:11:57,176 And we develop something else- an uniquely flexible wrist. 155 00:11:58,177 --> 00:12:01,931 Think of how a major-league pitcher throws. 156 00:12:04,141 --> 00:12:05,851 Watch the extension. 157 00:12:05,935 --> 00:12:10,064 The leg is way out, the whole twist, the snap of the wrist at the end. 158 00:12:10,147 --> 00:12:13,734 He's delivering a payload directly on target... 159 00:12:13,818 --> 00:12:18,072 with that millions of years of evolution to that one moment. 160 00:12:18,155 --> 00:12:21,033 The big history of the throw, as it were. 161 00:12:25,413 --> 00:12:28,791 [ Narrator] The human arm is a biomechanical marvel. 162 00:12:30,501 --> 00:12:34,338 Engineered for storing up and releasing elastic energy. 163 00:12:36,882 --> 00:12:40,177 Giving us the power to aim and throw projectiles... 164 00:12:40,261 --> 00:12:43,347 with an accuracy that sets us apart. 165 00:12:44,682 --> 00:12:46,851 A chimp could not throw a hand grenade... 166 00:12:46,934 --> 00:12:50,020 anywhere as far, anywhere as accurately as a human... 167 00:12:51,313 --> 00:12:53,441 because we are built for it. 168 00:12:57,278 --> 00:12:59,196 [ Explosion ] 169 00:13:01,031 --> 00:13:03,617 One of the interesting things about projectile weapons is... 170 00:13:03,701 --> 00:13:05,327 first off, they're uniquely human. 171 00:13:07,955 --> 00:13:10,833 But they also make possible scales of conflict... 172 00:13:12,084 --> 00:13:14,378 that we don't see among other organisms. 173 00:13:16,130 --> 00:13:18,883 We can cause death at a distance... 174 00:13:18,966 --> 00:13:20,759 in ways that no other species can. 175 00:13:20,843 --> 00:13:23,429 [Yelling 1 176 00:13:23,512 --> 00:13:27,057 [ Narrator] And as we design better projectile weapons... 177 00:13:27,141 --> 00:13:29,727 first to improve our throwing ability... 178 00:13:31,228 --> 00:13:32,897 then to replace it... 179 00:13:35,191 --> 00:13:37,902 we begin to conquer each other... 180 00:13:37,985 --> 00:13:39,737 and the world. 181 00:13:41,655 --> 00:13:43,866 Big history connects forward... 182 00:13:52,166 --> 00:13:53,626 to an epic battle... 183 00:13:54,585 --> 00:13:57,588 and what seems to be the perfect weapon. 184 00:13:58,923 --> 00:14:01,592 The Hundred Years War. 185 00:14:01,675 --> 00:14:05,012 A century of struggle for control of France. 186 00:14:08,182 --> 00:14:10,100 At the Battle of Crécy... 187 00:14:10,184 --> 00:14:13,437 the French outnumbered England 2-to-1. 188 00:14:17,107 --> 00:14:20,152 But the English have a secret weapon- 189 00:14:23,322 --> 00:14:24,782 the longbow. 190 00:14:26,617 --> 00:14:29,370 Capable of firing 15 arrows a minute... 191 00:14:29,453 --> 00:14:32,706 at targets up to 400 yards away. 192 00:14:39,171 --> 00:14:43,634 The longbow is the machine gun of its day. 193 00:14:46,470 --> 00:14:50,724 England is outnumbered but not out armed. 194 00:14:50,808 --> 00:14:53,811 The French lose 10 times more men. 195 00:14:54,812 --> 00:14:56,647 Their army is decimated... 196 00:14:57,856 --> 00:15:00,276 by superior firepower. 197 00:15:03,821 --> 00:15:08,993 Traditional history tells us that the longbow revoiutionizes warfare. 198 00:15:09,076 --> 00:15:11,996 Big history reveals how... 199 00:15:12,079 --> 00:15:16,875 by connecting the secret of the longbow to the anatomy of a tree. 200 00:15:18,294 --> 00:15:22,631 Big history is very good at making connections between the natural world... 201 00:15:22,715 --> 00:15:24,300 evolution and the natural world... 202 00:15:24,383 --> 00:15:28,429 and the ways humans use these entities provided by nature... 203 00:15:28,512 --> 00:15:30,848 in new and very creative ways. 204 00:15:31,599 --> 00:15:34,602 One excellent example of that is the yew tree. 205 00:15:36,061 --> 00:15:38,731 [ Narrator] The yew is an ancient species... 206 00:15:38,814 --> 00:15:42,192 known to live as long as 5,000 years. 207 00:15:43,902 --> 00:15:48,032 Yew has been used as a weapon for a long, long time. 208 00:15:49,158 --> 00:15:51,994 They have found a yew spear in England... 209 00:15:52,077 --> 00:15:55,998 that's been dated to 400,000 years ago. 210 00:15:58,208 --> 00:16:02,755 [ Narrator] Because the tree grows slowly, its wood is unique. 211 00:16:02,838 --> 00:16:07,635 The outer layer is elastic. It bends without breaking. 212 00:16:07,718 --> 00:16:12,640 The inner layer is dense and strong. It can withstand intense pressure. 213 00:16:15,476 --> 00:16:19,605 Yew wood a perfect combination of strength and flexibility... 214 00:16:21,565 --> 00:16:23,609 Makes the longbow so deadly... 215 00:16:24,902 --> 00:16:27,363 that it's almost unstoppable. 216 00:16:30,032 --> 00:16:33,160 But there's a superior weapon on the way. 217 00:16:33,243 --> 00:16:37,873 And it's so lethal, that warfare will never be the same. 218 00:16:44,296 --> 00:16:48,467 [ Narrator] Big history reveals that the mechanics of the human arm... 219 00:16:53,263 --> 00:16:55,224 launch an arms race... 220 00:16:59,395 --> 00:17:03,524 and that the planet provides the tools to perfect our weapons. 221 00:17:11,949 --> 00:17:17,329 In the Middle Ages, the longbow is a weapon of mass destruction. 222 00:17:25,462 --> 00:17:29,758 But longbows are made from ancient trees that grow so slowly... 223 00:17:29,842 --> 00:17:32,010 they're impossible to replace. 224 00:17:33,262 --> 00:17:35,139 And so are the archers. 225 00:17:35,222 --> 00:17:38,976 It takes up to 10 years of training to become an expert. 226 00:17:42,187 --> 00:17:46,316 The longbow may be lethal, but these drawbacks make it vulnerable. 227 00:17:51,780 --> 00:17:55,492 Big history reveals how the deadliest weapon of its day... 228 00:17:57,327 --> 00:18:00,497 falls to a microscopic invader. 229 00:18:02,291 --> 00:18:05,085 [ Bird Cawing ] 230 00:18:05,169 --> 00:18:07,921 [ Narrator] We call it the Black Death. 231 00:18:11,341 --> 00:18:15,929 The plague wipes out up to 50% of Europe's population. 232 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,603 With fewer men to train as archers... 233 00:18:22,686 --> 00:18:27,357 the kings of Europe will need a new way to fight their wars. 234 00:18:29,943 --> 00:18:35,991 It's the right place and the right time for an ancient Chinese invention... 235 00:18:37,534 --> 00:18:40,537 to finally sweep the western world. 236 00:18:51,381 --> 00:18:54,927 - Guns are powerful- - [ Gunshot ] 237 00:18:55,010 --> 00:18:57,221 Easy to build... 238 00:18:57,304 --> 00:18:59,389 and easy to master. 239 00:19:00,724 --> 00:19:02,226 [ Screams ] 240 00:19:05,437 --> 00:19:08,065 [ Markley ] You can train a peasant to use it really quickly. 241 00:19:08,148 --> 00:19:09,191 [ Gunshot] 242 00:19:09,274 --> 00:19:11,777 You don't need a lifetime to use a musket. 243 00:19:11,860 --> 00:19:15,155 You get the peasants out of the fields, you give them a bit of training... 244 00:19:15,239 --> 00:19:18,075 you put them in the fields with a few pikemen, ready to go. 245 00:19:20,202 --> 00:19:22,746 [ Narrator] The gun replaces the longbow... 246 00:19:25,999 --> 00:19:29,044 and introduces a new kind of warfare- 247 00:19:29,127 --> 00:19:32,297 - Fire! - Where the masses can fight... 248 00:19:32,381 --> 00:19:34,883 and even turn against the elites... 249 00:19:35,759 --> 00:19:38,512 opening a new era of human history. 250 00:19:49,898 --> 00:19:55,696 The big history perspective uncovers how mankind's epic history of war... 251 00:19:55,779 --> 00:20:00,033 connects back to a small change in our biology... 252 00:20:00,117 --> 00:20:02,828 that turned human beings into throwing machines. 253 00:20:02,911 --> 00:20:04,037 [ Yells ] 254 00:20:04,121 --> 00:20:06,665 We've gone from throwing rocks, throwing spears... 255 00:20:06,748 --> 00:20:09,209 using bows and arrows, using catapults... 256 00:20:09,293 --> 00:20:12,546 and then applying gunpowder technology... 257 00:20:12,629 --> 00:20:16,049 to hurl our projectiles so much further. 258 00:20:18,635 --> 00:20:20,721 [ Narrator] Our mastery of chemistry... 259 00:20:20,804 --> 00:20:24,641 perfected the art of projecting power from a distance. 260 00:20:27,227 --> 00:20:30,981 It certainly changed everything. It removed humans another few steps back... 261 00:20:31,064 --> 00:20:33,525 from the original face-to-face conflict. 262 00:20:38,697 --> 00:20:40,324 [ Narrator] From stone... 263 00:20:42,034 --> 00:20:43,577 to spear... 264 00:20:44,369 --> 00:20:45,871 to arrow... 265 00:20:45,954 --> 00:20:47,789 to musket... 266 00:20:48,540 --> 00:20:50,417 to the cannon... 267 00:20:51,752 --> 00:20:53,253 the drone... 268 00:20:56,006 --> 00:20:57,716 and beyond. 269 00:21:00,385 --> 00:21:03,597 But the story of weapons is just the beginning. 270 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,558 There's a much bigger puzzle hidden in big history. 271 00:21:06,642 --> 00:21:08,894 Each episode unlocks a clue. 272 00:21:09,895 --> 00:21:11,521 Everyday things, like silver... 273 00:21:12,856 --> 00:21:14,316 mountains... 274 00:21:15,525 --> 00:21:18,403 and cell phones hold the key. 275 00:21:18,487 --> 00:21:22,616 Watch them all and you'll see this grand mystery revealed. 276 00:21:22,699 --> 00:21:26,244 The big history of time, of space. 277 00:21:26,328 --> 00:21:28,872 The big history of us.