About 13.5 billion years ago, matter, energy, time and space came into being in what is known as the Big Bang. The story of these fundamental features of our universe is called physics.
大约在140亿年前，经过所谓的“大爆炸”之后宇宙的物质、能量、时间和空间才成了现在的样子。宇宙的这些基本特征，就成了“物理学”。About 300,000 years after their appearance, matter and energy started to coalesce into complex structures, called atoms, which then combined into molecules. The story of atoms, molecules and their interactions is called chemistry.在这之后过了大约30万年，物质和能量开始形成复杂的结构称为“原子”，再进一步构成“分子”。至于这些原子和分子的故事以及它们如何互动，就成了“化学”。About 3.8 billion years ago, on a planet called Earth, certain molecules combined to form particularly large and intricate structures called organisms. The story of organisms is called biology. 大约40亿年前，在这颗叫作“地球”的行星上，有些分子结合起来，形成一种特别庞大而又精细的结构，称为“有机体”。有机体的故事，就成了“生物学”。About 70,000 years ago, organisms belonging to the species Homo sapiens started to form even more elaborate structures called cultures. The subsequent development of these human cultures is called history. 到了大约7万年前，属于“智人”这一物种的生物，开始创造出更复杂的架构，称为“文化”。而这些人类文化继续发展，就成了“历史学”。Three important revolutions shaped the course of history: the Cognitive Revolution kick-started history about 70,000 years ago. The Agricultural Revolution sped it up about 12,000 years ago. The Scientific Revolution, which got under way only 500 years ago, may well end history and start something completely different. This book tells the story of how these three revolutions have affected humans and their fellow organisms. 在历史的路上，有三大重要革命：大约7万年前，“认知革命”让历史正式启动。大约12000年前，“农业革命”让历史加速发展。而到了大约不过500年前，“科学革命”可以说是让历史画下句号而另创新局。这本书，讲述的就是这三大革命如何改变了人类和其他生物。There were humans long before there was history. Animals much like modern humans first appeared about 2.5 million years ago. But for countless generations they did not stand out from the myriad other organisms with which they shared their habitats.人类早在有历史记录之前就已存在。早在250万年前，就已经出现了非常类似现代人类的动物。然而，世世代代的繁衍生息，他们与栖息于地球的其他生物相比，并没什么特别突出之处。
