After thousands of years trying, we can answer two of these big questions. Modern science has discovered a progressively factual account of the universe and ourselves. It spans some 13.7 billion years from the primordial flaring forth of the early universe to the rapid flaring forth of our global civilization. The story blends cosmology, physics, chemistry, geology, biology, anthropology, sociology and history into a single, compelling narrative. It encompasses all nations, all cultures, and all times. We call it Our Common Story.

What does it all mean? That depends on how you interpret this great story and the future we create together in the 21st century and beyond. This grand history is perhaps the most remarkable achievement of human civilization, but it is rarely taught and studied as such. It may also be an essential tool in securing Our Common Future –promoting excellence in education, transcending dangerous conflicts, and effectively addressing the economic and environmental challenges of our global civilization.

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$1 for One World Story

“History as a discipline traditionally begins with written records from about 5,500 years ago...  We need to extend our story backward, for the five thousand years of recorded history tells only a millionth of the lifetime of the Earth.  To understand the kind of world we live in and the kind of creature we are, we must look beyond the written record... Within the last fifty years the scientific community has established a verifiable, and largely verified, account of the origins of our universe – of where we came from, how we got here, and where we may be going.  This is a creation story for our time – for a world built on the discoveries of modern science, a world of jet travel, heart transplants, and the worldwide Internet.”

- Cynthia Stokes Brown