Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Writers who use timelines put all the facts into perspective. Yuval Noah Harari goes a few steps beyond chronology in his new book, Sapiens: A Brief history of Humankind. He focuses this history in four neat revolutions that encompass: cognition, agriculture, unification of mankind, and the scientific revolution. Each of these sets up a developmental approach to the cumulative knowledge that we see today in our society.

Just after the table of contents in the book, the author provides a chronology of major events that helped define who we are today. Professor Harari holds a Ph.D. in history from Oxford. He now lectures at the Department of History at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The author incorporates history and science in such a brilliant way that the reader walks away with a fresh perspective on how our heritage came about. We gain this insight from Harari’s views on biology, anthropology, paleontology, and economics. The many color illustrations help further our appreciation for his work. Let’s applaud this author’s unique view of the world.