VJOURNAL SMART BOOK · Volume I · From the Big Bang to Rome
History
Read the full story and watch it happen: eight animated chapters from the Big Bang to the Roman Empire.
Start readingThis is a textbook that moves. On every page the full text sits on the left, and on the right a drawing comes alive and plays what the text describes: galaxies flying apart, a clock sweeping through four and a half billion years, people walking across a continent.
Each paragraph is tied to one moment of the animation. Press play, drag the timeline, or tap a paragraph to watch that moment again. Where scientists disagree, we say so and call a theory a theory. Every chapter ends with sources you can check yourself.
Contents
- 01The Beginning of Everything13.8–4.5 billion years agoA very long time ago the whole Universe was tiny, hot and bright. It began to grow, stars lit up, and around one star a ring of dust became the planets, including our Earth.
- 02Earth’s Day in 24 Hours4.5 billion – 66 million years agoImagine all of Earth’s history as a single day. Tiny living cells appear in the early morning, dinosaurs show up late in the evening, and people arrive in the very last seconds.
- 03Out of Africa7 million – 15 thousand years agoOur family began in Africa. People walked and sailed from there across the whole world, and along the way some of them met other kinds of humans.
- 04The Gift of Fire1 million – 400 thousand years agoAt first people only found fire, after lightning set the grass alight. Later they learned to keep it and to make it. Fire gave them warm food, light in the dark and a place to sit together.
- 05The First FarmersAbout 12,000 – 5,000 years agoPeople used to follow herds and pick wild plants. Then they learned to plant seeds and keep animals, and they built the first villages.
- 06How Writing Was BornAbout 3500 BC – 1750 BCLong ago people in a big city needed to remember who owed what. They pressed signs into soft clay, and that was how writing was born.
- 07Egypt and the PyramidsAbout 3100 – 2500 BC (and 1822)Egypt lives on a river that floods every year. Its kings built giant stone tombs, the pyramids, and thousands of paid workers did it with ropes, sledges and clever planning.
- 08Greece: Thinking About the WorldAbout 800 – 200 BCThe ancient Greeks asked “why?” about everything. In Athens citizens voted, and in Alexandria a man measured the whole Earth with a stick and a shadow.
- 09Rome: From City to Empire753 BC – AD 117A small city on seven hills became the capital of a giant empire with roads, water pipes and law. One summer day a volcano buried two of its towns, and that is how we know them so well.
VITON13 LAB
Keep studying on the LAB table
Open the chapter's experiment, timeline or map on VITON13 LAB, with your notes as a document beside it.
Open VITON13 LABAbout this book
Who is this history textbook for?
It is written for readers from about twelve years old, and for adults who want a clear, honest overview. Each chapter also has a short version in simple words for younger children.
How do the animated pictures work?
Every chapter has six moments, called beats. You can play them in order, pause, drag the timeline to any point, or tap a paragraph to replay the moment it describes. Nothing is a video: the picture is drawn live.
Are theories separated from proven facts?
Yes. We use the words “scientists think” and “one theory says” whenever the evidence is not settled, and we explain what the evidence is: redshift, fossils, DNA, radiocarbon dating or written sources.
What does Volume I cover?
Eight chapters, from the Big Bang about 13.8 billion years ago to the Roman Empire at its largest in AD 117. They cover the origin of the Universe, life, the first humans, farming, writing, Egypt, Greece and Rome.