Welcome to Epic Chronology

 

What is this?

This blog is all about the history or chronology of everything.  Yes, I mean literally everything - from the physical beginning of time to the ever-marching ticks we call the present.  Naturally, this is extremely multidisciplinary as it attempts to describe (and hopefully explain) virtually all phenomena within the constrains of space and time.  Some of these topics that will be important to discuss as we move on include:

- Physics - the study of all laws that govern the physical occurrences of the universe as well as explanations for those laws.

- Chemistry - the study of the atomic elements and how they interact with each other to form bonds and over intermolecular interactions.

- Geology - the study of inorganic material and its formation into complex objects.

- Biology - the study of life, which can be understood as the study of the chemistry of life or biochemistry.

All of these fundamental fields have their own subfields and even intertwine with one another (such as biochemistry or biophysics or quantum biology... biology is easily the most complex of these) so bare in mind that these categories are not so much to categorize the natural word, but to categorize our study and understanding of it (why we love to categorize things so much is partly due to Aristotle who liked to do the same, and he is considered the man who first "split the sciences").  Here at Epic Chronology we will try to avoid these categorizations as it takes us away from the flow of a connected narrative.  However, later on when we talk about the formations of the first amino acids I won't be constantly reminding you that the nucleus of the nitrogen in the amine function group is being held together by the nuclear strong interaction, that's just something you will have to keep in the back of your head.  

Ultimately, Epic Chronology is meant to be a journey through the natural world and the many relationships and concepts along the way.  If you don't enjoy this journey then I am failing.

Isn't this Big History?

Recently a new academic profession has been emerging under the name "Big History".  This is a project attempting to describe the history of the universe since the beginning of time, in contrast to "conventional history" which begins with the invention of writing.  Big History in many respects acts as an opponent to traditional historical analysis of the past with what it describes as more empirical.   This and other aspects (often more philosophical) has sparked controversy surrounding the profession, especially in academic circles, for which I am not a part of.  For this reason I will be separating myself from this field.  If you wish to call this blog "Pop Big History" be my guest, but know that I do not take a stance with these controversies.  I simply wish to outline the chronology of the universe. 

Who am I?

I am not an expert or academic in any of the fields that I have just named.  I am simply a high school student with an obsession with the natural world and the past.  If my insight isn't nearly the expert level, then why bother?  Why not just surf Wikipedia, for example?  For one, there is a lot of information out there, way too much for it to be useful in the fractured forms that you will commonly find.  This blog is meant to help organize this information, both in terms of cause/effect and chronological order.  Secondly, I think I offer a form of narrative based writing that is easy enough to read, insightful enough for understanding, and powerful enough to deliver fascination and maybe even passion.  With the sheer diversity of fields of study being covered, you are guaranteed to find something that particularly fascinates you.  For me it was biology, and I can't get enough of it.  For this reason with every post I will be linking further, more technical readings for you guys.  

Like I said earlier, my passion is biology.  The origin of life and its evolution and interaction fascinates me without end.  However, I also have interests in the other fields, enough so that I feel comfortable talking about them.  researching can be difficult, especially if you are completely foreign to the general concepts.  So I will only be discussing what I am familiar with and researching mainly details to fill in the blanks.  

Where you can reach me:

The Epic Chronology blog has its own Discord server.  Pop in and discuss anything you would like.  Ask me questions, give suggestions, and have discussions with the other members.  

https://discord.gg/zC7suVs