The newest way to think about the universe becomes engaging and personal in Big History, Small World: From the Big Bang to You by Cynthia Stokes Brown. Her clear introduction to big history, divided into eight thresholds of time, is the perfect starting point for any reader intrigued by this rich blend of history and science. Big History, Small World is also the first book about big history specifically designed to be used in high school courses and with the free curriculum available from the Big History Project cofounded by Bill Gates and David Christian.

Big history becomes engaging and personal in Big History, Small World by Cynthia Stokes Brown, the only guide to a new approach to history that has been specifically designed for high school students and tied to the free curriculum provided online by the Bill Gates funded Big History Project.

This book explores Systems Biology as the understanding of biological network behaviors, and in particular their dynamic aspects, which requires the utilization of mathematical modeling tightly linked to experiment. A variety of approaches are discussed here: the identification and validation of networks, the creation of appropriate datasets, the development of tools for data acquisition and software development, and the use of modeling and simulation software in close concert with experiment.

Systems biology is defined for the purpose of this study as the understanding of biological network behaviors, and in particular their dynamic aspects, which requires the utilization of mathematical modeling tightly linked to experiment. This involves a variety of approaches, such as the identification and validation of networks, the creation of appropriate datasets, the development of tools for data acquisition and software development, and the use of modeling and simulation software in close linkage with experiment. All of these are discussed in this volume. Of course, the definition becomes ambiguous at the margins, but at the core is the focus on networks, which makes it clear that the goal is to understand the operation of the systems, rather than the component parts. It was concluded that the U.S. is currently ahead of the rest of the world in systems biology, largely because of earlier investment by funding organizations and research institutions.