Main Page

Other useful pages

This site includes many useful pages including:

• Timeline lists the main pages in time sequence.
• Geological time scale
• Current events (included in navigation sidebar) shows news relating to the history of the universe.
• Information on the countries of the world
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• About hotuwiki explains the purpose and use of this web site.
• Help explains how to navigate and edit hotuwiki.
• All articles lists all the articles in hotuwiki.
• Special:Categories divides this wiki into categories.
• Special:Newpages lists all new pages.
• The History of the Universe forum is the place to ask questions, make comments, add polls and take part in on-line discussions.
• If you like science fiction you might want to look at Time Crystal which tells the story of the history of the universe as a work of fiction aimed at young adults.

Introduction

This is a wiki which means that readers (including YOU) can edit it. You can also add comments and discuss ideas in the discussion pages.

In order to edit you will need to register and login. This is free and simple. We do this so we can try to control those who might want to vandalise the work of others or be abusive. Working on a shared project like this, or any wiki, requires a certain amount of respect for others.

The aim of this site is to provide an encyclopaedia describing the history of the universe (hotu): where it came from, how it came to be the way it is and where it might be going.

When we say universe we mean everything, including the Earth, life and mankind. Because we are human, much of our attention will be focused on these latter items, perhaps more than they deserve. This web site shows how small and relatively insignificant we are in the broad scheme of things.

So another approach you can take to hotuwiki is to use it to think through and discuss with others the implications of our very tiny size when viewed from a cosmic scale. Does that mean that life on Earth has no significance, or are we, despite our tiny size, of cosmic importance?

Hotuwiki supports and provides in-depth information about the History of the Universe web site. This has been delivering information about hotu since 1998 and receives over 1 million visitors a year. The aim is that this wiki will expand and perhaps ultimately replace that web site, once it has been shown to be stable and useful.

What does hotuwiki achieve?

Hotuwiki tells the story of the origin of the universe, the earth, life and man in a simple and understandable way. It shows how these ideas relate to each other and puts them into a time frame. It introduces a wide range of basic scientific and historical information and weaves these facts together into a meaningful tapestry of knowledge.

Hotuwiki achieves this because it:

• Explains the science behind the history of the Universe.
• Supports the History of the Universe web site.
• Adds more in-depth information to hotu.
• Allows readers to ask and answer questions

Who is hotuwiki for?

It is intended for anyone who wants to understand their place in the universe, to understand where they came from, how they got to be here and to think about where the world might be heading.

It is written in clear, easily understood language that can be read by anyone with a reading age of 10. However, because of the nature of the subject, some pages may contain more difficult material.

Why do we need hotuwiki?

• Because it is the right of every person to be told something approaching the truth about where she came from.
• Because seeing ourselves in a universal context is one of the most beautiful feelings a human can aspire to.
• Because to understand our place in the universe we need to see both the largest and the smallest things, and see how they relate to each other. Only an interwoven web site like this can achieve this.
• Because the citizens of today's world need to understand basic science if they are to take an intelligent part in the decisions we have to make, such as those concerning global warming, genetic engineering and a hundred other issues that affect society but have a scientific content.
• Because we need to learn the lessons of history if we are to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
• Because by seeking patterns in the past we can make more intelligent guesses about what might happen in the future.
• Because the desire to understand where we came from is a basic human need.
• Because this story defines a natural science curriculum which can be recognised and used internationally.
• Because we cannot understand ourselves unless we understand how we came to be here.
• Because for each one of us to come to a conclusion about why we are here, we need to understand first how we got here.
• Because modern scientists need to work in interdisciplinary teams and understand the basics of a wide range of science.

Categories

Hotuwiki, like all other wikis, groups pages into categories. So far the categories are fairly broad, but this will change as people add more information which needs to be structured. The catories at present are:

• Categories shows all categories.
• Physical environment lists pages that describe the material the universe is made of.
• Biological Environment lists pages that deal with living matter.
• Human Environment lists pages that deal with humanity.

Soccearth

Hotuwiki follows History of the Universe in using the concept of Soccearth to try to show what matter is like on a very small scale. Your thoughts about this would be welcome. Is it helpful or does it detract from the story we are trying to tell?