Billions of years compressed into 18 minutes of TED Talkiness. David Christian gives us a quick run-down of the history of the universe.

This is a nice link to TOK, evolution, cells and diversity. If you study History or Economics, give it a go, too. Some of you might find this familiar if you have been to one of Andy Fletcher’s TOK Seminars. Why not stick on your phone or iPod and watch it during your holiday this week?

If that gets your inquiring mind in gear, Christian and his team have put together a free online course in Big History, which you can take here. With Big History, Scitable, Khan Academy, Learner.org, Encyclopedia of Life, Learn.Genetics  and many more free content providers out there, are we starting to see the end of the traditional textbook? I hope so.