ChronoZoom is a free, open source interactive timeline tool for learning about all kinds of history, stretching back all 13.7 billion years to the Big Bang. It was developed to support a new growing field of history called Big History. Big History is the attempt to understand, in a unified, interdisciplinary way, the history of the Cosmos, Earth, Life, and Humanity. One of the most difficult aspects about teaching a Big History course is conveying the vast scales of time. For example, the history of the Cosmos and Earth is told on the scale of billions and millions of years, while humanity is told on the scale of thousands of years. ChronoZoom’s primary innovation is the application of zoom technology from a single day out to billions of years on a linear scale– helping to put humanity in context with all of the past. ChronoZoom leverages HTML5 canvas technology and runs directly in a browser without the need of additional software. ChronoZoom’s total zoom factor is 5 trillion, a vast number in itself. ChronoZoom can be used both in the classroom and at home through interactive self-guided tours that feature audio narration and text captions
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