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World history can provide a context for regional and national histories, but what is
the context for world history itself? If world history is about the history of human
beings, asking this question means asking about the place of human beings within modern
knowledge. While most traditional cosmologies put humans at the center of the
picture, the temporal and spatial scales of modern science are so vast that humans can
seem to vanish entirely. Yet if we order the contents of our universe by complexity
rather than by size or longevity, things look different. This paper explores arguments
suggesting that human societies and their evolution may be among the most complex
objects available for scientific study. Such conclusions hint at the significance of world
history beyond the history profession and also suggest the extraordinary difficulty of the
challenges world historians face.

Presenting selected histories in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, this work discusses: political and economic issues; marriage practices, motherhood and enslavement; and religious beliefs and spiritual development. Famous women, including Hatshepsut, Hortensia, Aisha, Hildegard of Bingen and Sei Shonangan, are discussed as well as lesser known and anonymous women. Both primary and secondary source readings are included.