Much of our understanding of the age, development and structure of the universe has not made it through to what is taught in our schools. What is taught is not a full extensive picture of our understanding of the extent of the universe in space and time.

The same is true of our understanding of the earth's planetary development - the formation of the planet's crust, the movement of tectonic plates, the formation and movement of the continents, glaciation over millions of years, the rise and fall of ocean levels, the changing composition of the atmosphere, mountain uplift and erosion, the formation of soil cover and deserts, the shaping of the land's surface by wind and water flow systems, the shaping of coastlines through erosion etc., etc. Once again, what it taught in schools is not a comprehensive picture of the development of the earth as part of the sun and the planetary system from a cloud of dust, nor does it present the present state of the earth in terms of its development over a time span stretching billions of years into the past, and billions of years into the future.

Likewise for what is taught about the development of life on earth. For the most part what is taught about the development of life on earth does not present a comprehensive picture of the development of life on earth from the time around 4.5 billion years ago when the earth formed, through the origin of primitive unicellular lifeforms in the early oceans around 3.7 billion years ago, and the subsequent development of all life forms presently on earth, including humans, from these early primitive lifeforms.

The same can be said about the development of the human world in all its complexity from early primitive hunter-gatherer communities. For the most history is taught as isolated packets of information about the past, disconnected from the overall picture of human development. The full spectrum of human thought and belief likewise is not fully covered.

We still do not fully know our place in the universe nor indeed what the universe is. However, going forward it would be much better to present as fully comprehensive picture of our understanding as can be presented in schools. Even where there is no complete agreement about what that picture is, it is better to present the various different pictures than no picture. This website aims to be an organized repository of information in various fields, to assist people both in school and outside school gain a more comprehensive understanding of the human world and our place in the universe.

As indicated above, the view taken here is that the knowledge and information presently imparted in schools fall a good deal short of achieving this, and some quite radical changes are needed to curricular content.

Children in elementary schools would be taught a simple version of the story of the universe, about its great age and size and the vast numbers of stars in it, about its structure and the formation of galaxies and stars and planets in it. They would be taught about the development of all present lifeforms, including humans, from unicellular lifeforms that existed in the oceans around 4 billion years ago. They would learn about the growth and development of the human world from its hunter-gatherer origins over three million years ago. This phase of education would also include basic information about the structure of matter, the place of gravity in shaping the universe and the various stellar and planetary bodies in it, and basic information about the various forces and energies in the universe.

Rudimentary information about the nature of science, engineering, technology would be imparted in elementary school, and the likewise of course the beginnings of mathematics would be taught. In high school, as many more details are filled in of the story of humans, the development of life on earth, the evolving structure of the universe, and the nature of matter and the various forces and energies, students would also learn more about the nature of science and how it is applied through engineering and technology. They would also learn how mathematics is used in science, engineering and technology, as well as being a purely theoretical subject in its own right.