Prologue : When ideas have sex
A better today : The unprecedented present
The collective brain : Exchange and specialisation after 200,000 years ago
The manufacture of virtue : Barter, trust and rules after 50,000 years ago
The feeding of the nine billion : Farming after 10,000 years ago
The triumph of cities : Trade after 5,000 years ago
Escaping Malthus's trap : Population after 1200
The release of slaves : Energy after 1700
The invention of invention : Increasing returns after 1800
Turning points : Pessimism after 1900
The two great pessimisms of today : Africa and climate after 2010
The catallaxy : Rational optimism about 2100