Orion's Arm - Encyclopedia Galactica

BY LETTER

History

History is the study and interpretation of the record of sophonts and their societies and civilizations. By definition events lacking a record are peripheral to historical studies (see Paleontology, Xenopaleontology), even if they involve sophont life. Before the first contacts with To'ul'hs and other sophonts with a historical record, history reached only as far back as the beginning of the Agricultural Age on Old Earth. Terragen history therefore presently extends for more than fourteen thousand years, most of that being under the dominion of the Archailects.

Non-Terragen history extends back some hundreds of thousands of years in the case of species like the To'ul'hs, or for tens of millions of years in the case of such species as the Muuh. Because of difficulties involving fragmentary records and the interpretation of xenosophont languages and psychology, some Terragen experts have considered non-Terragen history to be a field within Xenology, and do not regard it as history proper.

Sub-Topics

-13.7Gy to -7000 AT: Preterragen Era

-7000 to 30 AT: Pre-Spaceflight Old Earth

030 to 900 AT: Interplanetary Era

0900 to 3200 AT: Interstellar Era

3200 to 5350 AT: Inner Sphere Era

5200 to 7800 AT: Post-ComEmp Era

7800 to 10,400 AT: Outer Volumes Era

9999 AT to Present: (Current Era)

Significant Historical Events

Articles

254 Gamma Titania - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Early Second Federation hyperturing historian (Gamma Titania, Metasoft).
Age - Text by Mark Ryherd
A historical or geological unit of time, shorter than eon, era or epoch.
AT - Text by Stephen Inniss
AT (also A.T. or a.t.): After Tranquillity. Any date after the first landing of Terragens on another celestial body, when the Apollo 11 mission achieved touchdown on the Old Earth's Moon. This was July 20, 1969 c.e. or AD in the Gregorian calendar, and Armstrong Day, 0 AT in the later Tranquillity Calendar that became standard in Solsys during the First Federation era.
BT - Text by Stephen Inniss
BT (also B.T. or b.t.): Before Tranquillity. Any date before the first landing of Terragens on another celestial body, when the Apollo 11 mission achieved touchdown on the Old Earth's Moon. This was July 20, 1969 c.e. or AD in the Gregorian calendar, and Armstrong Day, 0 AT in the later Tranquillity Calendar that became standard in Solsys during the Federation Age.
Calendars and Timekeeping - Text by Steve Bowers
Accurate synchronisation of clocks in a universe dominated by Special Relativity is quite literally impossible.
Chronologist - Text by John B
A being skilled in the lore of the various methods sophonts have and continue to use in the keeping of time and history. May have a specialty period or grouping, or may be a 'general' chronologist capable of mapping large-scale events across multiple chronal systems of measure. Also may be comparative chronologist, looking for evidence of meme transfer in the alteration of naming schemes in chronal systems of measure.
Civilization - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Sophont or transingularitan collective society, usually with development of agriculture, arts, sciences, technology, sentient rights, infrastructure, social services, and soon. Our galaxy has seen many civilizations arise and pass away, of which terragen civilization is merely one among many. Advanced civilizations have also been detected in nighbouring galaxies. Civilizations are often rated according to their Kardashev number - the present terragen galactic civilization is developing towards a Kardashev Type III.
Classical Age - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
In some usages, a generic term for Old Earth's early to middle Agricultural Age (bronze age and iron age) civilizations. Also used at times for civilizations on Old Earth or in Solsys prior to the Nanodisaster. Sometimes this term is used to refer to a civilization's local antecedents, especially in cases where technologies or social complexity have advanced over time.
Cliology - Text by Michael Beck
AI-based nanosurveillance, which became the basis of an exact historical record-taking, and later of simulation of conditions for which there were not any direct records.
Era - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
[1] Two or more geological periods. An era may be hundreds of millions of years in duration, and is defined by particular geological or biological processes.
[2] An extended historical, or even galactic, period of time, that is characterized by particular historical, astronomical, or even cosmological events.
Galactic History - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Branch of science and school of philosophy dealing with the history of mindkind in the Galaxy as a whole. No specific emphasis is given to Terragen life or civilization, beyond acknowledging it as one more civilization to arise, and eventually to pass away. One of the problems Galactic History enquires into is the enigma of alien civilizations. Since a hypersingulitaritan entity is potentially immortal, it is not clear why earlier AIs and Postaliens are not still in existence.
Glossary - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Steve Bowers
Words used in the Orion's Arm scenario
History of Interplanetary and Interstellar War - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Period - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Mark Ryherd
In geology, originally the basic unit of geological time in which a single type of rock system is formed. In history, a long span of time characterized by a particular set of political, cultural, military, or technological traits.
Post-Expulsion Period - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Generic name for the eight thousand years of terragen history since the expulsion by the nascent archailect GAIA of all but a few sophonts from Earth.
Renaissance Event - Text by Stephen Inniss
A flowering of artistic creativity, scientific discovery, technology and trade, together with some significant changes in the operation of personal culture, and a political ferment. There is typically a "rediscovery" of some older cultural models and information or an influx of new foreign ideas, or both, and usually an upsurge in local population. A renaissance event often sets the pattern for future cultural development in ages to follow.
Rise of the Archailects, The - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, Anders Sandberg, Todd Drashner and Steve Bowers
The history of the emergence of the Archailects, from the First Singularity to the emergence of new gods in the Outer Volumes Era.
Significant Cultural Impacts in the Terragen Sphere - Text by Stephen Inniss
Some of the most important events which have had a significant impact on the Terragen Sphere.
Technology Timeline - Text by Steve Bowers
Some technological events and discoveries of importance.
Technosphere - Text by Mitchell Porter, in Anders Sandberg's Transhuman Terminology
[1] An expanding sphere of civilization/technology, spreading outwards using von Neumann Probes or simple colonization. Judging from how most life behaves, it will gradually restructure matter and energy inside itself in various ways.
[2] The totality of AI-ruled space.
Terragen - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Any biont, ai, or any other entity, clade, species, or group that either originated on Earth or, more generally, can trace eir ultimate origin and ancestry back to Earth; or any civilization, empire, polity or organization created or maintained by terragen sentients.
Tranquility Calendar, The - Text by Jeff Siggins, adapted by Steve Bowers
Calendar first used on Earth's Moon, then adopted throughout the Terragen Sphere