Curiosity Engine · Open Curiosity🌐 中文

Disciplines are a human cut — the world was always one piece

History, art, philosophy, science — these “fields” are a cut we made because no single mind can hold it all, not the shape of the world itself. Curiosity Engine stitches them back into one web: people, time, place, one thread pulling out the next.

Mythology

🏛️Greek & RomanMYTHOSA Greek and Roman mythology map you can actually follow63 figures · 6 eras🪓Norse MythologyEDDAA map that makes sense of Norse mythology, from creation to the end and rebirth33 figures · 6 eras𓂀Egyptian MythNETERUOne storyline of death and resurrection, threading together twenty-two Egyptian gods — from the waters of chaos to the scales of the underworld22 figures · 6 eras

History

⚔️Three KingdomsSANGUOA Three Kingdoms map that keeps history and legend apart63 figures · 7 eras🐉Chinese HistoryDYNASTIESFrom Yu the Great taming the flood to the last emperor stepping down, fifty-five names that rewrote history, linked into one chain of cause and effect55 figures · 7 eras🦅Roman HistorySPQRFrom the she-wolf who suckled twins to the last stand at Constantinople — twenty-eight names threading a thousand years of Republic and Empire28 figures · 7 eras🏰European HistoryEUROPAA history map that makes sense of Europe’s dynasties, revolutions, and ideas64 figures · 10 eras🌍World CivilizationsCIVILIZATIONSA map of figures that makes sense of five thousand years of world history68 figures · 6 eras

Thought & Faith

🕊️World FaithsFAITHSA religion map that makes the origins and differences of the great traditions clear63 figures · 8 eras🦉PhilosophyAGORAA map of the history of philosophy that shows you who is answering whom101 figures · 12 eras

Literature

📖Classical LiteratureCANONA map that makes sense of the classical literature of East and West, from Homer to Dream of the Red Chamber70 figures · 5 eras

Art

🎨Art HistoryMASTERSFrom Leonardo to Picasso, from Hokusai to Qi Baishi — a map of movements and masters62 figures · 6 eras🏛️ArchitectureBUILTFrom the Parthenon to the Sagrada Família — a map of architects and master builders53 figures · 6 eras

Power & Order

⚖️Power & OrderORDERFrom Hammurabi’s stele to Mandela’s forgiveness — a four-thousand-year map of power and order55 figures · 6 eras

Wealth & Exchange

💰Wealth & ExchangeWEALTHFrom the Silk Road to Bitcoin — a map of merchants, economists, and financiers52 figures · 6 eras

Technology

💡History of TechnologyINVENTIONSA map of figures that makes sense of two thousand years of technical inheritance73 figures · 8 eras🤖A Brief History of AITHE MINDSA map of figures that makes sense of near ninety years of AI’s rise and fall63 figures · 7 eras

On-Site Lenses

Understand every stone where you stand — one city and four venues, each a stack of origin → journey → today cards.

🏛️Rome · City LensRome as a book read on your feet: 15 sites layered with myth, empire, faith and art.🖼️The Louvre · Museum LensA cross-civilization graph in one building: six flagship artifacts, three layered cards each.🌸The Uffizi · Museum LensThe heart of the Renaissance: two Venuses, Leonardo’s first step, Michelangelo’s only panel.🚂The Musée d’Orsay · Museum LensA nearly demolished railway station holding the birth of the modern — the building itself is exhibit one.⚜️Versailles · Palace LensThe rooms are the exhibits: the mirrors, the king’s bed, the sun god, the queen’s fake village.🕊️The Vatican Museums · Museum LensThe smallest country, the highest ceiling: creation, doomsday and the temple of reason.

Follow a trail

Not sure where to start? Pick a curated cross-universe path and follow it step by step.

🏛️From Troy to Rome, and to a New FaithA Mediterranean thread across myth and faith: from the heroes beneath the walls of Troy, to the forefather who walked out of the ruins toward Rome, to a new faith that rose at the empire’s edge and spread across the whole sea. Follow it once and you will see that "myth — history — religion" are the upper and lower reaches of a single river.6-step cross-universe trail🌍The Axial Age: Humanity Begins to Ask, Almost at OnceBetween the 6th and 5th centuries BC, civilizations that had no idea the others existed threw up world-changing thinkers at almost the same moment: Laozi and Confucius in China, the Buddha in India, Pythagoras and Socrates in Greece. Follow this thread and you will see "meanwhile" with your own eyes — across the same span of time, people in several corners of the earth began, unprompted, to ask the same great questions.5-step cross-universe trail👑The Women Who Took the ThroneAcross three thousand years in which nearly every civilization reserved power for men, a few women still seized the throne with their own hands. From pharaohs to empresses, from the Nile to the Volga, this trail lines them up — across civilizations and eras, the same nerve.5-step cross-universe trail🐫The Silk Road: Five People Who Stitched the World TogetherFrom Zhang Qian "hollowing out" a route to the Western Regions, to Zheng He’s treasure ships entering the Indian Ocean — for fifteen centuries caravans, monks and envoys traveled one web of roads. Follow five people who actually walked it, and you’ll see that camels carried more than goods: scriptures, geography, entire worldviews.5-step cross-universe trail🎨The Renaissance: From a Line of Verse to a DomeThe Renaissance did not wake up in a day: first a poet picked classical antiquity back up, then a craftsman raised the largest dome since ancient Rome, then the printing press made ideas travel faster than riders — until brush, chisel and quill together put the human being back at the center of the world. This trail follows the ignition sequence.6-step cross-universe trail🪞Gods in the Mirror: Greek and Norse Deities, Side by SideBoth mythologies have a king of gods, a deity of war and wisdom, and a troublemaker — but Greek gods live in sunlight without an expiry date, while Norse gods enter the stage already knowing they die at Ragnarök. Walk six deities alternately and watch the same "role" written under two different worldviews.6-step cross-universe trail🔭The Scientific Revolution: Five Steps That Moved Earth from the CenterAcross a hundred and fifty years, five men relayed the greatest "demotion" in human history: Earth went from the center of the cosmos to an ordinary planet — and the question "how do we know something is true" got, for the first time, two answers: mathematics and experiment.5-step cross-universe trail
🔭World LensRead history sideways — by year or by place, see what every civilization was doing at the same moment, in the same spot.→

In order

A whole stretch of history on one scrollable timeline — every name with a one-line verdict, linking into the full figure pages.

🦅Every Roman emperor, in order68 emperors · 27 BC–AD 476 · best/worst view🌳Roman emperor family treeBlood · adoption · marriage🐉Every Chinese dynasty, in orderXia to Qing · c. 2070 BC–AD 1912

By theme

Pick an angle and read in: who’s most famous, the best books, what got filmed, where to see the artifacts — each list with a one-line verdict, linking into the full figure pages.

Roman Emperors

⭐The Most Famous Roman EmperorsThe most famous Roman emperors and why each is remembered — from Augustus and Marcus Aurelius to Nero, Caligula, and Constantine.📚The Best Books on the Roman EmperorsThe best books on the Roman emperors, ancient and modern: Suetonius, Gibbon, Mary Beard’s SPQR, Tom Holland’s Dynasty, and more — with a one-line guide to each.🎬Roman Emperor Movies & TV ShowsThe best movies and TV shows about the Roman emperors — I, Claudius, Rome, Gladiator, and more — with a one-line note on how faithful each is.🎓The Best Online Courses on Roman HistoryThe best online courses on the Roman emperors and Roman history — Open Yale, The Great Courses, Khan Academy, and more — with what each is good for.🏛️Roman Emperor Artifacts & Where to See ThemThe most important surviving Roman emperor artifacts — the Augustus of Prima Porta, the equestrian Marcus Aurelius, Trajan’s Column and more — and which museum holds each.🔎Roman Emperor Discoveries: Finds That Rewrote the StoryMajor archaeological discoveries about the Roman emperors and what they revealed — the Herculaneum scrolls, the Meroë Head of Augustus, the Vindolanda tablets, and more.

Chinese Dynasties

⭐The Most Famous Chinese EmperorsThe most famous Chinese emperors and why each is remembered — from Qin Shi Huang and Wu Zetian to the Tang and Qing giants.📚The Best Books on Chinese History & the DynastiesThe best books on Chinese history and its dynasties — Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian, John Keay, Valerie Hansen, and more — with a one-line guide to each.🎬Chinese Dynasty Films & Historical DramasThe best Chinese dynasty films and historical TV dramas — Hero, Red Cliff, Three Kingdoms, The Longest Day in Chang’an, Empresses in the Palace — by era.🎓The Best Online Courses on Chinese HistoryThe best online courses on Chinese history and its dynasties — HarvardX ChinaX, The Great Courses, Michael Wood’s The Story of China, and more.🏛️Chinese Dynasty Treasures & Where to See ThemThe greatest surviving Chinese dynasty artifacts — the Terracotta Army, a Han jade burial suit, the Along the River scroll, and more — and which museum holds each.🔎Chinese Dynasty Discoveries: Finds That Rewrote the StoryMajor archaeological discoveries about the Chinese dynasties and what they revealed — the Terracotta Army, the Haihunhou tomb, Mawangdui, Fu Hao’s tomb, and the oracle bones.

Greek Mythology

⭐The Most Famous Figures in Greek MythologyThe most famous Greek gods, heroes, and monsters — Zeus, Athena, Heracles, Medusa, Achilles and more — each with a one-line who-they-are and a link to the full figure.📚The Best Books on Greek MythologyThe best books on Greek mythology, from Edith Hamilton and Homer to Stephen Fry and Madeline Miller — a one-line guide to each and where to begin.🎬Greek Mythology Movies & Shows Worth WatchingThe best Greek mythology movies and TV shows — Troy, Blood of Zeus, Percy Jackson, Clash of the Titans — with a one-line honest verdict on each.🎓The Best Online Courses on Greek MythologyThe best Greek mythology courses online — the free UPenn Coursera class, The Great Courses’ Classical Mythology, and more, with who it’s for.🏛️Where to See Greek Mythology: Museums & MasterpiecesWhere to see Greek mythology: the Acropolis Museum, the Parthenon Marbles, the Venus de Milo, the Antikythera mechanism — the must-see objects and where they live.🔎Discoveries That Changed How We Read Greek MythArchaeological discoveries behind Greek mythology — the Mask of Agamemnon, the Griffin Warrior tomb, the Antikythera mechanism — and what each changed.

Side by side

Set figures from two civilizations — or two tellings of one theme — side by side. The contrast shows each one’s true colors.

🏮Confucius vs Socrates: Two Questioners of the Axial AgeFigure vs figure🎭Caesar vs Cao Cao: Each Left the Crown to a SonFigure vs figure⚡Zeus vs Odin: Two Kings of the GodsFigure vs figure⚖️Hammurabi vs Shang Yang: Two Men Who Carved Law in StoneFigure vs figure🌑Three Underworlds: How Greece, the North, and India Imagined What Comes AfterCross-civilization theme🌊Flood Memories: Gilgamesh and Noah, One Deluge Told TwiceCross-civilization theme

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