A restless climate -- Climatic choreography of health and disease -- From Cambrian explosion to first farmers: how climate made us human -- Spread of farming, new diseases, and rising civilizations: mid-holocene optimum -- Eurasian bronze age: unsettled climatic times -- Romans, Mayans, and Anasazi: the classical optimum to droughts in the Americas -- Little ice age: Europe, China, and beyond -- Weather extremes in modern times -- Humans throughout the holocene -- Facing the future.