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| Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies | 
 enlarge | Author: Jared Diamond
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.38
You Save: $9.57 (38%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $10.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (1073 reviews)
Sales Rank: 660
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.7
ISBN: 0393061310
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.4
EAN: 9780393061314
ASIN: 0393061310
Publication Date: July 11, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
The Environmental Basis of History September 19, 2008
Jared Diamond is a professor of physiology at the UCLA School of Medicine, he expanded into evolutionary biology and biogeography. This book attempts to explain why certain parts of the world became predominant given the basic equality of humanity (p.16). Diamond questions whether "civilization" is better (p.18). It brings a longer life span, less murder, better medical care, etc. Are "Stone Age" peoples more intelligent than industrialized peoples (p.19)? [The former are not misinformed by the corporate media.] There is a difference between densely populated societies and sparsely populated societies (p.21). "History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of biological differences among the peoples themselves" (p.23). When Diamond talks about modern events you can see his faults. The Cuban Missile Crisis was in 1962 (p.279). There was no "isolationism" in the US as per the Briand-Kellogg Pact (p.412). That problem of "China's unity" is really the faults of any monopoly (p.413). That applies to the transistor as well (p.417).
The basis for development is to produce enough food to support craft specialists who develop technologies. This leads to governments, large nations, armies, wars of conquest, navies, and fleets for colonies. Diamond identifies several groups of environmental factors to explain the history of the world for the past 13,000 years (p.31). Can a single book provide all the answers? There was a huge change in human capabilities about fifty to a hundred millenia ago (p.40). [The simplest explanation for the demise of animals is the consumption of their eggs and young by humans (p.43).] Chapter 2 tells about the Maori invasion of the Chatham Islands in December 1835. They exterminated the Moriori people (p.53). This shows how environments affect human societies (p.54). Diamond compares Polynesian societies to show the effects of the environment (p.58). The population had the same ancestral society yet their cultural differences are explained by their varying environment (p.65).
Chapter 4 explains why agriculture and livestock are the foundation for human advancement. Both require more labor than in hunting-gathering societies (p.105). Livestock that give milk provide more calories than from a slaughtered animal. Vegetables and animals are adapted to the climate by latitude (p.184). Diseases limited the range of domesticated animals (pp.186-187). Diseases are spread by livestock and pet animals (Chapter 11). Until WW II diseases killed more soldiers than battle (p.197). European cities had a higher death rate than rural villages before the 20th century (p.205). Writing transmits knowledge with accuracy, quantity, and detail (Chapter 12). Is Diamond correct about Iraqi literacy (p.216)? Weren't Europeans more advanced in nuclear science (p.225)?
Diamond's comments about inventions are wrong or misleading (p.243). Otto invented his engine to provide power from a waste product from oil refining (p.247). Henry Ford `invented' the automobile specifically to replace horses (p.243). Steam locomotives were designed to replace horses and their expensive fodder. Diamond is wrong about the supersonic transport (p.249). You could buy a Dvorak keyboard if people wanted them (p.248); just as a country could drive with a steering wheel on the right. Chapter 18 summarizes this book. Chapter 19 tells about the peoples and languages of Africa. Diamond seems very sure in describing events from 5,000 years ago when he wasn't present as an observer. The condensed version of this book made an interesting movie on TV. This book should have fewer pages by eliminating redundant or extraneous material, and be faster paced. I wonder if there are any opposing viewpoints to his opinions?
Guns, germs and stell September 8, 2008
i haven't finish reading this book, i'm on the tenth chapter...but it is really interresting and that all ican say about this book.
Tracing the spread of human culture, language, and empire August 25, 2008
Diamond traces the spread of human culture, language, and empire-building across the globe in terms of "geographic determinism"--a pejorative term he deplores: ". . . Societies developed differently on different continents because of differences in continental environments, not in human biology."
Specifically, he traces the ultimate causes that some human societies who (literally and sometimes figuratively) developed guns, germs and steel were able to subjugate the continental areas of the globe: domestication of plants for food, domestication of animals for food, transportation, power, and military purposes, and east/west continental axes that enabled food production techniques and the resulting political organization, language, and technology to spread most quickly.
Diamond makes a compelling case in a way that takes the racism out of much of the "manifest destiny" writing that surrounds this topic. Doing so, however, he takes a purely evolutionary view of human history. No allowance is made, for example, for events such as a single point of creation, dispersal of language from Babel outward (even though it would address a mystery he is unable to solve), or a world-wide flood which wiped out existing patterns of human dispersal and restarted human history from another single point.
so good I bought it for a friend August 18, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is interesting for those who prefer non-fiction. I bought this book for a friend.
 Long Winded. Dull. A Waste of Your Time. August 16, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Without a doubt, this has got to be the worst book I have read in a long time. What would have been an interesting blurb in the sociology section of 'Time' magazine, becomes hundreds of pages of pure mindless dreck in the hands of Jared Diamond. Let me save you a few days of your life by summing up the book: The reason why white, western / European societies flourished and the rest of the of the non-white, non-western world did not was because the European climate and terrain favored domestication of plants and animals while the rest of the world's terrain and climate did not. Therefore, western man had more free time on his hands to invent stuff and put a man on the moon, while the rest of the world, to this day, is still screwed up. Wow. I am so annoyed I read this book and wasted so much time doing so.
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