Science Books

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Explaining what William McNeill called The Rise of the West has become the central problem in the study of global history.

See also:

Fossils & Ruins

Reference

In Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond presents the biologist's answer: geography, demography, and ecological happenstance.

Diamond evenhandedly reviews human history on every continent since the Ice Age at a rate that emphasizes only the broadest movements of peoples and ideas.

Yet his survey is binocular: one eye has the rather distant vision of the evolutionary biologist, while the other eye--and his heart--belongs to the people of New Guinea, where he has done field work for more than 30 years.

For more information about the title Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, read the full description at Amazon.com, or see the following related books:

The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (P.S.) — Jared Diamond states the theme of his book up-front: "How the human species changed, within a short time, from just another species of big mammal to ... > read more

Plagues and Peoples — No small themes for historian William McNeill: he is a writer of big, sweeping books, from The Rise of the West to The History of the World. Plagues ... > read more

Collapse — Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is the glass-half-empty follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and ... > read more

The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language — A compelling look at the quest for the origins of human language from an accomplished linguist Language is a distinctly human gift. However, because ... > read more

Note: This page refers to a book description provided by Amazon.com through its Associates Program. All text, images, and related information about this product are protected by applicable copyright law. Prices are subject to change without notice.

Recommend this page on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

| More

Author: Jared Diamond

Publisher: W. W. Norton

Date: Jul. 11, 2005

List Price:

~~$24.95~~

Discount Price:

$15.13

White Eyed Birds Diversify Across A Hemispheric Range Faster Than Any Other Bird (January 28, 2009) — New molecular research shows that white eye birds (family Zosteropidae) form new species at a faster rate than any other known bird. Remarkably, unlike other rapid diversifications, which are ... > read more

Exploding Asteroid Theory Strengthened By New Evidence Located In Ohio, Indiana (July 3, 2008) — Was the course of life on the planet altered 12,900 years ago by a giant comet exploding over Canada? New evidence suggests the answer is affirmative. The timing attached to this theory of about ... > read more

Antarctic Plants And Animal Life Survived Ice Ages (September 30, 2007) — Springtails, mites, worms and plant life could help solve the mystery of Antarctica's glacial history according to new research. Scientists report that the evolutionary history of Antarctica's ... > read more

New Study Shows Effects of Prehistoric Nocturnal Life on Mammalian Vision (October 31, 2012) — Since the age of dinosaurs, most species of day-active mammals have retained the imprint of nocturnal life in their eye structures. Humans and other anthropoid primates, such as monkeys and apes, are ... > read more

Eyes Evolved For 'X-Ray Vision': Forward-Facing Eyes Allow Animals To 'See Through' Clutter In The World (August 29, 2008) — The advantage of using two eyes to see the world around us has long been associated solely with our capacity to see in 3-D. Now, a new study has uncovered a truly eye-opening advantage to binocular ... > read more

Transmission Of Tuberculosis Is Linked To Historical Patterns Of Human Migration (September 27, 2005) — Dr. Igor Mokrousov from St. Petersburg's Pasteur Institute and his colleagues have demonstrated that the evolutionary history of the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB) has been shaped by human ... > read more

Human Culture Subject To Natural Selection, Study Shows (February 20, 2008) — The process of natural selection can act on human culture as well as on genes, a new study finds. Scientists have shown for the first time that cultural traits affecting survival and reproduction ... > read more

Darwin's Greatest Challenge Tackled: The Mystery Of Eye Evolution (November 1, 2004) — When Darwin's skeptics attack his theory of evolution, they often focus on the eye. Darwin himself confessed that it was "absurd" to propose that the human eye evolved through spontaneous ... > read more