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Bruce just couldn't get into this one...

Angela wrote: "Bruce just couldn't get into this one..."

I'm with Bruce. It was all the rage back in the day, so I think I expected too much from it.

I only made it about halfway through GGS - but have shared this many times (your turn now):

Why Did Human History Unfold Differently On Different Continents For The Last 13,000 Years?

A Talk By Jared Diamond



This sums up GGS in much fewer words - I think the thesis (that Eurasian folks had a geographic advantage over Africans, N/S-Americans, and Austrialians) is compelling.

Check it out!!

Jason,

There will be a test later - so don't screw up!

Jim wrote: "Jason,

There will be a test later - so don't screw up!"

Aw crap, and I was going to skip class!

Excellent. I shall hire you to create a really pithy title for my upcoming memoirs.

Mark wrote: "Excellent. I shall hire you to create a really pithy title for my upcoming memoirs."

How's this?

Mark Skelton: a Swell British Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Book Reviewing Guy who likes Books and Hedgehogs

It's nice and descriptive.

Or how about this one?

Mark Skelton: The Man with the Almost-Smile

Hmmm, they both have a certain je ne sais quoi. I suppose I had better get and write the bloody thing now.

ps. The almost smile....that is too good to waste on my memoirs. You now have a title for an intriguing novel.

this alone illuminates the core problem with the book. it really should be "animals plants and germs". steel and guns are what one percent of the book and that's generous

Frank wrote: "this alone illuminates the core problem with the book. it really should be "animals plants and germs". steel and guns are what one percent of the book and that's generous"

Yup.

I think it should just be called farming.

Nate wrote: "I think it should just be called farming."


I agree, Farming: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond sounds good.

Of those 3 it is mostly about germs sure, but really something about plant and/or animal domestication should be in there because really, that is essentially what the entire book is about.

Farming: The Fates of Human Societies is incredible, and I'd read it if it were titled that. Should I read it anyways?

See the link (updated below) for a 5,000 -word piece by Dr. Diamond.

Why Did Human History Unfold Differently On Different Continents For The Last 13,000 Years?

A Talk By Jared Diamond

This starts to say:

"Invading Europeans had steel swords, guns, and horses (and introduced) infectious diseases like smallpox and measles, (which) killed an estimated 95% of the New World's Indian population."

These are cited as "proximate reasons" why Europeans came to dominate much of the world.

Nothing much new, here.

What is new is that Diamond expands the view back to the invention of agriculture and animal husbandry, which supported ciivlization - cities and technology. The Eurasian land mass has an east-west axis - which facilitated a rapid spread of animal domestication and (especially) domestic crops. Contrast with the north-south axis of the Americas and Africa - and the greater contrast with isolated Australia and surrounding islands.

I don't recall if he also addressed this "3rd G(eography)" in GGS - but this serves as a low-cost introduction.