About this title: This history examines the influences of geography and environment on the development of civilization and seeks to find large patterns that might explain why, in the modern period, some groups seem to have significantly greater material wealth than others. The author is an evolutionary biologist and his scientific approach to human history draws on examples from societies all over the world.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780393317558ISBN:0393317552
Description: Good. This book is in good condition. Minimal wear and tear. This item was a donation to Goodwill of Greater Washington. Thank you for your purchase. Your order will be processed within 2 business days of receipt. read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Highbridge Audio
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9781565115149ISBN:1565115147
Description: Acceptable. Unless specifically noted to the contrary, item may contain library markings; 100% of this purchase will support literacy programs through a nonprofit organization! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780393317558ISBN:0393317552
Description: Paperback. All text is legible, may contain markings, cover wear, loose/torn pages or staining and much writing. All text is legible, may contain markings, cover wear, loose/torn pages or staining and much writing. SKU: 25134853 All orders shipped within 1 business day. 14 day money back guarantee ISBN: 9780393317558 All text is legible, may contain markings, cover wear, loose/torn pages or staining and much writing. All text is legible, may contain markings, cover wear, loose/torn pages or ... read more
Description: Diamond, Jared., W.W. Norton & Co., 1997, c1997, later printing, illus. soft cover (trade size paperback), PO's gift inscription inside cover, light wear o/w very good, 480 pp with further readings & index, B&W photographic & other illus., tall 8vo, ISBN: 0393317552, 'A whirlwind tour through 13, 000 years of history on all the continents', Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Fine. 0393317552 NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black ink mark on outside edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Description: NY: Norton 1999, softcover, 480p., trade softcover, vg condition, gift inscription on title page, light curve to outer edge of cover. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780393317558ISBN:0393317552
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Pages are clean, though the edges are lightly soiled; wraps have a bit of edge wear. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
"Diamond seeks to dispel the myth that humans of different geographic and racial origins have inherently varying mental capabilities. The arguments he seeks to counter are those stating that since "civilization" came to full flower in the "western" countries (white) and not in places where other races dominated, that this indicated an innate superiority by Caucasians. He provides a stunning analysis of why civilization emerged in the places in which it did. He tells us of the few areas on the planet suitable for the emergence of farming, and why such farming flourished in some areas more than in others. He talks about the importance of domesticated animals, and shows how it was possible for them to have been domesticated in some, but not all of the theoretically possible locations. He discusses the impact of germs, the immunity defense developed by more urban dwellers, and the offense those germs serve when those urban dwellers come into contact with peoples who lack such immunities. Although Steel figures prominently in the title, this aspect is given the lightest treatment in the book. Diamond closes with a plea for history to be redefined as History Science, claiming that, as with many other "historical" sciences, it holds the elements necessary to marit the "science" designation."
"I liked this book, and it taught me a bunch of things I hadn't known before I read it. Jared Diamond has clearly had a more interesting life than most of us, and spent significant amounts of time in a wide variety of different kinds of society, all over the world. He says he got the basic idea from a conversation he had back in the 70s with a friend in New Guinea. His friend, who later became a leader in the independence movement, wanted to talk about "cargo" (manufactured goods, technology). "Why is it," he asked, "that you Europeans have so much more cargo than we do?" Diamond thought he had come up with a good question, and wrote the book in an attempt to answer it.
The core of Diamond's explanation is that Europeans were essentially lucky in two respects. First, we have unusually many easily domesticable plant and animal species. Second, since Europe is oriented East-West rather than North-South, a species which is domesticated in one part of Europe has a good chance of thriving in another, so there are many opportunities to swap farming technology between different areas. It helps that there is an easily navigable river system, and also that there are no impassible deserts or mountain ranges. These conditions are not reproduced in most other parts of the world; Diamond has a range of interesting tables, showing how few useful domesticable species there are elsewhere. Because we got efficient farming earlier than most other people, we also got cities and advanced technology earlier, and everything else followed from that initial lead we established.
One objection you could make is that it wasn't luck, but rather that Europeans were more enterprising than people in other areas about finding good species to domesticate. Diamond's answer to this is fairly convincing. Having lived extensively with pre-industrial people, he says that we city-dwellers just don't understand how well they know their flora and fauna, and how active their interest in them is. I guess a New Guinea tribesman would, conversely, be surprised at how quickly word gets around on the Internet when a cool new website appears. Basically, what he's saying is that pre-industrial people tried everything that could be tried, and when they didn't find anything good, it's because it wasn't there. Systematic studies by modern scientists do seem to support this conclusion.
Another criticism some readers have leveled at Diamond is that he makes history completely deterministic - once the geography was fixed, everything that happened after that was inevitable. I don't actually think that's fair. Diamond is open about the fact that his theories make one embarrassingly incorrect prediction: if it was all about being first to domesticate plant and animal species and set up efficient farming, then China should be the world's preeminent civilization. Even though he makes some attempt to explain why this isn't so, there does right now seem to be a fair case for saying that it's not only geography.
Luckily, George W. Bush has been working hard to try and smooth things out. If the Western world can just arrange two or three more leaders like him, all of Diamond's data will hopefully come out the way it's supposed to, and the last few hundred years of Western history can be written off as a statistical blip. Way to go, Dubya!"
"No wonder it's so popular, you can't get much more politically correct than "the smartest man I ever knew is an aborigine that lives in the stone age jungle" or something along those lines. This book is great if you want to find out why we Americans are all just "lucky" instead of recognizing we are truly blessed, there is a difference."
"I have this awesome picture in my head in which Jared Diamond did not write this book. He instead wrote a detailed, engaging account of the history of plant and animal domestication.
"But Rhiannon," you might say, "doesn't that remove his entire thesis, that geography determined just about everything about the course of human civilization?"
And, I would respond yes, it does.
"And, isn't that kind of removing the whole book?"
No, I counter. It just removes the douche-y social Darwinist parts. Plus, if he weren't trying to prove an overarching point about the entirety of human history, readers wouldn't be subjected to his style of argument, which largely consists of applying only certain parts of his thesis at certain points (see his arguments regarding the lengths of human habitation of North American versus how those same arguments are applied regarding Africa), waving away pieces of evidence that would call his thesis into question, and neglecting to include any citations, instead relying on a "Further Reading" section. Removing all of this would leave the only parts really worth reading: the stuff about plant and animal domestication. Which was awesome."
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