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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies |
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Reviews |
| | A long but also highly educational read!  |
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This is a must read for those who are interested in both history and the future of humankind! |
| | Why Didn't the Incas Invade Spain? |
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The Aborigines of Australia built mankind's first known watercraft 40,000 plus years ago, yet today they are the most primitive stone age people of any continent. Why is that?
Did the mother of invention arise from people living in harsh tropical/desert climates forced to invent in order to survive? Or did it arise in colder climates more readily because people were trapped in their warm home with nothing else to do but experiment? Was it both?
Most critics of this book sound to me like they have only read the summary on the back of the book. Their arguments are preconceived.
Even if you are one of those critics, read it. Disagree with it afterwards if you still want to, regardless I think it will add new perspective to human history for you. If you decide you want to write your own book based on how genetics and anthropometry shaped human history, by all means do so. I'd gladly read that too.
But don't just shrug if off before hearing him out. That's selfish cynicism and counterproductive to scientific understanding. |
| | Interesting but Lacking  |
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It is remarkable and disappointing that Diamond's attempt to discover reasons for industrialization and technological development in certain cultures skirts the history of MONEY. |
| | An entertaining, informative journey through human history  |
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Ever wonder how the Europeans managed to conquor the Americas, and not the other way around? Well, if you're unfortunate enough to have that much time on your hands, there's now a book tailor-made for you! Jared Diamond details how some civilizations have come to conquor others, and not vice versa. Obviously, they do this by utilizing guns, germs, and steel (gee, wonder where he gets the title from?)...but the underlying question, of course, is HOW certain societies got those advances, and how others did not?
I'm not a professional historian, biologist, anthropologist, or what-have-you, so I can't state boldly that Diamond's evidence holds up. But his argument does have a certain logic about it. Not saying there aren't other factors that he should consider (environment can't be the only reason people do what they do), but he does present a convincing argument, at least to this layman (and the fact that we're still reading this book 10 years later suggests professionals have found it food for thought as well).
A note to casual readers, as many of you probably are. There are sections of this book that become a bit monotonous; the three chapters detailing the rise of food production in various world societies is a bit mind-numbing (blame our violence-soaked media), and there's a lot of information that gets tossed around here without thorough explanation. Never fear, though--this book is well-worth the read, and is largely entertaining. Diamond's prose would make for a good textbook (there are questions in the back accompanying this volume; not sure what class you could read this in, but I would reccommend it for anyone interesting in trying it); he places a bit too much emphasis upon New Guinea (where he has performed years of field research), but we can't blame him for writing about what he loves, can we? "Guns, Germs, and Steel" is an interesting, thought-provoking book about the rise and fall of society throughout the ages. Highly reccommended for anyone with even a passing interest on the subject. |
| | Must read for anyone interested in human history |
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This book is a must read for anyone interested in human history. The ideas in the book are innovative and thought provoking -- a look at human history that gives new perspective. Also very important is the suggestion in the Epilogue that a science of human history should be developed to study the issues raised in the book in more detail. A great idea.
The book is very well written -- well organized and easily understandable. The author uses many contractions that don't often appear in formal writing, but in the context of this book, that less formal style works.
The author incorporates many disciplines into the discussion -- anthropology, biology, history. The concept of available native food groups and available domesticable animals is well presented, with historical examples from all human civilizations. Whether you ultimately agree with the author's perspective (and I personally think he mostly got it right), the book raises so many interesting issues that it is required reading. |
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