Book guns germs and steel reviews. Guns, Germs, and Steel by SparkNotes 2023-01-01

Book guns germs and steel reviews Rating: 8,7/10 1694 reviews

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book written by Jared Diamond, a professor of geography and physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. The book, first published in 1997, examines the history of human societies and the factors that have contributed to their development and success.

One of the main themes of the book is the impact of geography on the development of human societies. Diamond argues that the differences in the development of societies around the world can be largely attributed to the geographical differences between them. He cites examples such as the availability of domesticable animals, the presence of suitable plant species for agriculture, and the presence of natural resources such as metal ores as key factors in the development of civilizations.

Another key theme of the book is the impact of technology on human societies. Diamond argues that the development and spread of new technologies, such as writing and the wheel, have played a significant role in the success of certain societies. He also discusses the ways in which societies have interacted with one another and how these interactions have shaped the course of history.

The book has received widespread acclaim for its thought-provoking ideas and its ability to present complex historical and scientific concepts in a clear and accessible manner. Many reviewers have praised the book for its ability to provide a fresh perspective on the history of human societies and to challenge traditional assumptions about the reasons for their success or failure.

Overall, Guns, Germs, and Steel is a thought-provoking and highly influential work that has had a significant impact on the field of history and anthropology. Its ideas have sparked extensive debate and discussion among scholars and the general public, and it continues to be a popular and highly respected work in the field.

Guns, Germs, and Steel by SparkNotes

book guns germs and steel reviews

In fact, some of the diseases in Africa killed the Europeans and prevented them for exploiting Sub-Saharan Africa for centuries. By 1492 AD, that was still true in all of Australia, much of the Americas, and some of sub-Saharan Africa, but populous Eurasian societies already had state governments, writing, iron technology, and standing armies. In this essay, I will summarize Jared Diamond 's accounts of world history and evolution of culture, and compare and contrast it with what I have learned using the textbook for this class. Because plants depend on climate which varies mostly with latitude, domestic animals and crops might spread more easily across Eurasia. He follows the biological evolution of human beings and later focuses on certain representative societies which he uses to illustrate the truth that is there in his findings. First, we have unusually many easily domesticable plant and animal species.

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Guns, Germs, and Steel by SparkNotes

book guns germs and steel reviews

In this "artful, informative, and delightful" William H. Many of the larger mammals Europe had were also found in Asia. Or was the politically incorrect charge that Africans are innately inferior to their fairer skinned counterparts somewhat justified? The sheer depth of Diamonds argument makes for a smooth exposition that is used in combination with a didactic style during his narrations. Another problem with Diamond's style is that he seems to negate the influences of Non-Europeans, specifically Africa and China, to the current Western hegemony such as gunpowder from China, natural resources from Africa by either not mentioning them at all or under-emphasizing their importance. But since humans used to invade other humans' territory and do a lot of killing, at least things have changed now. It is difficult to evaluate how well built his whole thesis is, nonetheless he is persuasive and has the right broad idea.


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"Guns, Germs, and Steel" Book Review Essay Example

book guns germs and steel reviews

Diamond claims that his theories offer an alternative explanation to traditional racist dogma. Why is geography the most important factor in human history? The only thing I did not like about the book was that you could predict what was going to happen in the story. Get your paper price 124 experts online In Part One, Diamond explores how societal differences rise from environmental and circumstantial differences by looking at various case studies. Camped on a tropic riverside, One day he missed his loving bride. For diseases to sustain themselves, they need a human population that is sufficiently numerous and densely packed. Thus cultures in Eurasia could easily adapt ideas based on those of other societies instead of creating them from scratch.

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Book Review: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

book guns germs and steel reviews

Survival was more of a product of intelligence and talent such as being able to avoid accidents and their ability to hunt food successfully Diamond 21. I think Diamond wrote the book in order to spread awareness about human geography and to undermine racist theories about evolution and advancement. His theory is at its weakest in Asia and specifically China. The book was well-written if a bit repetitive at times and presents eye-opening and inventive analysis that will help me see the world I live in differently. .

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Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

book guns germs and steel reviews

A moment's thought would tell you that there are multiple problems with using their writings as a straightforward means of assessing anything about Incan culture and society. Once agriculture began populations grew even more. Another disadvantage the Indians had in their competition with the Europeans is that their ancestors had hunted to extinction native species of horses and camels. Domesticable animals are all domesticable in the same way, but recalcitrant animals are all different. First, the influence of religion has to be considered. The title of this book will serve as shorthand for those proximate factors. Four centuries previous to 1500, the Arab world out shined Western Europe, which was mired in the European Dark Ages.

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Relection on the Book Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond: [Essay Example], 1235 words GradesFixer

book guns germs and steel reviews

History is determined by far more than geography, plants, and animals. A mammal cannot be domesticated unless that mammal in the wild recognizes some kind of status hierarchy. A bit of a setback because I didn't have any maps handy to make sense of the strange locations that pop up at various points in this read and no thanks, I like to read with an internet connection as far from me as possible. He thinks constant local warfare has made the average surviving New Guinea tribesman superior to the average descendant of European culture, and wants to explain why the people of New Guinea have so little "cargo" wealth. It seems like there's an interesting fact or point of view whenever you turn the page.


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Guns Germs And Steel Book Review

book guns germs and steel reviews

About 13, 000 years ago, the ravage of the last Ice Age were over. What advantages did the Europeans have over others? Of course he is mostly right, but why in the 21st century is this considered such a novel idea, and why does he have to be so BORING about it? Iron has the same advantage over bronze that bronze has over copper. That prevalence of racist theories, as loathsome as they are unsupported, is the strongest reason for studying the long-term factors behind human history. However, the term is essentially used to describe a geographical landmass or tectonic plates. Archaeologists called this period of new technology and inventions the Great Leap Forward. It's an excellent, thought-provoking book.

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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond

book guns germs and steel reviews

Eurasia is twice as large as the next largest continent, Africa, and had a wide extensive landmass of fertile soil amidst a variety of wild life that were easily domesticated for animal herding and valuable crops that facilitated the development of intensive farming techniques that helped serve denser populations and formed the basis for the formation of complex organized societies. But rather animals such as horses, cows, etc are easier to tame and domesticate. As a conclusion, the striking differences between long term histories of people of different continents have been due not to innate differences in the people themselves, but to differences in their environments. It does answer the question of why Western Civilization dominated the world for the most part. Crowd diseases could not sustain themselves in small bands of hunter-gatherers or slash-and-burn farmers, nor perhaps would they develop at all, as only human association with cattle gave us for instance measles evolved from rinderpest and smallpox evolved from cowpox.

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Guns, Germs, and Steel: Book Recommendations & Review

book guns germs and steel reviews

Part Two officially delves into the starts of where such advantages came from. Why have Europeans tended to dominate other peoples on other continents? These are some very intriguing questions discussed in Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies 1997 written by Jared Diamond. Diamond tells us that the Europeans conquered the world largely due to the fact that they had bigger cities, which could breed deadlier germs. Diamond does not reject any of these answers altogether, but instead formulates models in which they become endogenous variables. On the surface, materialism seems very logical. For example, consider Cortez's victory over the Aztecs.


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