![]() ![]() This had two benefits: if another group of people attempted to displace or conquer a community, diseases to which the invaders had not developed resistance could thwart such attempts. ![]() However, epidemics allowed survivors to develop resistance. Germs, which originated from the livestock, might not seem like a positive development, especially where they caused epidemics that swept through food producing communities. ![]() This is not just a dietary matter, as food production was the key to other developments such as more sophisticated technology, as well as writing, religion, as well as “guns, germs, and steel.” However, rather than dwelling on the earliest stages of humanity, Diamond’s focus is on what happened when human beings evolved to the level of modern humans and showed evidence of more advanced thought processing and skills (as indicated by the artifacts they left behind).Ībove all, Diamond is concerned with the move from hunting and gathering to food production: a move that occurred more rapidly in some settings than others, or failed to occur at all. Guns, Germs, and Steel won the Pulitzer Prize, among numerous other honors, and was adapted into a documentary by the National Geographic Society.ĭiamond covers a vast time period and geographical terrain throughout this book, starting with the beginning of humanity and covering human development and expansion into the earth’s five habitable continents: Africa, Europe, Eurasia, and North and South America. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |