Guns, Germs and Steel
This book by Jared Diamond is based on scientific fact and seeks to explain the reason why Eurasia has always seemed to be ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to genetic superiority. The book suggests that the biggest advantage that Eurasia had was its geography, which by large favored farming activities like planting of crops and rearing of domestic animals. It is documented therein that humans started food production approximately 11000 years ago, despite having fed off the wild for over 7 million years.
Guns, Germs and Steel speaks about the earliest of human existence from the fossils found in Africa, and states that the first human ancestor to have left Africa was the Homo erectus. The book tries to examine the migration of early species of the human being. However, the book does not recognize Antarctica, as there was no human settlement on the continent until the 19th century, and it assumes that Eurasia is one continent as it has no clear spelt out boundaries that would have inhibited the spread of these populations.
Some societies underwent the Great Leap, where they became more organized and formed tribes, religion and some form of government. This came with germs and weapons which aided these communities in colonization of newer grounds inhabited by less literate cultures.
This book also shows the different dates of settlement into the different continents of the world. Africa is believed to have been the cradle of mankind, but did not get a headstart in terms of development despite having been believed to have had the advantage of five million more years of protohuman existence than any other continent.
The book argues that the area of huge continents such as the Americas and Eurasia played a major role in giving their inhabitants the advantage of growth and development than Africa, whose protohumans were not as productive due to their primitive nature. Smaller continents like Australia are believed to have been rapidly occupied by superior civilizations, thus could still have had a headstart.
Jared Diamond writes that farming directly preceded the invention of guns, germs and steel. Thus the geographical location of communities in the various continents and when they began farming relates directly to their subsequent fates. As society continued to get more and more civilized germs such as infectious diseases also cropped up among humans. Those who kept domestic animals were affected first, but later developed resistance to such diseases.
This book has elaborate explanations on how each continent was affected by domestication and went a step further to explain the origins of plants and animals. Jared Diamond argued that Eurasian hegemony was not due to being more intellectual or moral superiority. The elaboration in the book of how latter human civilizations were exposed to invaders who had superior technologies and development of immunity gained from living in close proximity with animals, examination of the advantages brought about by farming and domestication, the importance of innovation in conquests and daily operations and the changes in population makes this book effective in the study of early man.
Works Cited
Diamond, Jared M.. Guns, germs, and steel. New York: Spark Pub., 2003. Print.
