In the book, “Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies” by Jared Diamond, one of the World History Thinking Skills shown was Skill Two: Chronological Reasoning. A specific example of this skill is represented in the quote, “Besides permitting sedentary living and hence the accumulation of possessions, food production was decisive in the history of technology...it became possible...to develop economically specialized societies consisting of non-food-producing specialists feed by food-producing peasants” (250). Diamond reasons that transitioning from a nomadic hunter-gathers lifestyle to a food producing sedentary lifestyle led to the advancement of technology and thence a more centralized and well structured society; all of which
The chapter begins by saying that the Corleonesi boss Riina has been captured. After Riina’s capture, his brother in law Bagarella takes over some of his responsibilities like leading the organization’s death squads. Both of these men were on the pro-massacre wing of the mafia, which wanted to keep on with the war, but with the capture of Bagarella shortly after Riina, the wing had lost its power. Provenzano was next considered boss who had a different strategy than the previous bosses before him. Provenzano did not wanted Cosa Nostra out of the headlines and decided to no longer cause harm to penitents or their families. His goal was to get these men to withdraw their evidence against the organization, and it worked out great for him. Provenzano was also very selective on who the family did business with when dealing with politicians. However,
The Moriori and the Maori people developed differently due to environmental differences. Although the Maori people were originally farmers, their cold crops could not grow in the cold climate of the Chathams. This caused them to resort to hunting/gathering. While this got them by, they weren’t able to bring in the mass amount of crops needed to support the other nonhunting craft specialists. Their prey did not require elaborate machines, so they just used traditional hunting methods. Also, they were a small island with no easily accessible neighboring islands, so they did not colonize and they learned to get along with each
Yali’s question, based on Professor Diamond, asks, why is it that countries arising from people of caucasian descent had gained immense power and industrial development while the people of New Guinea and other “black” countries had gained little material development or global power and influence?
"Guns, Germs, and Steel," written by Jared Diamond, seeks to answer a simple question asked by a friend of his in New Guinea, "[w]hy is it that... white people developed so [many commercial tools and luxuries] and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little [of these goods ourselves]." (Diamond 14). Recognizing that the question could be applied more broadly around the world, he simplified the question; asking why wealth and power were distributed among people of Asian and European descent, rather than those of African, Aboriginal, and Native American descent? To answer the question, the entirety of world history must be explored, from the early expansion out of Africa around the world to the
According To, “Guns,Germs,and Steel” by Jared Diamond,was written to discuss what led to the unequal distribution of wealth and power. Jared Mason Diamond was born September 10,1937.He wrote this article to answer Yali’s Question “ Why Is It That You White People Have So Much Cargo And We Black People Have So Little?” This article is was published in March 1997. He is a professor of geography and physiology at the University Of California,Los Angeles. Diamond was on an mission to answer Yalis Question. He wanted to know why was there such diffusion based on their ethnicity and living area.I agree that these major aspects led to the unequal distribution of wealth and power over the world. Jared Diamond believed that diffusion,trade,disease,
In Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, the author gives the list of the ancient fourteen species of big herbivorous domestic mammals and how they affect their regions. Diamond lists the animals in sub-categories on page 152 when he wrote, “Of those Ancient Fourteen, 9 became important livestock for people in only limited areas of the globe: the Arabian camel, Bactrian camel, llama/alpaca, donkey, reindeer, water buffalo, yak, banteng, and gaur. Only 5 species became widespread and important around the world. Those Major Five of mammal domestication are the cow, sheep, goat, pig, and horse” (Diamond, 152 & 153). In the form of a table, the author also shown the fourteen domesticated animals with the place of which they originated from.
Diamond argues against the possibility of change in climate killing the mammals as he states “Critic respond with a counter theory: perhaps the giants succumbed instead to a change in climate, such a severe drought on the already chronically dry Australian continent. …
Guns, Germs, and Steel was released on PBS in July of 2005 and produced by Tim Lambert. It is based off of the book by the same name, written by Professor Jared Diamond. If you've ever wanted to learn more about how geographical factors influenced the growth and development of ancient civilizations, then Guns, Germs, and Steel is the film for you. It narrates Professor Diamond's search for an answer to a question asked to him by a man named Yali, "Why you white man have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?" During the show, Professor Diamond studies the factors of the evolution of ancient civilizations into the agricultural and technological giants they've become today. By comparing the geographical circumstances of those civilizations with those of New Guinea, he is able to finally find an answer to Yali's question.
Jared Diamond has done much research in New Guinea. His friend, local New Guinean; Yali, asked why whites had been so successful compared to the locals. Diamond, while looking into Yali’s question, wants to prove that the differences in success have nothing to do with racial intelligence, but rather environmental differences. He starts with saying that stone people "are on the average probably more intelligent, not less intelligent, than industrialized peoples." He says the New Guineans may not be technologically smart like Europeans, but they are a lot fitter than any European put in their environment. He traces back these differences in the folds of history.
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998. Print.
Guns, Germs, and Steel. This is the title of Jared Diamond’s incredibly powerful book. This title refers to how farming societies were able to take over populations of different locations, regardless of the fact that they did not have equal numbers. Diamond begins with the presentation of a question from a New Guinean politician: why were Europeans able to conquer so many other societies around the world? Despite uprooting some controversy among different scientists, Diamond writes to defend his belief that the answer to this question involves multiple different factors. Whereas some people believe that the success of a society is based on genetics, Diamond focuses on how it is immunity
“Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?” (Diamond, 14). This is the question that Jared Diamond seeks to answer in his manuscript Guns, Germs, and Steel. This question was asked by a man known as Yali during Diamond’s time in New Guinea. This question “concerned only the contrasting lifestyles of New Guineans and of European whites, it can be extended to a larger set of contrasts within the modern world,” (Diamond 15). What we can take from Yali’s question is this: why did sophisticated societies begin where they did and how did they do so? Why was it that Europeans conquered the Americas, and not that Native Americans conquered Europe? Why were
In the first episode of the Guns, Germs and Steel, they set out a main question for the video. Why is that European or we refer to white man have so much cargo, but as other native americans and races have so little. Before the research, biologist Jared Diamond did not know the answer for that question either. For whites and European, materials goods represent their power. They think that they are generally superior better than other native groups.
What gave Europeans the force necessary to conquer portions of the world? Jared Diamond believes that geography is the single and most important factor that gave Europe the lead in conquering many lands. Due to their geography, Europeans had the most productive animals and crops that led them to develop guns germs and steel (GGS 1:21). The final segment of Jared Diamond’s film series Guns, Germs, and Steel focuses on the Europeans conquest over African territory. The Europeans were in search for new territories and markets for raw goods (Chapter 18 Powerpoint, Slide 2) and Africa had the space for agricultural growth.
I first read Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel in the Fall 2003 based on a recommendation from a friend. Many chapters of the book are truly fascinating, but I had criticisms of the book back then and hold even more now. Chief among these is the preponderance of analysis devoted to Papua New Guinea, as opposed to, say, an explanation of the greatly disparate levels of wealth and development among Eurasian nations. I will therefore attempt to confine this review on the "meat and potatoes" of his book: the dramatic Spanish conquest of the Incas; the impact of continental geography on food production; and finally, the origins of the Eurasian development of guns, germs, and steel. In terms of structure, I will first summarize the