Summary Of Guns, Germs, And Steel By Jared Diamond

In the book entitled Guns, Germs, and Steel, author Jared Diamond centers his argument around the idea that “societies developed differently on different continents because of different continental environments” (Diamond, 9). Dissimilar to the prevailing belief that genetics play a role in determining societal development, Diamond argues that geographic factors and environmental influences substantially shape the distribution of wealth and power. J.R. McNeill’s article, “The World According to Diamond” correctly identifies the explanatory limits of Diamond’s argument. He restricts the influence of geographic and environmental influences on global development to the evolution of crops and the domestication of animals. Diamond overextends the influence of geography and environmental influences when analyzing temporary phenomenons and axis orientation; however, he brilliantly constructs a comprehensive “big picture”
Due simply to the massive size of Eurasia, they enjoyed a greater diversity of domesticable animals that served as both food and a means to grow food. Animals did assist in the agricultural advances that the Eurasians found. However, as previously stated, these newly sedentary people lacked knowledge of bacteria, infectious diseases and germs and saw no problem with living in close quarters with the animals. Diamond spells out the transferal of zoonotic diseases using measles as an example. He states that the “close similarity of the measles virus to the rinderpest virus suggest that the latter transferred from cattle to humans and then evolved into the measles virus by changing properties to adapt to us” (Diamond, 206). This argument that states domesticated animals provided food surpluses and new agricultural technology is completely plausible and suffices as a cause for discrepancies in