Gun, Germs and Steel

The book attempts to explain why Eurasian civilizations (in which he includes North Africa) have survived and conquered others, while arguing against the idea that Eurasian hegemony is due to any form of Eurasian intellectual, moral or inherent genetic superiority. Diamond argues that the gaps in power and technology between human societies originate in environmental differences, which are amplified by various positive feedback loops. When cultural or genetic differences have favored Eurasians (for example, written language or the development among Eurasians of resistance to endemic diseases), he asserts that these advantages occurred because of the influence of geography on societies and cultures, and were not inherent in the Eurasian genomes. Diamond wonders how the Europeans could have so much power and advanced technology while the rest of the world was still hunting and gathering. Although Diamond is not the first to speculate on this complicated subject, his answer is revolutionary. People have attributed Europe's overwhelming success in the areas of economics and politics to things such as racial features, and biological differences. And Diamond wrote this book because he wanted to explore and acquire knowledge about a question that have puzzled people for thousands of years living them to give different opinion about what might be the possible answer to the question. Guns, Germs, And Steel is a historical analysis about anthropology & archaeology that opens with a prologue in which the author presents a question from a New Guinean politician and friend named Yali: why were Europeans able to conquer so many other societies around the world? This question, in the past, has often been answered in terms of genetics, a belief that Diamond sets out to disprove. People are not born superior to another group, Diamond contends. To provide a background for, as well as an argument to support, his own explanation, Diamond then briefly sketches millions of