In Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, the author is trying to find out why New Guineans are not as developed as Europeans are. Yali’s people do not have the same complex societies as others because of the location and culture the New Guineans have. Diamond writes in chapter 15, “New Guinea’s population is not only small in aggregate, but also fragmented into thousands of micropopulations by the rugged terrain: swamps in much of the lowlands, steep-sided ridges and narrow canyons alternating with each other in the highlands, and dense jungle swathing both the lowlands and the highlands” (Diamond, 293-294). New Guinea is an island with a small population. This makes it so that the people of New Guinea separate themselves amongst the
Jared Diamond, author of the Pulitzer Prize Winning, National Best Selling book Guns, Germs and Steel, summarizes his book by saying the following: "History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves." Guns, Germs and Steel is historical literature that documents Jared Diamond's views on how the world as we know it developed. However, is his thesis that environmental factors contribute so greatly to the development of society and culture valid? Traditions & Encounters: A Brief Global History is the textbook used for this class and it poses several different accounts of how society and culture developed that differ from Diamond's claims. However, neither Diamond nor Traditions are incorrect. Each poses varying, yet true, accounts of the same historical events. Each text chose to analyze history in a different manner. Not without flaws, Jared Diamond makes many claims throughout his work, and provides numerous examples and evidence to support his theories. In this essay, I will summarize Jared Diamond's accounts of world history and evolution of culture, and compare and contrast it with what I have learned using the textbook for this class.
The Mbuti are one of the most fascinating of all the "uncivilized" peoples of the world. This tribe inhabits equatorial Africa near the city of Kisangani in Zaire in the Ituri rainforest. The Mbuti, being the smallest people on earth, live in the most inaccessible place on earth. An Mbuti tribe is almost impossible to find in such a dense forest. The tribe's men and women are only about four and a half foot tall yet they navigate though rich and dense forestry daily in the search for meat and fruit.
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 book's arguments, then critically assess the book's evidentiary base, and conclude with an analysis of how Guns, Germs, and Steel ultimately helps to address the wealth question.
In his well known piece, Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond proposes that the differences between populations of different continents is not due to differences in the people, but of the environment. There are, of course innumerable differences to be found among the environments that each continent has to offer, however, Diamond stresses only a few. They include: wild plants and animals native to the area- which affect a society’s surplus thus allowing the society to move beyond their basic need- a group 's ability to travel and/or migrate both intercontinental and to other continents- this would allow for trade and access to other goods, and exposure to alternate philosophies and illness- and the size of the continent and population allowing for more potential inventors, competing societies, and groups to exchange with (Diamond, 1999). Diamond’s theory lends to the concept of how our environment shapes us. It’s the nurture of Nature vs Nurture on the large scale. There are countless things that we cannot control about ourselves, where
I believe that the environment deiced whether a society will or will not have technology, militaristic and farming abilities imbedded within the society. That will give an advantage so that one society is better equipped than others.
People with guns need safes that can secure and protect their firearms. There are a variety of gun safes available in the market and each gun safe caters to a specific need, and what works for one gun owner may not work for the other.
The documentary of Guns Germs And Steel – Conquest tells the history of the Spanish conquistadors and the empire of the Inca. It begins in 1532 when Francisco Pizarro, the general of a group of 168 Spanish soldiers reaches the new world and comes in contact with a tribe. The tribe today is known as the Inca, they were an empire who were located in modern day Peru who had never seen a horse, and that taught the Spanish were gods. They had never seen these animals according to Jared Diamond because of Geography, he states in (8:21) of the video of a land known as the Fertile Crescent located in a part of the middle east that spread crops and animals all along long Eurasia, but not all the way to South America. They explain how Atahualpa the Inca emperor, had a plan to set a trap for the Spaniards at Cajamarca but what he didn’t realize is that the soldiers had the best weapons in the world. This was his demise, on November 15th, 1532 not knowing what writing was Atahualpa took the bible of the Spanish and believed it had no power. The Spanish retaliated by killing 7,000 Incas with a surprise attack strategy and kidnapping the Emperor and
In Jared Diamond’s excerpt from his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, he puts forward the historical narrative of how human evolution progresses at different rates for different people due solely to the particular geographic region that we are placed on. Diamond supports this thesis with specific evidence on the importance of food production, and emphasizes that food is the main ingredient needed for a population to experience progress and growth, and expand around the world. I agree with Diamond’s dissertation and find it compelling due to his logical evidence and ethos on the topic.
The Gun Powder Revolution was a major movement in war, new technology was being discovered, making critical impacts on battles and wars. The Gun Powder Revolution was an entire new output for these wars. The new technology created a violent path of destruction in these new profound wars. A major advancement in technology at this time was the discovery of gunpowder.The discovery of gunpowder was almost immediately brought to warfare. Gunpowder represented the large impact of chemical energy by human societies (chemical energy is still being used to today such as nukes). The discovery of gunpowder lead to the expansion of several weapons as well as the creation of numerous weapons.Due to gunpowder, the introduction of firearms were on the way.
Hecht, David. “Sierra Leone Dispatch.” The New Republic 3 Nov. 1997: 1-3. eLibrary. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.
I choose this experiment because I am a hunter and having an accurate rifle is a good thing. In hunting the first shot counts. Now here is my data I got from the experiment but first a little history on the guns the .234 is a small hunting rifle use on deer and other small game. The .270 is a med. game rifle for deer and up to small elk. The 30-.06 is a large game rifle for elk and up to moose. My problem is the I wont to find out what is the most accurate rifle is. My hypothesis is if three rifles are tested for accusey then what is the most accurate the .270 is the most accurate rifle because a lot of people think the .270 is the most accurate rifle so I am going to test it. So I some research on my experiment I look to be one of the first one to do this
Polynesia consists of thousands of islands located in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean. It is inhabited by indigenous tribes that rely on their cultural traditions as well as religious beliefs to accomplish their daily responsibilities. Western societies outside of Polynesia have recently come into contact with them in order to modernize the fragile region and make a profit. As a result of this acculturation, the negative consequences brought upon them changed the health and culture of the Polynesian inhabitants dramatically. Furthermore, the new illnesses that resulted from modernization forced these islanders to choose different treatment methods such as modern medicine and traditional healing that were hindered by religious and cultural beliefs. It was even noted that the bodies of these islanders were not prone to the new diseases and were healthy based on their foraging tactics prior to outside contact. The progress that Polynesians were forced to take due to exploitation were furthered stigmatized by barriers such as communication, religion, and culture.
Much is written about the Batwa pygmies of the great lakes region. Especially about their current standard of living, history, and their relationship towards the other ethnic groups in their surroundings. The Batwa pygmies inhabit parts of southern Uganda, eastern DRC, Rwanda and Burundi. Although they are historically know as the indigenous people of the great lakes region, they only make up between 0.02 and 0.07 % of the total population of the countries they inhabit (Lewis 2006: 4). In Burundi for instance, according to a survey conducted by UNIPROBA (Unissons-nous pour la Promotion des Batwa), the total population of Batwa in 2008 was estimated at 78,071 people or 1 % of Burundi’s total population.
For thousands of years the many pygmy tribes of Africa had been at war with each other in a fight for dominance and land ownership (Koopmans). As recent as the 1990’s the opposing tribes would hold raids against each other killing as many as 20,000 of its enemies in a single week (Koopmans). However, when the dust settled the pygmy culture remained intact. They were able to recover, and continue with their ancient traditions and way of life as they had for generations. The attacks among neighboring tribes were nothing new to them, and they knew how to handle the destruction that followed. Conversely, a more modern threat is leaving the pygmy culture in danger of extinction, and they fear that they may not be able to continue their lifestyle as they have in the past. The pygmy people of Central Africa should be allotted a piece of land for use in continuing with their traditional way of life as a replacement for the land taken from them as a result of deforestation and enslavement.
Turnbull emphasizes throughout the book that the Pygmies live a satisfying, productive life and that outside interference will be the downfall of their culture. He describes in chapter one how the Pygmy people’s demeanors change when they are around outside influence: they are more reserved and obedient than they are when they are in their beloved forest (Turnbull). Though they sometimes conduct business with nearby villages, their intense love of the forest prevents them from abandoning their way of life. However, their way of life is threatened, much like the Kayapo people of Brazil. Societies who have labeled themselves “developed” or “first-world” wish to civilize cultures they see as inferior to themselves. As increasingly more of the outside world is brought into these cultures, their way of life dissipates.