An Examination of Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond Yali posed an interesting question. Why did Europe come to dominate the rest of the world after 1500? Jared Diamond, in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, concludes that geography is the defining factor in all of human history. While some people may disagree with his conclusion, that is only because it might not seem to take individual choice into consideration, which makes a person feel uncomfortable to say the least. Why would a person be inclined, even before they learn the facts, to disagree with his theory? What are the other theories, and why would people choose to believe them over this one? And finally, what makes this theory more accurate? Rest easy, the answers will come. Humans, especially in America, respect individuality. Why then, should they believe a theory that seems to discard every individual choice, and dare to say that where your great-great-grandfather was born has more to do with your success than your disposition, dreams, or dealings? People are repelled by a theory that does not glorify human endeavor. It is true that Jared Diamond says outright that geography has everything to do with the success of a society, but he does not delve into the personal aspect. This is because a society is really just an average of all the individual views of its population. Thus, while a single person may be inspiring to a certain group of people, it is unlikely that it will affect state policy unless it is in the better interest of the state, where Jared Diamond says is innate. So, every culture is, possibly subconsciously, striving for success. This i... ... middle of paper ... ...Big man” in farming town, but they still decimated the less technological nomads. And it was all because they lived in a place where their crops would grow; their geographic location. Though it may not glorify individual choice, Jared Diamond’s final conclusion of historical geocentricism does at least recognize it on a larger scale. It is just that people’s choices are dictated by their interests, which are first and foremost survival and success. “Big Men” are simply products of a society that needs them, and are part of the process of proliferation. Geography is the fundamental force behind the success or failure of a given culture, and history just followed the game plan from there on out: Every society struggling for success. Sounds like whoever said “Location, location, location” was right after all.
The Book “Fist Stick Knife Gun” by Geoffrey Canada is a biographical account of his childhood in the south Bronx. He and his 4 brothers were raised by only their mother. She would survive on no more than ten dollars a week. He moved several times as a child until finally landing on union avenue, the place were many of his life lessons were learned and at times applied. He learned about the ranking process of kids on union Ave. and how the only way to improve your status was to use your fists to fight your way up the chain. Looking back Geoffrey Canada notices the major shift in attitudes concerning the rules of the streets. What once was harmless fist fighting has now turned over to guns. His opinions can be seen in his title “Fist Stick Knife Gun”.
Guns, Germs, and Steel was published by Jared Diamond in 1977. Diamond is a UCLA professor and a scientist and his book has received remarkable response all around the world, in fact the book has won Pulitizer Prizer and was New York’s bestseller. Despite, of being highly regarded, the book is known as one of the most controversial book of its time. A lot critics has accused this book but the critic which stood out the most was William H. McNeill. McNeill is a historian and I agree with his criticism regarding the book and its conclusion.
Many Caucasian’s have thought and believed positively they were superior to many other races. Most of these people were from a geographic area that had advanced technology, large populations, and a large workforce. This area started in the Middle East and spread laterally within a similar environment that provided a fertile habitat for farmer gatherers. Jared Diamond discovered that approximately 13,000 years ago man started out as hunter-gatherers following seasonal game migration to provide food for their survival. Man would find whatever food that grew in that area to supplement the game animals for sustenance, but this activity would take a majority of his time and would be conditional to the regions environment and his own skills. Man’s desire and ability to find innovative ways to make his life easier prompted them to plant larger open areas with some of the first edible grass seeds. They began to stay near the water and planted areas establishing more permanent shelters, which they would return to from following game. In addition, they learned to store grains for planting and future consumption, which led to a healthier lifestyle for the growing population. The first cultivated grains were wheat, barley, rice, corn, beans, millet, sorghum, squash, and yams. This farming facilitated larger production with less manpower for a growing populous. This provided time for the inventors and engineering people to find better and faster ways of production, and inventing tools. These people moved and spread east and west and began to domesticate larger indigenous animals and control breeding of goats, sheep, and pigs first, which provided meat, milk, hair, and skins. The animals best suited for domestication needed to ...
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.
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.
After reading Guns, Germs, and Steel, the five main points are domestication of plants and animals, food production, government, innovation, and germs. The domestication of plants and animals helped determine a society's supply of food. First of all, there is the domestication of plants. Domesticated plants were used for food, clothing, and traction. There is about 200,000 wild plant species, but human only eat only a few thousands of those wild plant species, and on top of that, only a few hundred are even domesticated. Many wild plant species do not quality because the vast majority of wild plants are unsuitable for domestication: they have a woody structure, they are unable to produce edible food, and roots and leaves are also inedible. The Fertile Cresent, containing comparatively moist and fertile soil, had the olive, fig, and grape. These plants were among the easiest to cultivate out of all the wild fruit species. The Fertile Cresent was the center of food production in the world, the rise of agriculture, and one of the earliest places of independent domestication. It was the site of origin of many of the world's major crops and most of the major domesticated animals. Thoughout the world, there are only 14 species of big terrestrial mammals that were domesticated. For instance, the Fertile Cresent had four species: the goat, sheep, pig, and cow. These four species happened to be four out of the five major species of large domestic mammals. Domesticated animals were used for food, clothing, and transportation. The domestication of plants and animals held food supplies to maintain the food supplies, large sedentary societies, and technology. These things further progressed into food production, political organizations, ideas...
Although they may not be aware of it, complex philosophic principles influence the simple actions of the mass’s everyday lives. In fact, long lasting and well defined contentions of basic philosophy concerning the actions of human beings has not only affected individuals, but also entire countries. Some of the greatest nations on Earth have been formed around key thoughts and opinions of several great philosophers. Primarily amongst these, however, or John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, both of whom wrote on “The State of Nature”, or the state of absolute freedom. While Locke and Hobbes had vastly different opinions on the natural state of a human being, no matter who you are your life is somehow affected by their philosophic writings.
I had to explain that the Mongolian invasion not only sacked Baghdad-- the capital of an empire wrought with political-religious divisions-- and thus signifying the end of but also facilitated cultural-technological exchanges throughout a more stabilized “Pax Mongolica” Eurasia, including the diffusion of firearms associated with later-strengthened European feudal power. AP human geography further expanded upon these skills, especially in its focus on the interaction between people and geography, of how human-constructed realities arise from and manipulate the surrounding environment, reconciling organic social dynamics alongside systematic empirical patterns. While much of current global-geographic phenomena cannot be understood without also understanding history--of drawing national boundaries and consolidating state legitimacy, industrial-economic development and land use, regulation of transnational commodities and migrant labor across borders-- I also had to understand what distinguished them as the unique socializing forces imposed onto the environment
The gun cleaning process can seem long and tedious, but it can be broken down into a few simple steps. Gun cleaning is essential for the gun to continue to work properly and efficiently. I will be discussing why you should clean your gun, when you should clean your gun, and finally how to disassemble, clean, and reassemble a Remington 11-87 semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun.
What is the importance of the gun? The gun is one of the most important tools in the defense of our nation. Guns are responsible for a lot of death and injuries, but these things were going on before the existence of the gun. Guns aren't the reason for the death and injuries, they are just a means to it. They are tools and an engineering marvel of our age. The gun has evolved from a simple weapon that caused limited destruction to the modern gun that is so fast and powerful it is capable of mass destruction. Through the evolution of the gun, it has become a political tool.
Why did certain early civilizations thrive and some fail? Jared Diamond, a famous author and scientist, explains in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel. He believes civilizations like the ones in Europe thrived because of geographical luck. Geographic luck is the idea that people in some areas got luckier than others. For example, the Fertile Crescent had a warm, moist climate, and fertile soil to grow wheat and barley, while people that lived in places like Papua New Guinea had to hunt, and forage for their food. Geographic luck aided the European empire, and was the reason they became so powerful. One of the key reasons Europe did so well was farming. Another reason they were able to conquer so much of the world was their well-placed civilization. Finally, Europe’s weapons, made from steel, were much more advanced than the weapons possessed by the rest of the world, and they came from their good geographic placement. Understanding geography’s role in Europe’s technological advancement is important, and to do so you must look at how they became powerful in the first place, which is because of farming, and domestication.
Human activity has major effects on geography. When studying the earth you can come to several conclusions about the geography of any particular civilization. Distribution of life in the civilization allows you to analyze whether their geography is their own destiny. Do people control their own destiny? Is geography something that people can control? Technology is really the key to why geography can be overcome by any people.
...tain, this argument has been shown to be flawed, as it without motivation and analysis, and disregards many critical factors, such as the culture of non-European societies. A more compelling case has been made that, instead, the Great Divergence had very little to do with European superiority, and instead occurred because of geographic advantages.
...the evolution of this dichotomy, explaining how Europe and America have always played opposite roles.
The invention and innovation of small firearms spans throughout the world and throughout multiple centuries. The main inventions during the early phases of small arms development quickly gave way to the next innovation, although they were slow to be adapted to military use due to the cost of their production. As time went on these innovations became more and more stagnant to the point of there being no major innovations in the field for close to two hundred years. However, after this stagnant period, there began another period of advanced innovation in the area of small arms technology. The goal of this essay is to understand and dissect the innovations that occurred during these two periods of advanced innovation and the cultural and historical factors that lead to them.