Topic > Critical review of Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

Guns, Germs and Steel sets out to tell the story of the last 13,000 years. It also aims to explain why some companies have been much more successful than others. Part of this success can be attributed to population growth, immunity to germs, and the domestication of animals. Jared Diamond then goes on to pose an interesting question, posed by a local New Guinea politician named Yali: “Why have you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people have had little cargo of our own? ?” This is a very interesting point and one that the book certainly revolves around. Why do some countries lack the resources they need to become a prosperous nation? Diamond answers both of these questions comprehensively throughout the book. His main thesis is that aspects of European life: the military, the economy, etc., evolved this way due to geographical luck and not because they were somehow better than the rest of the world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayThe term globalization has been around for a while now. It can be described as how countries interact with each other and come together for a variety of purposes. Even 13,000 years ago, there were countries that traded products and goods, traveled abroad, and exchanged information. The fact that all these aspects of life began, as well as the why and how, leads directly to Guns, Germs, and Steel. This book is not just for history professors. If you are interested in world history or understand why some countries have progressed much more slowly than others, it is a must read. Overall, Diamond is successful in explaining the factors attributed to this slow progression. These include: the plants and animals available for domestication, differences in population size, and the spread of technology in Europe. In Chapter 4 of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond explains why agriculture has been important to human history. In short, if humans are hunter-gatherers, there is no specialization because they are always looking for food. But as animals began to be domesticated and raised on a farm, the people in political power began to gain control of all the food produced. Keep in mind that not all continents had many animals that could be domesticated. Europe had a large amount of animals that could be, which leads to another important point: when animals are domesticated and crops are grown, this leads to an increase in leisure. This is important because it gives humans plenty of time to experiment with other jobs that don't involve food. The next step in all of this is population growth. Diamond himself says so when on page 82 he states that "...the availability of more consumable calories means more people". More people simply means more experimentation which then leads to the production of other useful materials from crops and livestock such as clothing, blankets, nets and ropes. Silk was another crucial material mined by silkworms. Another important aspect of animal domestication and the technology developed was the fact that horses were domesticated. They could be used in war, and that was a very nice advantage to have. As we discussed in class, horses could be used for long journeys as well as to flank an enemy in war. Diamond does a great job explaining how these resources became easily available. All these points lead back to.