Book Review: Guns, Germs and Steel

Guns, Germs and Steel
-- Jared Diamond

Jared Diamond was a professor of physiology and developed interest in ornithology and ecology. While working in the latter areas, he had developed interest in geography and then became a professor of geography in the same university where he taught physiology earlier.

When a person of such caliber was confronted with a very elementary, yet, a very profound and tough question like "Why does it look like some races dominated other races, through out the human history", it led to the natural outcome. A thorough research to unearth the events happened over thousands of years and connect the disparate to understand and present the big picture. That's what is Guns, Germs and Steel. He could do that only 25 years after being confronted with that question, though.

The title is due to the part that Guns, Germs and Steel played in the human history. Author sites several decisive events in history where, how whoever had access to these first dominated others.

There were several interesting discussions around animal and plant domestication, spread of lethal germs from wild animals to humans, evolution of writing and languages, evolution and adaption of technology, food producers vs hunter gatherers, egalitarianism vs kleptocracy etc.,

I started reading the book looking for precise answers. But, they are not to be found, for obvious reasons. Most part of the book talks about certain events happened anywhere in between the last hundred years to a few thousand years BC, and authors attempt to connect them with rational arguments and explanations.

So, a fun read for the patient and inquisitive. Not recommended for the people who call even a second example a rhetoric.