Guns, Germs, and Steel : the Fates of Human Societies
A study of the rise of civilization that argues that human development is not based on race or ethnic differences but rather is linked to biological diversity, discussing the evolution of agriculture, technology, writing, political systems, and religious belief
History
494 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm tradeback pbk
9780393317558, 0393317552
1001491368
Yali's question: The regionally differing courses of history
From Eden to Cajamarca. Up to the starting line: What happened on all the continents before 11,000 B.C.?
Natural experiment of history: How geography molded societies on the Polynesian islands
Collision at Cajamarca: Why the Inca emperor Atahuallpa did not capture King Charles I of Spain
Rise and spread of food production. Farmer power: The roots of guns, germs, and steel
History's haves and have-nots: Geographic differences in the onset of food production
To farm or not to farm: Causes of the spread of food production
How to make an almond: The unconscious development of ancient crops
Apples or indians: Why did peoples of some regions fail to domesticate plants?
Zebras, unhappy marriages, and the Anna Karenina principle: Why were most big wild mammal species never domesticated?
Spacious skies and tilted axes: Why did food production spread at different rates on different continents?
From food to guns, germs, and steel. Lethal gift of livestock: The evolution of germs
Blueprints and borrowed letters: The evolution of writing
Necessity's mother: The evolution of technology
From egalitarianism to kleptocracy: The evolution of government and religion
Around the world in five chapters. Yali's people: The histories of Australia and New Guinea
How China became Chinese: The history of East Asia
Speedboat to Polynesia: The history of Austronesian expansion
Hemispheres colliding: The histories of Eurasia and the Americas compared
How Africa became black: The history of Africa
Future of human history as a science
Afterword dated 2003: cf. p. 426