More praise for Guns, Germs, and Steel “No scientist brings more experience from the laboratory and field, none thinks more deeply about social issues or addresses them with greater clarity, than Jared Diamond as illustrated by Guns, Germs, and Steel. In this remarkably readable book he shows how history and biology can enrich one another to produce a deeper understanding of the human condition.” —Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University “Serious, groundbreaking biological studies of human history only seem to come along once every generation or so…. Now Jared Diamond must be added to their select number…. Diamond meshes technological mastery with historical sweep, anecdotal delight with broad conceptual vision, and command of sources with creative leaps. No finer work of its kind has been published this year, or for many past.” —Martin Sieff, Washington Times “[Diamond’s] masterful synthesis is a refreshingly unconventional history informed by anthropology, behavioral ecology, linguistics, epidemiology, archeology, and technological development.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “[Jared Diamond] is broadly erudite, writes in a style that pleasantly expresses scientific concepts in vernacular American English, and deals almost exclusively in questions that should interest everyone concerned about how humanity has developed…. [He] has done us all a great favor by supplying a rock-solid alternative to the racist answer…. A wonderfully interesting book.” —Alfred W. Crosby, Los Angeles Times “Fascinating and extremely important…. [A] synopsis doesn’t do credit to the immense subtlety of this book.” —David Brown, Washington Post Book World “Deserves the attention of anyone concerned with the history of mankind at its most fundamental level. It is an epochal work. Diamond has written a summary of human history that can be accounted, for the time being, as Darwinian in its authority.” —Thomas M. Disch, New Leader “A wonderfully engrossing book…. Jared Diamond takes us on an exhilarating world tour of history that makes us rethink all our ideas about ourselves and other peoples and our places in the overall scheme of things.” —Christopher Ehret, Professor of African History, UCLA “Jared Diamond masterfully draws together recent discoveries in fields of inquiry as diverse as archaeology and epidemiology, as he illuminates how and why the human societies of different continents followed widely divergent pathways of development over the past 13,000 years.” —Bruce D. Smith, Director, Archaeobiology Program, Smithsonian Institution “The question, ‘Why did human societies have such diverse fates?’ has usually received racist answers. Mastering information from many different fields, Jared Diamond convincingly demonstrates that head starts and local conditions can explain much of the course of human history. His impressive account will appeal to a vast readership.” —Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Professor of Genetics, Stanford University G , G S UNS ERMS, AND TEEL THE FATES OF HUMAN SOCIETIES Jared Diamond W. W. Norton & Company New York London To Esa, Kariniga, Omwai, Paran, Sauakari, Wiwor, and all my other New Guinea friends and teachers— masters of a difficult environment Copyright © 1999, 1997 by Jared Diamond All rights reserved For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110. The text of this book is composed in Sabon with the display set in Trajan Bold Composition and manufacturing by the Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group Book design by Chris Welch Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Diamond, Jared M. Guns, germs, and steel: the fates of human societies / Jared Diamond. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN: 978-0-393-06922-8 1. Social evolution. 2. Civilization—History. 3. Ethnology. 4. Human beings— Effect of environment on. 5. Culture diffusion. I. Title. HM206.D48 1997 303.4—dc21 96-37068 CIP W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10110 www.wwnorton.com W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT C ONTENTS Preface to the Paperback Edition Y Q PROLOGUE ALI’S UESTION The regionally differing courses of history F E C PART ONE ROM DEN TO AJAMARCA 1 UP TO THE STARTING LINE CHAPTER What happened on all the continents before 11,000 B.C.? 2 A NATURAL EXPERIMENT OF HISTORY CHAPTER How geography molded societies on Polynesian islands 3 COLLISION AT CAJAMARCA CHAPTER Why the Inca emperor Atahuallpa did not capture King Charles I of Spain T R S F P PART TWO HE ISE AND PREAD OF OOD RODUCTION 4 FARMER POWER CHAPTER The roots of guns, germs, and steel 5 HISTORY’S HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS CHAPTER Geographic differences in the onset of food production 6 TO FARM OR NOT TO FARM CHAPTER Causes of the spread of food production 7 HOW TO MAKE AN ALMOND CHAPTER The unconscious development of ancient crops 8 APPLES OR INDIANS CHAPTER Why did peoples of some regions fail to domesticate plants? 9 ZEBRAS, UNHAPPY MARRIAGES, AND THE ANNA KARENINA CHAPTER PRINCIPLE Why were most big wild mammal species never domesticated? 10 SPACIOUS SKIES AND TILTED AXES CHAPTER Why did food production spread at different rates on different continents? F F G , G S PART THREE ROM OOD TO UNS ERMS, AND TEEL 11 LETHAL GIFT OF LIVESTOCK CHAPTER The evolution of germs 12 BLUEPRINTS AND BORROWED LETTERS CHAPTER The evolution of writing 13 NECESSITY’S MOTHER CHAPTER The evolution of technology 14 FROM EGALITARIANISM TO KLEPTOCRACY CHAPTER The evolution of government and religion A W F C PART FOUR ROUND THE ORLD IN IVE HAPTERS 15 YALI’S PEOPLE CHAPTER The histories of Australia and New Guinea 16 HOW CHINA BECAME CHINESE CHAPTER The history of East Asia 17 SPEEDBOAT TO POLYNESIA CHAPTER The history of the Austronesian expansion 18 HEMISPHERES COLLIDING CHAPTER The histories of Eurasia and the Americas compared 19 HOW AFRICA BECAME BLACK CHAPTER The history of Africa T F H EPILOGUE HE UTURE OF UMAN H S ISTORY AS A CIENCE 2003 Afterword: Guns, Germs, and Steel Today Acknowledgments Further Readings Credits