has done us all a great favor by supplying a rock-solid alternative to the racist answer. Diamond has written a summary of human history that can be accounted, for the time being, as Darwinian in its authority., 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. In this remarkably readable book he shows how history and biology can enrich one another to produce a deeper understanding of the human condition., An epochal work. synopsis doesn't do credit to the immense subtlety of this book., 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. There is nothing like a radically new angle of vision for bringing out unsuspected dimensions of a subject, and that is what Jared Diamond has done., Fascinating and extremely important. No finer work of its kind has been published this year, or for many past., Artful, informative, and delightful. Diamond meshes technological mastery with historical sweep, anecdotal delight with broad conceptual vision, and command of sources with creative leaps. Now must be added to their select number.

Serious, groundbreaking biological studies of human history only seem to come along once every generation or so.

Diamond guns germs and steel