Part One: From Eden to Cajamarca
Chapter 1. Up to the Starting Line
This chapter starts from the beginning, explaining the evolution of the first human ancestors, seven million years ago. Our closest living relatives are the gorilla, chimpanzee, and the bonobo. We all originated in Africa, the first to leave being the Homo erectus. Neanderthals have always been depicted as brainless, wild, careless creatures, but evidence shows they actually cared for their sick and buried their dead. "The Great Leap Forward" is what Diamond calls the earliest signs of standardized tools, jewelry, bone tools, and more. This great leap was 50,000 years ago. Also at this time is the spread of hominids to New Guinea and Australia. Large animal species that were not evolved to defend themselves against such predators were wiped out. Eurasia came next. In the Americas the Clovis people start the 1st colony. Some archaeologists claim there were pre-Clovis people but Diamond believes if this were true we would have found significant evidence by now. Obvious explanations fail to explain why Eurasia became the most advanced and Africa didn't even though it had a head-start.
Chapter 2. A Natural Experiment of History
The Maori and Moriori descended from Polynesian peoples, but the Maori developed more advanced technology and engaged in warfare often. What made the two peoples become so different? This is an example of many other similar situations. The Maori who lived on the island could not grow crops on it, therefore could not afford to have specialists and armies. They also had no need for advanced technology for the prey they were hunting. The larger the sized and density, the more complex and advanced were the technology and politics. Smaller islands with low populations only made what was needed. Resources were very limited on the smaller islands; therefore advanced tools could not be made. They were also often isolated from other islands, so could not trade or communicate.
Chapter 3. Collision at Cajamarca
When the Europeans colonized the Americas and the Native Americans were nearly wiped out was the biggest population shift in modern history. Atahualpa's capture by the Spanish conquistador Pizarro marks the moment of greatest collision of modern history. The eye witness recordings of this historical even talked much of pleasing God and the king by conquering the people. The writer often refers to the Spanish conquistadors as "Christians", like they have a mandated right in what they are doing. The only Native Americans able to resist Europeans were those that mastered horses and guns. Steel or chainmail armor and helmets played a bigger role than guns. Horses were also a huge role in defeating the Native Americans. The Spaniards faced a split empire because of an epidemic that killed the Inca emperor and his heir. The epidemic was smallpox brought on by the earlier Europeans. Writing enabled long distance communication among the Spaniards. The Inca's had no way of knowing what the Spaniards were capable of, which helped lead to their demise.
Part Two: The Rise and Spread of Food Production
Chapter 4. Farmer Power
As a teenager Diamond worked on a farm alongside a Native American who exhibited very admirable values and work ethics, unlike the coarse white miners. This is when Diamond really learned the Native Americans perspective on the white man's conquest. "Foodproduction was indirectly a prerequisite for the development of guns, germs, and steel. This chapter traces the main connections through which food production led to advantages." The 1st is that "availability of more consumable calories means more people" = strength of numbers. Domestic animals/livestock fed people by furnishing meat, milk, and fertilizer and by animal labor. Full time specialists first appeared in sedentary societies. Two types of specialists came about, the kings and bureaucrats. Hunter-gatherers didn't have these and were egalitarian. Animals and crops also provide warmth and tools. The animals were also used as the main transport. Eurasia used horses in warfare. This was the most direct contribution of animal domestication to wars. Germs also evolved in societies with domestic animals such as small pox, measles, and flu.
Chapter 5. History's Haves and Have-Nots
The big question in this chapter is why some very ecologically suitable areas failed to adopt food production until modern times. More surprising are the areas that we find are the earliest sites of food production such as Mexico, Iraq, and the Andes. There are five areas where food production arose independently. These areas are Southwest Asia's Fertile Crescent, China, Mesoamerica, the Andes and possibly the Amazon Basin, and eastern United States. Southwest Asia has the most accurate radiocarbon dates for early food production as well as the earliest definite dates of plant and animal domestication. For areas where foreign agriculturists invaded, the hunter-gatherers either adopted agriculture or were wiped out.
Chapter 6. To Farm or Not to Farm
Diamond asks why ancient people farmed even though it didn't necessarily render them better off than hunter-gatherers. They suffered from more diseases, were less nourished, and on average died at a younger age. Without knowing what consequences would come about, the ancient people decided to farm. One misconception is that the people were either strictly hunter-gatherers or strictly sedentary farmers. The truth is, some hunter-gatherers were sedentary but didn't produce food or produced food later. There are also food producers who are not sedentary. One theory of why people first started producing food was just as a back-up plan. Another theory is that there are different factors in different parts of the world that caused the decision to move to farming. There are five distinct factors: decline in availability of wild foods, less wild game and more domesticable wild plants, development of technologies for food producing, the rise in human population density vs. the rise in food production, and the advantage in warfare that food producers had over hunter-gatherers. The only hunter-gatherers to continue to exist were those who were separated geographically or lived in areas not fit for food producing such as the Arctic.
Chapter 7. How to Make an Almond
Now is the question of how wild plants became crops in the first place. When we look at the strawberry we see that the young sour and green ones will not be eaten, but the ripe sweet ones will. This is the genetics of the strawberry that allow it to choose when to be eaten. These strawberries were genetically modified for birds. Plants have tasty fruit so that it will be eaten, but bitter seeds so that the animal will not eat it and it can be left somewhere to grow. Almond seeds were bitter but a genetic malfunction created a few non bitter ones. Curious children would have found these few almonds and the farmers would have planted these. Thus over time only non bitter almonds were produced in the farm. There are a few non-visible aspects that also affected the genetics of plants to be domesticated. One is that mutant seeds that lacked their usual mechanism for scattering seeds would be harvested. Another is that some mutant seeds that lacked the hard exteriors were also harvested, which caused the development of more mutant seeds. Another is that some plants need to be pollinated by another sex of that plant, but some mutant plants are self pollinating. These self pollinating plants would also be picked and eventually wipe out the non self pollinating plants.
Chapter 8. Apples or Indians
In this chapter diamond asks why where agriculture arouse independently it rose earlier than others. There are two possible explanations: there was a problem with the inhabitants or with the plant life. One would think that with all the different types of plants that any area would be able to develop crops. In modern times we have not even been able to produce a new major food plant, which means the earlier peoples might have stressed every use and found every plant that can be domesticated. Did the Fertile Crescent, one of the earliest areas of food production, thrive because of flora and environmental advantage compared to other regions? There are 3 advantages that we can name. The first is that the climate of the Fertile Crescent was wet in the winters and dry in the summers. The second advantage is that ancestor crops were already very productive and fruitful. A third advantage is that many of the crops that inhabited the Fertile Crescent were self-pollinating. Western Eurasia in general had advantages over other Mediterranean zones. The first is that the beneficial Mediterranean climate stretched over Eurasia more than any other area of the world. The second is that the seasons of Eurasia have the most variety throughout the year. The third advantage is that is contains a lot of different altitudes and geography. Fourth, the Crescent is biologically diverse. The eight "founder crops" of the Fertile Crescent were emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, barley, pulses lentil, pea, chickpea, bitter vetch, and fiber crop flax. The fifth and final advantage is that if probably faced less competition with hunter-gatherer lifestyles than in other regions.
Chapter 9. Zebras, Unhappy Marriages, and the Anna Karenina Principle
In this chapter Diamond starts off by talking about domesticable and undomesticable animals. He says that domesticable animals are all alike but undomesticable animals are each so in their own way. Zebras seem like they would make good domesticable animals but they have never been successfully domesticated. Most successfully domesticated animals were in fact from Eurasia. Elephants can be tamed but were never domesticated. Diamond explains that the definition of a domesticated animal is "an animal selectively bred in captivity and thereby modified from its wild ancestors, for use by humans who control the animal's breeding and food supply." The top five mammals of domestication are the cow, sheep, goat, pig, and horse. Why was Eurasia the main site for big mammal domestication? For one the continent contained the largest amount of wild mammals. Another reason is that Eurasia has had the fewest extinctions in the last 40,000 years. In other parts of the world large mammals were not as readily available for domestication. So why were some mammals unable to be domesticated? Diamond gives six reasons why: diet, growth rate, problems of captive breeding, nasty disposition, tendency to panic, and social structure.
Chapter 10. Spacious Skies and Tilted Axes
This chapter discusses the effects that the orientation of axes could have on a continent. The Americas and Africa both have a north-south axis while Eurasia has a west-east axis. This could be the cause of faster advancement in Eurasia. Trade spread farther west-east than it did north-south. This is also true of food production, specifically the spread of crops in the Fertile Crescent. Why are these facts so? It is because west-east regions share the same length of day, same types of seasons, same diseases, and same aspects of climate such as rainfall and habitat. Plants moved from north to south or vice-versa were not built to endure the different climates, times of day, and etc. Domestic animals could not fight off the new types of disease and climate as well.
Chapter 1. Up to the Starting Line
This chapter starts from the beginning, explaining the evolution of the first human ancestors, seven million years ago. Our closest living relatives are the gorilla, chimpanzee, and the bonobo. We all originated in Africa, the first to leave being the Homo erectus. Neanderthals have always been depicted as brainless, wild, careless creatures, but evidence shows they actually cared for their sick and buried their dead. "The Great Leap Forward" is what Diamond calls the earliest signs of standardized tools, jewelry, bone tools, and more. This great leap was 50,000 years ago. Also at this time is the spread of hominids to New Guinea and Australia. Large animal species that were not evolved to defend themselves against such predators were wiped out. Eurasia came next. In the Americas the Clovis people start the 1st colony. Some archaeologists claim there were pre-Clovis people but Diamond believes if this were true we would have found significant evidence by now. Obvious explanations fail to explain why Eurasia became the most advanced and Africa didn't even though it had a head-start.
Chapter 2. A Natural Experiment of History
The Maori and Moriori descended from Polynesian peoples, but the Maori developed more advanced technology and engaged in warfare often. What made the two peoples become so different? This is an example of many other similar situations. The Maori who lived on the island could not grow crops on it, therefore could not afford to have specialists and armies. They also had no need for advanced technology for the prey they were hunting. The larger the sized and density, the more complex and advanced were the technology and politics. Smaller islands with low populations only made what was needed. Resources were very limited on the smaller islands; therefore advanced tools could not be made. They were also often isolated from other islands, so could not trade or communicate.
Chapter 3. Collision at Cajamarca
When the Europeans colonized the Americas and the Native Americans were nearly wiped out was the biggest population shift in modern history. Atahualpa's capture by the Spanish conquistador Pizarro marks the moment of greatest collision of modern history. The eye witness recordings of this historical even talked much of pleasing God and the king by conquering the people. The writer often refers to the Spanish conquistadors as "Christians", like they have a mandated right in what they are doing. The only Native Americans able to resist Europeans were those that mastered horses and guns. Steel or chainmail armor and helmets played a bigger role than guns. Horses were also a huge role in defeating the Native Americans. The Spaniards faced a split empire because of an epidemic that killed the Inca emperor and his heir. The epidemic was smallpox brought on by the earlier Europeans. Writing enabled long distance communication among the Spaniards. The Inca's had no way of knowing what the Spaniards were capable of, which helped lead to their demise.
Part Two: The Rise and Spread of Food Production
Chapter 4. Farmer Power
As a teenager Diamond worked on a farm alongside a Native American who exhibited very admirable values and work ethics, unlike the coarse white miners. This is when Diamond really learned the Native Americans perspective on the white man's conquest. "Foodproduction was indirectly a prerequisite for the development of guns, germs, and steel. This chapter traces the main connections through which food production led to advantages." The 1st is that "availability of more consumable calories means more people" = strength of numbers. Domestic animals/livestock fed people by furnishing meat, milk, and fertilizer and by animal labor. Full time specialists first appeared in sedentary societies. Two types of specialists came about, the kings and bureaucrats. Hunter-gatherers didn't have these and were egalitarian. Animals and crops also provide warmth and tools. The animals were also used as the main transport. Eurasia used horses in warfare. This was the most direct contribution of animal domestication to wars. Germs also evolved in societies with domestic animals such as small pox, measles, and flu.
Chapter 5. History's Haves and Have-Nots
The big question in this chapter is why some very ecologically suitable areas failed to adopt food production until modern times. More surprising are the areas that we find are the earliest sites of food production such as Mexico, Iraq, and the Andes. There are five areas where food production arose independently. These areas are Southwest Asia's Fertile Crescent, China, Mesoamerica, the Andes and possibly the Amazon Basin, and eastern United States. Southwest Asia has the most accurate radiocarbon dates for early food production as well as the earliest definite dates of plant and animal domestication. For areas where foreign agriculturists invaded, the hunter-gatherers either adopted agriculture or were wiped out.
Chapter 6. To Farm or Not to Farm
Diamond asks why ancient people farmed even though it didn't necessarily render them better off than hunter-gatherers. They suffered from more diseases, were less nourished, and on average died at a younger age. Without knowing what consequences would come about, the ancient people decided to farm. One misconception is that the people were either strictly hunter-gatherers or strictly sedentary farmers. The truth is, some hunter-gatherers were sedentary but didn't produce food or produced food later. There are also food producers who are not sedentary. One theory of why people first started producing food was just as a back-up plan. Another theory is that there are different factors in different parts of the world that caused the decision to move to farming. There are five distinct factors: decline in availability of wild foods, less wild game and more domesticable wild plants, development of technologies for food producing, the rise in human population density vs. the rise in food production, and the advantage in warfare that food producers had over hunter-gatherers. The only hunter-gatherers to continue to exist were those who were separated geographically or lived in areas not fit for food producing such as the Arctic.
Chapter 7. How to Make an Almond
Now is the question of how wild plants became crops in the first place. When we look at the strawberry we see that the young sour and green ones will not be eaten, but the ripe sweet ones will. This is the genetics of the strawberry that allow it to choose when to be eaten. These strawberries were genetically modified for birds. Plants have tasty fruit so that it will be eaten, but bitter seeds so that the animal will not eat it and it can be left somewhere to grow. Almond seeds were bitter but a genetic malfunction created a few non bitter ones. Curious children would have found these few almonds and the farmers would have planted these. Thus over time only non bitter almonds were produced in the farm. There are a few non-visible aspects that also affected the genetics of plants to be domesticated. One is that mutant seeds that lacked their usual mechanism for scattering seeds would be harvested. Another is that some mutant seeds that lacked the hard exteriors were also harvested, which caused the development of more mutant seeds. Another is that some plants need to be pollinated by another sex of that plant, but some mutant plants are self pollinating. These self pollinating plants would also be picked and eventually wipe out the non self pollinating plants.
Chapter 8. Apples or Indians
In this chapter diamond asks why where agriculture arouse independently it rose earlier than others. There are two possible explanations: there was a problem with the inhabitants or with the plant life. One would think that with all the different types of plants that any area would be able to develop crops. In modern times we have not even been able to produce a new major food plant, which means the earlier peoples might have stressed every use and found every plant that can be domesticated. Did the Fertile Crescent, one of the earliest areas of food production, thrive because of flora and environmental advantage compared to other regions? There are 3 advantages that we can name. The first is that the climate of the Fertile Crescent was wet in the winters and dry in the summers. The second advantage is that ancestor crops were already very productive and fruitful. A third advantage is that many of the crops that inhabited the Fertile Crescent were self-pollinating. Western Eurasia in general had advantages over other Mediterranean zones. The first is that the beneficial Mediterranean climate stretched over Eurasia more than any other area of the world. The second is that the seasons of Eurasia have the most variety throughout the year. The third advantage is that is contains a lot of different altitudes and geography. Fourth, the Crescent is biologically diverse. The eight "founder crops" of the Fertile Crescent were emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, barley, pulses lentil, pea, chickpea, bitter vetch, and fiber crop flax. The fifth and final advantage is that if probably faced less competition with hunter-gatherer lifestyles than in other regions.
Chapter 9. Zebras, Unhappy Marriages, and the Anna Karenina Principle
In this chapter Diamond starts off by talking about domesticable and undomesticable animals. He says that domesticable animals are all alike but undomesticable animals are each so in their own way. Zebras seem like they would make good domesticable animals but they have never been successfully domesticated. Most successfully domesticated animals were in fact from Eurasia. Elephants can be tamed but were never domesticated. Diamond explains that the definition of a domesticated animal is "an animal selectively bred in captivity and thereby modified from its wild ancestors, for use by humans who control the animal's breeding and food supply." The top five mammals of domestication are the cow, sheep, goat, pig, and horse. Why was Eurasia the main site for big mammal domestication? For one the continent contained the largest amount of wild mammals. Another reason is that Eurasia has had the fewest extinctions in the last 40,000 years. In other parts of the world large mammals were not as readily available for domestication. So why were some mammals unable to be domesticated? Diamond gives six reasons why: diet, growth rate, problems of captive breeding, nasty disposition, tendency to panic, and social structure.
Chapter 10. Spacious Skies and Tilted Axes
This chapter discusses the effects that the orientation of axes could have on a continent. The Americas and Africa both have a north-south axis while Eurasia has a west-east axis. This could be the cause of faster advancement in Eurasia. Trade spread farther west-east than it did north-south. This is also true of food production, specifically the spread of crops in the Fertile Crescent. Why are these facts so? It is because west-east regions share the same length of day, same types of seasons, same diseases, and same aspects of climate such as rainfall and habitat. Plants moved from north to south or vice-versa were not built to endure the different climates, times of day, and etc. Domestic animals could not fight off the new types of disease and climate as well.
