Jared Diamond
American scientist and author, born 1937; wrote Guns, Germs, and Steel; UCLA geography professor until 2024.
At a glance
Main ideas
Geography, not genes, Domestication, The east–west axis …
See all 5Criticism
Antipode, 2003, Questioning Collapse
See all 2Books to start with
The Third Chimpanzee, Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse …
See all 5Connections
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Diamond is an American scientist, historian and author, first trained in biochemistry and physiology.
- He has published in anthropology, ecology, geography and evolutionary biology, and began studying the birds of New Guinea and nearby islands in 1964.
- His popular books ask why human societies developed so differently, and look for the answer in geography and ecology rather than in culture or genes.
- Researchers in the fields and cultures he writes about have published extensive criticism of his work.
Why it matters
- Guns, Germs, and Steel won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction and was translated into 33 languages.
Key facts
- Born
- 10 Sep 1937, Boston, Massachusetts1
- Education
- Harvard College, biochemical sciences (1958); PhD, University of Cambridge (1961)1
- UCLA
- Professor of physiology at the medical school from 1968; later professor of geography, until he retired in 20241
- Honours
- MacArthur Fellowship (1985); Pulitzer Prize (1998); National Medal of Science (1999)1
- Ranking
- Ninth in Prospect and Foreign Policy's 2005 poll of the world's top 100 public intellectuals1
Main ideas
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Geography, not genes2
Gaps in power and technology between societies come mainly from their environments, not from inherent differences.
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Domestication2
Few wild plants and animals can be domesticated, and Eurasia had more of them.
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The east–west axis2
Crops, animals and ideas spread easily along Eurasia's east–west axis, and slowly along the north–south Americas and Africa.
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Why societies collapse1
In Collapse he looked to ecology rather than culture for why past societies failed or survived.
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Learning from traditional societies1
The World Until Yesterday asks what the industrial world can take from 39 small-scale societies.
Criticism
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Antipode, 20031
The geography journal ran a series of reviews of Guns, Germs, and Steel, all critical of its claims and logic.
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Questioning Collapse1
Fifteen archaeologists, anthropologists and historians with the American Anthropological Association wrote a book against Collapse.
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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The Third Chimpanzee1
Human evolution and what makes humans different from other animals.
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Why Eurasian societies conquered others, and not the other way around.
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Collapse1
Why some past societies failed and others thrived.
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The World Until Yesterday1
What the West can learn from traditional societies.
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Upheaval1
How nations cope with crisis and change.
Connections
Links
Sources
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