Jared Diamond’s book sets out to explain why civilizations developed and for what reasons. In a nutshell this review will help to explain why China was able to create a unified society early in history, and how they accomplished it. Being a professor in bio-geography, Diamond uses his background to explain how most early civilizations progressed from hunter gatherer societies into agriculture due to their location, and because of random developments. He argues how important the role of geography plays in the earth’s earliest inhabitants. Inevitably, those civilizations with larger land masses, larger domesticated animals and more fertile lands would have an edge on other civilizations and would later contribute to the power of today’s modern nations.
This book best serves an audience which appreciates taking a different viewpoint than most history accounts. By analyzing the environmental situation and geographical layout of the most primitive societies, it becomes perfectly clear why some progressed and gained technology, while others have only made minor adjustments in the previous centuries. I believe this book is useful to business students as it portrays a view of history from a scientific perspective which most readers normally would not recognize.
Some weaknesses in book include its explanations rely heavily on scientific thought. Some people who are highly religious and believe in creationism could have a great deal of problems dealing with this book’s central concepts. This is mainly due to the fact that the author uses evolution to explain why pivotal events occurred in history as oppose to creation by god. Additionally, Diamond goes out of his way to cover himself claiming he is not Eurocentric. Unfortunately, he does in some sense infer that Europeans were destined to rule the globe…by arguing that their germs, and domesticated animals helped Europe’s civilization grow faster than other civilizations. I could see how some would criticize this and may even find it offensive.
Focusing more on China, Diamond explains how China has been Chinese since the beginnings of the countries recorded history. Though most Americans view Chinese people as being genetically similar, the author points out how different areas of China are influenced by their neighboring societies such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Tibet and Nepal. It is interesting that China, due to it’s long history, has only eight main dialects, whereas regions relatively newer regions such as New Guinea has thousands of languages.
Diamond also focuses on how China is one of the birthplaces of plants and early domestication of
animals. Weather patterns also play a role in the formation of civilizations. For example, in the dryer northern regions of China millet would flourish, while in the southern wetter region of China rice prevailed. Animals which were able to be domesticated including the water buffalo, pigs, dogs and chickens also allowed China’s population to progress. While these animals helped China develop an early civilization, they lacked larger domestic animals. Diamond also emphasized how Eurasia is located on a east-west axis which allowed pivotal crops to be traded between these two immense continents.Interestingly enough, Diamond proposes that China’s size and diversity amongst its’ early animals may have been the origin of Europe’s bubonic plague. It will be interesting to see if
history will repeat itself and we will see another epidemic in the next century with third world country populations booming. It would surprise me if we saw an event similar to the plague sooner than later. Diamond also suggests a reason for the unification of China so early on was due to its river system, and lack of mountainous terrain which allowed for political and cultural unification. It’s interesting to think about how something such as geography (ie Mountain ranges, rivers, etc) play such an important role in all of human history. We can use this knowledge to forecast growth, anticipate problems which can be a valuable asset in business.Lastly, we can see how important writing was to the Chinese to spread power amongst its people. Transmitting knowledge thought the generations allows future generations to further develop and become more sophisticated. Additionally, travel through continents with this knowledge helped to spread civilization. Writing is known to exist in China nearly 3300 years ago and is thought to have evolved independently. While societies today recognize how important literacy can be, in ancient times there were restrictions of mass literacy amongst people, to prevent plots and organizations being formed to overthrow the government. Today, we can see similar restrictions with the proliferation of mass media, and the Internet. China hires thousands to patrol the Internet daily looking for citizens who have opposing views about the government.
I found it interesting how the author uses natural phenomenons such as location (on a north-south axis vs. a east-west axis) and native animals to derive conclusions about why things
are the way they are today. Never before have I come across a book which overlooks dates and important people, and focuses on the reasoning why these events occurred. To me, Diamonds reasoning makes perfect sense, and makes me question why our education system is focused so much on memorizing facts rather than recognizing the science behind events. Therefore, I find this book to be a perfect complement to further anyone’s understanding of history through connecting how our earth’s ecology, evolution, and geography can play a critical role in understanding history.Overall, I thought Diamond did an excellent job getting the point across and explaining a detailed template for answering Yali’s question…of why certain groups of people are why they are.
