Guns, Germs and Steel

A gem of a book and summary with great insights on evolution of civilisation. How geography was the reason why some parts grew. The Fertile Crescent, natives, farming, writing, industrialization, domestic animals, colonisation, immunity and much time. 

Do read this interesting one. Till then cherish some quotes here - 

The farmers who planted the most productive crops became the most productive farmers.

It sounds almost incredible that the inequalities of the world came from the crops we grow and eat.

Any two points of the globe that share the same latitude will also share the same length of day, similar climate and vegetation.

The Anna Karenina principle was borrowed from Tolstoy’s novel “Anna Karenina” where Tolstoy stated that “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Similarly, animals that could not be successfully domesticated had their peculiar reason that prevented their domestication.

It was not just agriculture that helped Eurasian societies, their geographic axis played its part. For the Americas and Africa, their land mass goes from North to South. Europe and Asia have a latitudinal land mass—their axis is an east-west axis. It is easier to travel along the east-west axes than the North-South axes. The ease of travel allowed ideas and innovations to spread rapidly. Also, the similarity in latitude resulted in similar climate and time zones.

Did you know? More than 50% of the food choices available today are from cereal crops.

The development of writing is extremely complex and could only have been achieved by those who didn’t need to worry about sustenance. ~ Jared Diamond

Europeans conquered the rest of the world, not because of their bravery but because they were the first people to acquire guns, germs and steel. ~ Jared Diamond

Since the world had entered into the Industrial Revolution at this time, railroads were constructed for transporting people and supplies over long distances. Also, the Maxim gun was made. It could fire 500 rounds in a minute. No African tribe could match this weaponry.

Try this

• By knowing what happened in the past and why we are empowered to change things today to get different results in the future.

• Are you in a position to change things? Realize that the smallest of details can alter the course of a person’s life.

• In your own way, contribute to the fight against endemic diseases, hunger, and poverty in parts of the world that are impoverished by lack of access to opportunity.