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Analysis Of Guns, Germs, And Steel By Jared Diamond

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In 1977, UCLA professor and biologist, Jared Diamond, published Guns, Germs, and Steel, sparking debate among anthropologists and other academics. Winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize and New York Times bestseller, Guns, Germs, and Steel is arguably one of the most controversial novels of its genre, for Diamond’s futile attempt to explain why human development proceeded at such different rates on different continents has resulted in critical responses among scientists. In his novel, Diamond explains that civilization is exclusively the consequence of climatic and environmental imperatives, contending that the polities allowing for expansion and technological advances in human society are attributed to geography, food production, the domestication …show more content…
He introduces the Polynesian ancestors as peoples sharing “essentially the same culture, language, technology, and set of domesticated plants and animals” (Diamond, p.55). The Maori of New Zealand and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands are Polynesian peoples that settled in disparate environments across the Pacific. Over time, their societies and cultures changed in response to their corresponding environments. Due to the lack of resources and a climate unconducive to farming on the Chatham Islands, the Moriori were disadvantaged and had to succumb to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle; “since they could not produce crop surpluses available for redistribution or storage, they could not support and feed non-hunting craft specialists, armies, bureaucrats, and chiefs” (Diamond, p. 55). The isolation and small geographic size of the Chatham Islands resulted in the Moriori’s limited population with simplistic technology and virtually no political or economic organization. In contrast, the Maori had a climate suitable for agriculture and a larger island, resulting in an increase in population and the ability to support craftsmen, ultimately ensuing in the acquirance of more advanced technology, such as tools and weapons (Diamond, p. 56). Over time, the Maori became far more powerful than the Moriori, enslaving and murdering them upon their next contact. Diamond proceeds to elaborate on the remaining Polynesian islands, concluding that “specialization increased on larger, more densely populated islands” (Diamond, p.

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