] In this "artful, informative, and delightful" book, Jared Diamond
] convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors
] shaped the modern world. A major advance in our
] understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel
] chronicles the way that the modern world came to be ...
]
] Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in
] Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth club of
] California's Gold Medal.

Jeremy writes:
and also, the author is Elonka's cousin!

Elonka writes:
Yup, I'm proud of Jared! His earlier book The Third Chimpanzee is a fascinating read too, if you get a chance. He goes over the near identical genetic makeup that humans and apes have, and then takes a really close look at the tiny 2% difference. The book analyzes how that miniscule amount could be responsible for all the obvious differences: Music, architecture, language, sexual behaviors, and on and on. Interesting stuff!

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies