Guns, Germs and Steel’: Jared Diamond on Geography as Power
In the book and film Guns, Germs and Steel’: Jared Diamond on Geography as Power, Professor Jared Diamond attributes the success of Europe over other continents to its strategic location on the map. The cultures of different people and their residence have affected the way the communities in these locations show preference development in all aspects of life. Elements such as agriculture, acquisition of weapons, healthcare and diseases, reading and writing, technology, economy, empires, and transport are more developed in Europe compared to other places. Societies that are hunters and gatherers cannot match the development in Europe.
Agriculture
Professor Jared acknowledges that the first farming practices happened in the Middle East and china about 12000 years ago. The two regions had fertile lands, a variety of wild animals and plants that were easily domesticated. However, the advancement in agricultural practice in Europe, farming yields more produce in a small area. For instance, wheat production in one acre yields more food for consumption that an acre of forest land. A large number of animals, like sheep and cattle, can feed on a smaller piece of grassland than on the same piece of land in the forest. The professor notes that Europe discovered and adopted such practices and is far ahead of other places. As opposed to hunting and gathering where people move a lot and yet collect little for food, farming produces more yields.
Weaponry
Agriculture affords improvement in technology, increases completion, and therefore leads to some parts of the world taking advantage of other places. The developments lead to conflicts in a bit to gain a competitive advantage. The development of weapons by the Spanish quickly made the victors over the Incas in 1532. Initially, Spaniards were immune to smallpox transmitted by animals. In the battle, they sent animals to the other side; therefore, the disease affected the Incas who eventually, died and lost the battle.
Diseases
In comparison to the African continent, Europe is way advanced in handling infections and diseases. Even though Africa is the cradle of humanity, tropical diseases and other infections affect many Africans than Europeans. During colonization, the tropical diseases affected more Europeans than Africans, but this was short-lived as research was done and treatment found. Professor Jared implores that diseases such as malaria are more prevalent in Africa than in Europe. Europe eradicated malaria infections many years ago through controlled breeding of mosquitoes- another development aspect available in Europe.
Writing/ reading
Across the globe, Europe possesses many scribes and readers than other continents. The Europeans have done researches and published many scientific and art-related articles and books. Learning started in Europe, and according to professor Jared, many authors arose from ancient Greece and Romans. European countries invested a lot of resources in their education system early enough to conquer the world. The development in education facilities and rise to many scholars separates the rest of the world from Europe.
Transport
With the advent of technology, transport systems in Europe rose from the use of animals to bicycles to motor vehicles to air transport. Many of the inventions happened in Europe by Europeans. The development and advancement of technology in transportation put Europe ahead. Europeans then diversified their automotive manufacturing companies to the rest of the world to tap on the cheap labor and availability of resources. Today, Europe owns the best transport systems in the world. Africa, for instance, has weak transport systems. Professor Diamond attributes the developments in Europe’s transport to their geographical location.