Jump to content

Jared Diamond: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m link climate change
 
(369 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American scientist, historian, and author (born 1937)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2012}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Jared Diamond
| name = Jared Diamond
| image = Jared diamond.jpg
| image = JaredDiamond.jpg
| caption =
| caption = Diamond in 2013
| birth_name = Jared Mason Diamond
| birth_name = Jared Mason Diamond
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1937|9|10|mf=y}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1937|9|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Boston|Boston, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| birth_place = [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_place =
| residence =
| citizenship =
| citizenship =
| nationality =
| nationality =
| fields = [[Physiology]], [[biophysics]], [[ornithology]], [[environmentalism]], [[history]], [[ecology]], [[geography]], [[evolutionary biology]] and [[anthropology]]
| fields = [[Physiology]], [[biophysics]], [[ornithology]], [[environmental science]], [[history]], [[ecology]], [[geography]], [[evolutionary biology]], and [[anthropology]]
|workplaces = [[University of California, Los Angeles]]
| workplaces = [[University of California, Los Angeles]]
| education = {{ubl|[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Trinity College, Cambridge]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}}
|alma_mater = {{plainlist}}
| thesis_title = Concentrating activity of the gall-bladder
* [[Harvard University]]
| thesis_url = https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/permalink/f/16u99e0/44CAM_ALMA21429605800003606
* [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| thesis_year = 1961
{{endplainlist}}
| doctoral_advisor =
|education = [[Roxbury Latin School]]
| academic_advisors =
| thesis_title = Concentrating activity of the gall-bladder
| doctoral_students =
| thesis_url = http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=27758
| notable_students =
| thesis_year = 1961
| doctoral_advisor =
| known_for =
| author_abbrev_bot =
| academic_advisors =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| doctoral_students =
| awards = {{ubl
| notable_students =
|[[MacArthur Fellowship]] (1985)
| known_for =
|[[Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science]] (1997)
| author_abbrev_bot =
|[[1998 Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer Prize]] (1998)
| author_abbrev_zoo =
|[[International Cosmos Prize]] (1998)
| influences =
|[[National Medal of Science]] (1999)
| influenced = [[Yuval Noah Harari]]
|[[Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement]] (2001)
| awards = {{plainlist}}
|[[Royal Society Prizes for Science Books|Royal Society Prize for Science Books]] (1992, 1998, 2006)
* [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Genius Grant]] (1985)
* [[Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science]] (1997)
|[[Wolf Prize in Agriculture]] (2013)
* [[Royal Society Prizes for Science Books|Royal Society Prize for Science Books]] (1992, 1998 & 2006)
* [[1998 Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer Prize]] (1998)
* [[International Cosmos Prize]] (1998)
* [[National Medal of Science]] (1999)
* [[Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement]] (2001)
* [[Wolf Prize in Agriculture]] (2013)
{{endplainlist}}
| signature =
| footnotes =
| website =
}}
}}
| signature =
[[File:JaredDiamond.jpg|thumb|Jared Diamond in London, February 2013]]
| footnotes =
| website =
}}

'''Jared Mason Diamond''' (born September 10, 1937)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://newsroom.ucla.edu/magazine/jared-diamond-man-knows-too-much | title=The Man Who Knows Too Much }}</ref> is an American scientist, historian, and author. In 1985 he received a [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Genius Grant]], and he has written [[Jared Diamond bibliography|hundreds of scientific and popular articles and books]]. His best known is ''[[Guns, Germs, and Steel]]'' (1997), which received multiple awards including the [[1998 Pulitzer Prize]] for general nonfiction. In 2005, Diamond was ranked ninth on a poll by ''[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]]'' and ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' of the world's top 100 public intellectuals.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 15, 2005 |title=Prospect/FP Top 100 Public Intellectuals Results |work=[[Foreign Policy]] |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2005/10/15/prospectfp-top-100-public-intellectuals-results/ |access-date=2023-09-29}}</ref>


Originally trained in [[biochemistry]] and [[physiology]],<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite book |last=Diamond |first=Jared |title=Collapse |title-link=Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed |publisher=Viking Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-14-303655-5 |author-link=Jared Diamond}}</ref> Diamond has published in many fields, including [[anthropology]], [[ecology]], [[geography]], and [[evolutionary biology]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rothenberg |first=Randall |author-link=Randall Rothenberg |date=July 1, 2001 |title=Jared Diamond: The Thought Leader Interview |url=https://www.strategy-business.com/article/20101 |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=[[strategy+business]] |language=en-us |agency=[[Booz & Company]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Anthony |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Anthony |date=2019-04-21 |title=Jared Diamond: So how do states recover from crises? Same way as people do |language=en-GB |work=[[The Observer]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/21/jared-diamond-upheaval-migration-minorities-how-countries-solve-crisis |access-date=2023-09-30 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> In 1999, he received the [[National Medal of Science]], an honor bestowed by the [[President of the United States]] and the [[National Science Foundation]]. As of 2024, he is a professor of geography at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]].<ref name="TheLifeScientific">{{Cite web |last=Al-Khalili |first=Jim |author-link=Jim Al-Khalili |date=4 Dec 2012 |title=Jared Diamond |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p3k5q |website=[[The Life Scientific]] |postscript=;}} {{Cite web |date=12 Jan 2013 |title=Jared Diamond |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p012s40n |website=Discovery}}</ref>
'''Jared Mason Diamond''' (born September 10, 1937) is an American [[ecologist]], [[geographer]], [[biologist]], [[anthropologist]] and author best known for his [[popular science]] books ''[[The Third Chimpanzee]]'' (1991); ''[[Guns, Germs, and Steel]]'' (1997, awarded a [[1998 Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer Prize]]); ''[[Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed|Collapse]]'' (2005); and ''[[The World Until Yesterday]]'' (2012). Originally trained in [[physiology]], Diamond is known for drawing from a variety of fields, including [[anthropology]], [[ecology]], [[geography]] and [[evolutionary biology]]. He is a professor of geography at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]].<ref name="TheLifeScientific">{{cite web |url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/tls/tls_20121204-0930a.mp3 |title=Jim Al-Khalili talks to Jared Diamond about his journey from the gall bladder to global history via a passion for the birds of Papua New Guinea. |format= |work= |accessdate=2012-12-19}}</ref><ref name="microsoft">{{AcademicSearch|2759556}}</ref>


==Early life and education ==
In 2005, Diamond was ranked ninth on a poll by ''[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]]'' and ''[[Foreign Policy (magazine)|Foreign Policy]]'' of the world's top 100 public intellectuals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2005/10/15/prospectfp-top-100-public-intellectuals-results/ |title=Prospect/FP Top 100 Public Intellectuals Results |date=October 15, 2005 |accessdate=March 1, 2016}}</ref>
Diamond was born on September 10, 1937 in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]]. His parents were both [[Eastern European Jewish]] immigrants. His father, [[Louis Diamond]], was a physician who emigrated from [[Chișinău]] in present-day [[Moldova]], then known as [[Bessarabia]]. His mother, Flora {{Nee|Kaplan}}, was a teacher, linguist, and concert pianist.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/24/jared-diamond-bestselling-biogeographer-answers-critics | title=Jared Diamond: 'Humans, 150,000 years ago, wouldn't figure on a list of the five most interesting species on Earth' &#124; Jared Diamond &#124; the Guardian | date=October 24, 2014 }}</ref><ref name=guardian012013/> Diamond began studying [[piano]] at age six; years later, he would propose to his wife after playing [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]]' Intermezzo in A major for her.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berkeley |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Berkeley |date=3 Mar 2013 |title=Jared Diamond |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r0ywj |website=[[Private Passions]]}}</ref>


By the age of seven he developed an interest in [[birdwatching]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> This became one of his major life passions and resulted in a number of works published in ornithology.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mayr |first1=Ernst |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-birds-of-northern-melanesia-9780195141702?cc=us&lang=en&# |title=The Birds of Northern Melanesia |last2=Diamond |first2=Jared |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Color Plates by [[Harold Douglas Pratt Jr.|H. Douglas Pratt]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-19-514170-2 |author-link=Ernst Mayr }}</ref> He attended the [[Roxbury Latin School]] and studied [[Biochemistry|biochemical sciences]] at [[Harvard College]], graduating in 1958. He later studied at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], and graduated from Cambridge with a Ph.D. in 1961; his thesis was on the physiology and [[Membrane biology|biophysics of membranes]] in the [[gallbladder]].<ref name="TheLifeScientific"/><ref name="diamondphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Jared Mason |last=Diamond |title=Concentrating activity of the gall-bladder |publisher=[[University of Cambridge]] |date=1961 |url=https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/permalink/f/16u99e0/44CAM_ALMA21429605800003606 }}</ref><ref name=ecosmos />
==Early life and education==
Diamond was born in [[Boston|Boston, Massachusetts]], United States. Both of his parents were from East European [[Jewish]] families who had emigrated to the United States. His father, [[Louis Diamond]], was a physician, and his mother, Flora Kaplan, a teacher, linguist, and concert pianist.<ref name=guardian012013/> Diamond himself began studying piano at age six; years later he would propose to his wife after playing the [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]] Intermezzo in A minor for her.<ref name="PrivPass">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r0ywj Jared Diamond in conversation with Michael Berkeley] on the [[BBC Radio 3]] program ''[[Private Passions]]'' (broadcast 3 March 2013)</ref> He attended the [[Roxbury Latin School]] and earned a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in [[anthropology]] and [[history]] from [[Harvard College]] in 1958 and a PhD on the [[physiology]] and [[biophysics]] of [[Membrane biophysics|membrane]]s in the [[gall bladder]] from [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]], [[University of Cambridge]] in 1961.<ref name="TheLifeScientific"/><ref name="diamondphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Jared|last=Diamond |title=Concentrating activity of the gall-bladder |publisher=University of Cambridge |date=1961 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=27758}}</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
After graduating from Cambridge, Diamond returned to Harvard as a [[Harvard Society of Fellows#Junior Fellows|Junior Fellow]] until 1965, and, in 1968, became a professor of physiology at [[University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine|UCLA Medical School]]. While in his twenties he developed a second, parallel, career in [[ornithology]] and [[ecology]], specialising in [[New Guinea]] and nearby islands. Later, in his fifties, Diamond developed a third career in [[environmental history]] and became a professor of [[geography]] at UCLA, his {{as of | 2013 | alt = current}} position.<ref name=ecosmos>
After graduation from Cambridge, Diamond returned to Harvard as a [[Harvard Society of Fellows#Junior Fellows|Junior Fellow]] until 1965, and, in 1968, became a professor of physiology at [[David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA|UCLA Medical School]]. While in his twenties he developed a second, parallel, career in ornithology and [[ecology]], specialising in [[New Guinea]] and nearby islands, which he began visiting from 1964.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Later, in his fifties, Diamond developed a third career in [[environmental history]] and became a professor of [[geography]] at UCLA, his {{as of | 2013 | alt = current}} position.<ref name="ecosmos">{{Cite web |title=The Prizewinner 1998 |url=https://www.expo-cosmos.or.jp/english/cosmos/jyusyou/1998.html |access-date=15 September 2023 |website=[[International Cosmos Prize]] |publisher=Expo '90 Foundation}}</ref> He also teaches at [[Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli|LUISS Guido Carli]] in Rome.<ref>{{cite web |title=Geografia Politica |url=http://www.luiss.it/cattedreonline/corso/M120/0/2R2LMRR/2015 |access-date=March 8, 2019 |work=[[LUISS Guido Carli]]}}</ref> He is a lecturer on the [[biodiversity management]] course at the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability (EIIS) in Rome.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manager della Biodiversità |url=https://www.eiis.eu/manager-della-biodiversita |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=eiis.eu |language=en}}</ref> He won the [[National Medal of Science]] in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |title=The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details |url=https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.jsp?recip_id=103 |access-date=2023-09-29 |work=[[National Science Foundation]]}}</ref> He has been invited to give two [[TED (conference)|TED talks]], "Why do societies collapse" (2008), and "How societies can grow old better (2013).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ted.com/speakers/jared_diamond|title=Jared Diamond, Civilization Scholar|publisher=[[TED (conference)|TED]]|accessdate=April 15, 2024}}</ref>
{{Cite web| title=The Prize Winner, 1998 | url=http://www.expo-cosmos.or.jp/jusyou/1998_e.html | publisher=Expo-Cosmos | accessdate=2009-05-18}}</ref> He also teaches at [[Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli|LUISS Guido Carli]] in Rome.<ref>[http://www.luiss.it/cattedreonline/corso/M120/0/2R2LMRR/2015 Geografia politica | LUISS Guido Carli]</ref> He won the [[National Medal of Science]] in 1999<ref>[http://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.cfm?recip_id=103 National Science Foundation – The President's National Medal of Science]</ref> and [[Westfield State University]] granted him an honorary doctorate in 2009.


Diamond originally specialized in salt absorption in the [[gall bladder]].<ref name="diamondphd"/><ref name="NPR">
Diamond originally specialized in salt absorption in the [[gall bladder]].<ref name="diamondphd" /><ref name="NPR">
{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/09/08/140297259/understanding-history-with-guns-germs-and-steel |title=Understanding History With 'Guns, Germs, And Steel' |work=[[NPR]] |date=September 8, 2011 |access-date=March 8, 2019}}</ref> He has also published scholarly works in the fields of ecology and ornithology,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Symes |first1=C. T. |last2=Hughes |first2=J. C. |last3=Mack |first3=A. L. |last4=Marsden |first4=S. J. |date=Jan 2006 |title=Geophagy in birds of Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Papua New Guinea |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2005.00002.x |journal=Journal of Zoology |language=en |volume=268 |issue=1 |pages=87–96 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2005.00002.x |issn=0952-8369}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Diamond |first1=Jared |author-link=Jared Diamond |last2=Bishop |first2=K. David |last3=Gilardi |first3=James D. |date=June 2008 |title=Geophagy in New Guinea birds |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1999.tb07540.x |journal=Ibis |language=en |volume=141 |issue=2 |pages=181–193 |doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1999.tb07540.x}}</ref> but is arguably best known for authoring a number of popular science and history books combining topics from diverse fields other than those he has formally studied. Because of this academic diversity, Diamond has been described as a polymath.<ref>
[http://www.npr.org/2011/09/08/140297259/understanding-history-with-guns-germs-and-steel Radio interview] by [[NPR]]
{{cite web |title=Human Stars |url=http://www.abc.net.au/animals/human_stars.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507092547/http://www.abc.net.au/animals/human_stars.htm |archive-date=May 7, 2011 |access-date=March 8, 2019 |work=The Animal Attraction |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Rapa Nui déjà vu |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2009/10/08/rapa-nui-deja-vu |access-date=2023-09-30 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>
</ref> He has also published scholarly works in the fields of ecology and [[ornithology]],<ref>
{{Cite journal | last1 = Diamond | first1 = J. | last2 = Bishop | first2 = K. D. | last3 = Gilardi | first3 = J. D. | doi = 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1999.tb07540.x | title = Geophagy in New Guinea birds | journal = Ibis | volume = 141 | issue = 2 | pages = 181 | year = 2008 | pmid = | pmc = }}
</ref> but is arguably best known for authoring a number of [[popular-science]] books combining topics from diverse fields other than those he has formally studied. Because of this academic diversity, Diamond has been described as a [[polymath]].<ref>
http://www.abc.net.au/animals/human_stars.htm Australian Broadcasting Corporation</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.economist.com/node/14587314 | work=The Economist | title=Rapa Nui déjà vu | date=October 8, 2009}}
</ref>


==Popular science works==
==Selected popular works==
Diamond has written scores of academic peer-reviewed articles for publications such as the scientific journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''. He has also written scores of [[popular science]] articles in publications such as ''[[Discover (magazine)|Discover]]'', as well as several bestselling popular books, notably ''[[The Third Chimpanzee]]'' (1991); ''[[Guns, Germs, and Steel]]'' (1997, awarded a [[1998 Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer Prize]]); ''[[Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed|Collapse]]'' (2005), ''[[The World Until Yesterday]]'' (2012), and ''[[Upheaval (book)|Upheaval]]'' (2019). ''For a full list, see {{Section link|Jared Diamond bibliography|Books}}''.
{{POV section|date=July 2017}}


=== ''The Third Chimpanzee'' (1991) ===
=== ''The Third Chimpanzee'' (1991) ===
Diamond's first popular book, ''[[The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal]]'' (1991), examines [[human evolution]] and its relevance to the modern world, incorporating evidence from [[anthropology]], [[evolutionary biology]], [[genetics]], ecology, and [[linguistics]]. The book traces how humans evolved to be so different from other animals, despite sharing over 98% of our DNA with our closest animal relatives, the chimpanzees. The book also examines the animal origins of language, art, agriculture, smoking and drug use, and other apparently uniquely human attributes. It was well received by critics and won the 1992 [[Rhône-Poulenc Prize for Science Books]]<ref name="rsocprizes">{{Cite web| title=Prize for Science Books previous winners and shortlists | url=http://royalsociety.org/bookspage.asp?id=6372 | publisher=[[Royal Society]] | accessdate=2009-05-18}}</ref> and the [[Los Angeles Times Book Prize]].<ref name="latimesprize">{{Cite news| title=Los Angeles Times Festival of Books&nbsp;– Book Prizes&nbsp;– Winners by Award (science) | url=http://www.latimes.com/extras/bookprizes/winners_byaward.html#science |work=Los Angeles Times | accessdate=2009-05-18}}</ref>
Diamond's first popular book, ''[[The Third Chimpanzee|The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal]]'' (1991), examines [[human evolution]] and its relevance to the modern world, incorporating evidence from [[anthropology]], [[evolutionary biology]], [[genetics]], ecology, and [[linguistics]]. The book traces how humans evolved to be so different from other animals, despite sharing over 98% of our DNA with our closest animal relatives, the chimpanzees. The book also examines the animal origins of language, art, agriculture, smoking and drug use, and other apparently uniquely human attributes. It was well received by critics and won the 1992 [[Rhône-Poulenc Prize for Science Books]]<ref name="rsocprizes">{{Cite web |title=Prize for Science Books previous winners and shortlists |url=http://royalsociety.org/bookspage.asp?id=6372 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611134055/http://royalsociety.org:80/bookspage.asp?id=6372 |archive-date=June 11, 2008 |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=[[Royal Society]] |publisher=}}</ref> and the [[Los Angeles Times Book Prize|''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize]].<ref name="latimesprize">{{Cite news |title=Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winners: Science & Technology |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=http://www.latimes.com/extras/bookprizes/winners_byaward.html#science |url-status=dead |access-date=May 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021204004228/http://www.latimes.com/extras/bookprizes/winners_byaward.html#science |archive-date=December 4, 2002}}</ref>


=== ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' ===
=== ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' (1997) ===
[[File:Jared diamond.jpg|thumb|right|Jared Diamond in San Francisco, 2007]]
His second and best known popular science book, ''[[Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies]]'', was published in 1997. It asks why [[Eurasian (mixed ancestry)|Eurasian peoples]] conquered or displaced Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of vice versa. It argues that this outcome was not due to biological advantages of Eurasian peoples themselves but instead to features of the Eurasian continent, in particular, its high diversity of wild plant and animal species suitable for domestication and its east/west major axis that favored the spread of those domesticates, people, and technologies for long distances with little change in latitude. The first part of the book focuses on reasons why only a few species of wild plants and animals proved suitable for domestication. The second part discusses how local food production based on those domesticates led to the development of dense and stratified human populations, writing, centralized political organization, and epidemic infectious diseases. The third part compares the development of food production and of human societies among different continents and world regions. ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' became an international best-seller, was translated into 33 languages, and received several awards, including a [[Pulitzer Prize]], an [[Aventis Prize for Science Books]]<ref name=rsocprizes/> and the 1997 [[Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pbk.org/infoview/PBK_Infoview.aspx?t=&id=57 | title=1997 Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Award | publisher=Phi Beta Kappa | accessdate=February 16, 2014}}</ref> A television documentary series based on the book was produced by the [[National Geographic Society]] in 2005.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lovgren|first=Stefan|title='Guns, Germs and Steel': Jared Diamond on Geography as Power|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/07/0706_050706_diamond.html|accessdate=6 December 2012|newspaper=National Geographic News|date=6 July 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Guns, Germs & Steel: The Show|url=http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/show/index.html|publisher=PBS|accessdate=6 December 2012}}</ref>
His second and best known popular science book, ''[[Guns, Germs, and Steel|Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies]]'', was published in 1997. It asks why Eurasian peoples conquered or displaced [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]], [[Indigenous Australians|Australians]], and Africans, instead of vice versa. It argues that this outcome was not due to genetic advantages of Eurasian peoples themselves but instead to features of the Eurasian continent, in particular, its high diversity of wild plant and animal species suitable for [[domestication]] and its east/west major axis that favored the spread of those domesticates, people, technologies—and diseases—for long distances with little change in latitude.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

The first part of the book focuses on reasons why only a few species of wild plants and animals proved suitable for domestication. The second part discusses how local food production based on those domesticates led to the development of dense and stratified human populations, writing, centralized political organization, and [[epidemic]] infectious diseases. The third part compares the development of food production and of human societies among different continents and world regions. ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' became an international best-seller, was translated into 33 languages, and received several awards, including a [[Pulitzer Prize]], an [[Aventis Prize for Science Books]]<ref name=rsocprizes/> and the 1997 [[Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1997 Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Award |url=http://www.pbk.org/infoview/PBK_Infoview.aspx?t=&id=57 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428155737/http://www.pbk.org/infoview/PBK_Infoview.aspx?t=&id=57 |archive-date=2009-04-28 |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=[[The Phi Beta Kappa Society]] |publisher=}}</ref> A television documentary series based on the book was produced by the [[National Geographic Society]] in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lovgren |first=Stefan |date=July 6, 2005 |title='Guns, Germs and Steel': Jared Diamond on Geography as Power |newspaper=[[National Geographic]] |department=Science |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/07/0706_050706_diamond.html |url-status=dead |access-date=December 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304121447/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/07/0706_050706_diamond.html |archive-date=2007-03-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Guns Germs & Steel: The Show. Overview |url=https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/show/index.html |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=[[PBS]] |publisher=}}</ref>

The book is controversial among anthropologists.<ref name=":0" />


=== ''Why is Sex Fun?'' (1997) ===
=== ''Why is Sex Fun?'' (1997) ===


In his third book, ''[[Why is Sex Fun?]]'', also published in 1997, Diamond discusses evolutionary factors underlying features of human sexuality that are generally taken for granted but that are highly unusual among our animal relatives. Those features include a long-term pair relationship (marriage), coexistence of economically cooperating pairs within a shared communal territory, provision of parental care by fathers as well as by mothers, having sex in private rather than in public, concealed ovulation, female sexual receptivity encompassing most of the menstrual cycle (including days of infertility), female but not male menopause, and distinctive secondary sexual characteristics.
In his third book, ''[[Why Is Sex Fun?|Why is Sex Fun?]]'', also published in 1997, Diamond discusses evolutionary factors underlying features of [[human sexuality]] that are generally taken for granted but that are highly unusual among our animal relatives. Those features include a long-term pair relationship ([[marriage]]), coexistence of economically cooperating pairs within a shared communal territory, provision of parental care by fathers as well as by mothers, having sex in private rather than in public, [[concealed ovulation]], female sexual receptivity encompassing most of the [[menstrual cycle]] (including days of infertility), [[Menopause|female menopause]], and distinctive secondary sexual characteristics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Diamond |first=Jared |title=Why Is Sex Fun? |title-link=Why Is Sex Fun? |publisher=Basic Books |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-465-03127-6 |author-link=Jared Diamond}}</ref>
Jackson, this book is for you


=== ''Collapse'' (2005) ===
=== ''Collapse'' (2005) ===
Diamond's next book, ''[[Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed]]'', published in 2005, examines a range of past societies in an attempt to identify why they either collapsed or continued to thrive and considers what contemporary societies can learn from these historical examples. As in ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'', he argues against explanations for the failure of past societies based primarily on cultural factors, instead focusing on ecology. Among the societies mentioned in the book are the [[Norse colonization of the Americas|Norse]] and [[Inuit]] of [[Greenland]], the [[Maya civilization|Maya]], the [[Anasazi]], the indigenous people of [[Rapa Nui]] (Easter Island), Japan, Haiti, the [[Dominican Republic]], and modern [[Montana]]. The book concludes by asking why some societies make disastrous decisions, how big businesses affect the environment, what our principal environmental problems are today, and what individuals can do about those problems. Like ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'', ''Collapse'' was translated into dozens of languages, became an international best-seller, and was the basis of a television documentary produced by the National Geographic Society.<ref>{{Cite journal | editor1-last = Demenocal | editor1-first = Peter B. | editor2-last = Cook | editor2-first = Edward R. | title = Perspectives on Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed | series = CA Forum on Anthropology in Public | journal = Current Anthropology | date = December 2005 | volume = 46 | issue = supplement | pages = S91–S99 | jstor = 3597146 | doi = 10.2307/3597146 | issn = 0011-3204 }}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>McAnany, P.A. & Yoffee, N. (Eds) (2010). Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath of Empire. Cambridge University Press.</ref> It was also nominated for the [[Royal Society Prize for Science Books]].<ref name=rsocprizes/>
Diamond's next book, ''[[Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed]]'', published in 2005, examines a range of past societies in an attempt to identify why they either collapsed or continued to thrive and considers what contemporary societies can learn from these historical examples. As in ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'', he argues against explanations for the failure of past societies based primarily on cultural factors, instead focusing on ecology. Among the societies mentioned in the book are the [[Norse colonization of the Americas|Norse]] and [[Inuit]] of [[Greenland]], the [[Maya civilization|Maya]], the [[Anasazi]], the indigenous people of [[Rapa Nui]] (Easter Island), Japan, Haiti, the [[Dominican Republic]], and modern [[Montana]].


The book concludes by asking why some societies make disastrous decisions, how big businesses affect the environment, what our principal environmental problems are today, and what individuals can do about those problems. Like ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'', ''Collapse'' was translated into dozens of languages, became an international best-seller, and was the basis of a television documentary produced by the National Geographic Society.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2005 |title=Perspectives on Diamond's ''Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'' |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/497663 |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=46 |issue=S5 |pages=S91–S99 |doi=10.1086/497663 |jstor=10.1086/497663 |issn=0011-3204}}</ref> ''Collapse'' was also nominated for the [[Royal Society Prize for Science Books]].<ref name=rsocprizes/> When it was nominated, Diamond was the only author to have won the award twice previously,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pauli |first=Michelle |date=2006-04-13 |title=Diamond in the running for Aventis hat-trick |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2006/apr/13/awardsandprizes.scienceandnature |access-date=2023-09-30 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> though he did not win a third time.
=== "Vengeance is Ours" controversy and ''Natural Experiments in History'' (2010) ===<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS: the following passage about the controversy surrounding Diamond's article Vengeance is Ours has been extensively discussed to ensure it does not give undue weight to the issue; please consider any changes carefully, and/or raise them on the talk page beforehand -->
In 2008, Diamond published an article in ''The New Yorker'' entitled "Vengeance Is Ours",<ref>{{Cite news |last=Diamond |first=Jared |date=2008-04-21 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/21/080421fa_fact_diamond |title=Vengeance Is Ours |work=Annals of Anthropology |page=74}}{{Subscription required}}</ref> describing the role of revenge in tribal warfare in [[Papua New Guinea]]. A year later two indigenous people mentioned in the article filed a lawsuit against Diamond and ''The New Yorker'' claiming the article defamed them.<ref name="science">{{Cite journal | last1 = Balter | first1 = M. | title = 'Vengeance' Bites Back at Jared Diamond| doi = 10.1126/science.324_872 | journal = Science | volume = 324 | issue = 5929 | pages = 872–874 | year = 2009 | pmid = 19443760| pmc = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090422/us-jared-diamond-lawsuit/|title=Author Jared Diamond sued for libel|last=Maull|first=Samuel|date=April 22, 2009|publisher=AP News|accessdate=2012-02-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Smillie |first=Dirk |title=Fresh Legal Jab At 'The New Yorker' |url=http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/18/papua-jared-diamond-business-media-new-yorker.html |accessdate=8 February 2013|newspaper=Forbes |date=19 October 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125013811/http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/18/papua-jared-diamond-business-media-new-yorker.html |archivedate=November 25, 2009 |deadurl=yes }}</ref> In 2013, ''The Observer'' reported that the lawsuit "was withdrawn by mutual consent after the sudden death of their lawyer."<ref name=guardian012013>{{cite web|last=McKie|first=Robin|title=Jared Diamond: what we can learn from tribal life|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/jan/06/jared-diamond-tribal-life-anthropology|publisher=''[[The Observer]]''|date=January 5, 2013|accessdate=January 5, 2013}}</ref>


Fifteen archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, and historians from the [[American Anthropological Association]] criticized Diamond's methods and conclusions, working together with the larger association to publish the book ''[[Questioning Collapse]]'' as a counter to Diamond's claims.<ref name="Flexner">{{cite journal |last1=Flexner |first1=James L. |date=December 2011 |title=Asia General, Book Reviews: QUESTIONING COLLAPSE: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath of Empire |url=https://pacificaffairs.ubc.ca/book-reviews/questioning-collapse-human-resilience-ecological-vulnerability-and-the-aftermath-of-empire-edited-by-patricia-a-mcanany-and-norman-yoffee/ |journal=[[Pacific Affairs]] |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=740 |access-date=September 3, 2022}}</ref> In response, Diamond, as an editor at the time for the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', published an official review in the journal negatively covering the book,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Diamond |first1=Jared |author-link=Jared Diamond |date=February 2010 |title=Two views of collapse |journal=Nature |volume=463 |issue=7283 |pages=880–881 |bibcode=2010Natur.463..880D |doi=10.1038/463880a |s2cid=41340630 |doi-access=free}}</ref> without mentioning that the book was a critique of his own work. The authors and the publisher, [[Cambridge University Press]], called out Diamond for his [[conflict of interest]] on the subject.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=March 8, 2010 |title=Puttin' the Objective in Objectivity |url=http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2010/03/puttin-the-objective-in-objectivity/ |access-date=September 4, 2022 |website=Fifteen Eighty Four |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imediaethics.org/cambridge-u-press-backs-authors-against-jared-diamonds-nature-review/ |title=Cambridge U Press backs authors against Jared Diamond's Nature review |last=Smith |first=Sydney |date=March 23, 2010 |website=iMediaEthics |access-date=September 4, 2022}}</ref>
In 2010, Diamond co-edited (with James Robinson) ''Natural Experiments of History'', a collection of seven case studies illustrating the [[Multidisciplinarity|multidisciplinary]] and comparative approach to the study of history that he advocates. The book’s title stems from the fact that it is not possible to study history by the preferred methods of the laboratory sciences, i.e., by controlled experiments comparing replicated human societies as if they were test tubes of bacteria. Instead, one must look at natural experiments in which human societies that are similar in many respects have been historically perturbed, either by different starting conditions or by different impacts.{{clarify|date=April 2014|reason= "Impacts" is an awfully general word. It could mean almost anything. Could this be made a bit more specific?}} The book’s afterword classifies natural experiments, discusses the practical difficulties of studying them, and offers suggestions how to address those difficulties.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Natural Experiments of History – Jared Diamond, James A. Robinson|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674035577|publisher=Harvard University Press|accessdate=September 18, 2010}}</ref>


=== "Vengeance is Ours" controversy (2008) ===<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS: the following passage about the controversy surrounding Diamond's article "Vengeance is Ours" has been extensively discussed to ensure it does not give undue weight to the issue; please consider any changes carefully, and/or raise them on the talk page beforehand. -->
=== The World Until Yesterday (2012) ===
In 2008, Diamond published an article in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' entitled "Vengeance Is Ours",<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Diamond |first=Jared |author-link=Jared Diamond |date=14 April 2008 |title=Vengeance Is Ours |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/04/21/vengeance-is-ours |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref> describing the role of revenge in tribal warfare in [[Papua New Guinea]]. A year later, two indigenous people mentioned in the article filed a lawsuit against Diamond and ''The New Yorker'', claiming the article defamed them.<ref name="science">{{Cite journal |last1=Balter |first1=Michael |author-link=Michael Balter |date=May 2009 |title='Vengeance' Bites Back at Jared Diamond |journal=Science |volume=324 |issue=5929 |pages=872–874 |doi=10.1126/science.324_872 |jstor=20493922 |pmid=19443760}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Maull |first=Samuel |date=April 22, 2009 |title=Author Jared Diamond sued for libel |work=The Huffington Post |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090422/us-jared-diamond-lawsuit/ |url-status=dead |access-date=2023-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322090107/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090422/us-jared-diamond-lawsuit/ |archive-date=2016-03-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Smillie |first=Dirk |date=October 19, 2009 |title=Fresh Legal Jab At 'The New Yorker' |newspaper=[[Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/10/18/papua-jared-diamond-business-media-new-yorker.html |url-status=dead |access-date=February 8, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125013811/http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/18/papua-jared-diamond-business-media-new-yorker.html |archive-date=November 25, 2009}}</ref> In 2013, ''[[The Observer]]'' reported that the lawsuit "was withdrawn by mutual consent after the sudden death of their lawyer."<ref name="guardian012013">{{cite news |last=McKie |first=Robin |author-link=Robin McKie |date=January 5, 2013 |title=Jared Diamond: what we can learn from tribal life |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/jan/06/jared-diamond-tribal-life-anthropology |access-date=January 5, 2013}}</ref>
Diamond's most recent book, ''[[The World Until Yesterday]]'', published in 2012, asks what the western world can learn from [[traditional society|traditional societies]]. It surveys 39 traditional small-scale societies of farmers and hunter-gatherers with respect to how they deal with universal human problems. The problems discussed include dividing space, resolving disputes, bringing up children, treatment of elders, dealing with dangers, formulating religions, learning multiple languages, and remaining healthy. The book suggests that some practices of traditional societies could be usefully adopted in the modern industrial world today, either by individuals or else by society as a whole.{{Citation needed|date=July 2017}}

=== ''Natural Experiments of History'' (2010) ===
In 2010, Diamond co-edited (with [[James A. Robinson|James Robinson]]) ''Natural Experiments of History'', a collection of seven case studies illustrating the [[Multidisciplinarity|multidisciplinary]] and comparative approach to the study of history that he advocates. The book's title stems from the fact that it is not possible to study history by the preferred methods of the laboratory sciences, i.e., by controlled experiments comparing replicated human societies as if they were test tubes of bacteria. Instead, one must look at natural experiments in which human societies that are similar in many respects have been historically perturbed. The book's afterword classifies natural experiments, discusses the practical difficulties of studying them, and offers suggestions on how to address those difficulties.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674060197 |title=Natural Experiments of History |publisher=Belknap Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-674-06019-7 |editor-last=Diamond |editor-first=Jared |doi=10.2307/j.ctvjghwf6 |jstor=j.ctvjghwf6 |editor-last2=Robinson |editor-first2=James A. |editor-link2=James A. Robinson}}</ref>

=== ''The World Until Yesterday'' (2012) ===
In ''[[The World Until Yesterday]]'', published in 2012, Diamond asks what the western world can learn from [[traditional society|traditional societies]]. It surveys 39 traditional small-scale societies of farmers and hunter-gatherers with respect to how they deal with universal human problems. The problems discussed include dividing space, resolving disputes, bringing up children, treatment of elders, dealing with dangers, formulating religions, learning multiple languages, and remaining healthy. The book suggests that some practices of traditional societies could be usefully adopted in the modern industrial world today, either by individuals or else by society as a whole.{{Citation needed|date=July 2017}}

=== ''Upheaval'' (2019) ===
In ''[[Upheaval: How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change]]'' Diamond examines whether nations can find lessons during crises in a way like people do. The nations considered are Finland, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Germany, Australia, and the U.S.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hughes |first=Ian |date=May 11, 2019 |title=Upheaval review: How countries seldom learn from their past |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/upheaval-review-how-countries-seldom-learn-from-their-past-1.3883396 |access-date=Sep 29, 2023}}</ref> Diamond identifies four modern threats: nuclear weapons, [[climate change]], limited resources, and extreme inequality.<ref>{{cite web |last=Martindale |first=David |date=May 9, 2019 |title=Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond to discuss new book, 'Upheaval,' in Dallas |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/books/2019/05/09/pulitzer-prize-winning-author-jared-diamond-to-discuss-new-book-upheaval-in-dallas/ |access-date=Sep 29, 2023 |website=[[The Dallas Morning News]]}}</ref>

[[Anand Giridharadas]], reviewing for ''[[The New York Times]]'', claimed the book contained many factual inaccuracies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Giridharadas |first=Anand |author-link=Anand Giridharadas |date=May 17, 2019 |title=What to Do When You're a Country in Crisis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/books/review/upheaval-jared-diamond.html |access-date=May 20, 2019 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> [[Daniel Immerwahr]], reviewing for ''[[The New Republic]]'', reports that Diamond has "jettisoned statistical analysis" and the associated rigour, even by the standards of his earlier books, which have themselves sometimes been challenged on this basis.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Immerwahr |first1=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Immerwahr |date=June 11, 2019 |title=All Over the Map |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/154142/jared-diamond-upheaval-book-review |magazine=[[The New Republic]] |access-date=June 12, 2019}}</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Diamond is married to Marie Cohen, granddaughter of Polish politician [[Edward Werner]]. They have twin sons, born in 1987.<ref>
Diamond is married to Marie Cohen, granddaughter of Polish politician [[Edward Werner]]. They have twin sons, born in 1987.<ref name="TheLifeScientific" /> Although Diamond is a non practicing Jew and has described religion as irrational,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.salon.com/2013/01/13/jared_diamond_its_irrational_to_be_religious/ | title=Jared Diamond: It's irrational to be religious | date=January 13, 2013 }}</ref> he and his wife attend [[High Holy Days|High Holiday services]].<ref>https://www.timesofisrael.com/ancient-culture-clash-brings-diamond-into-the-rough/amp/ {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p3k5q Radio interview with Jim Al-Khalili, BBC Radio 4, series ''The Life Scientific'', broadcast 4/12/2012]</ref> Diamond is an atheist.{{cn|date=August 2017}}
==Boards==
== Reception ==
While Diamond's writings have received considerable praise,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Jaschik |first=Scott |date=2 August 2005 |title='Guns, Germs, and Steel' Reconsidered |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/08/03/guns-germs-and-steel-reconsidered |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}}</ref> they are controversial among anthropologists, with his argumentation having been described as "shallow", with criticism suggesting that Diamond overemphasises the importance of environmental factors like geography and climate over other influences.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Wade |date=2013-01-09 |title=The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jan/09/history-society |access-date=2024-06-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=King |first=Barbara J. |date=17 January 2013 |title=Why Does Jared Diamond Make Anthropologists So Mad? |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/01/14/169374400/why-does-jared-diamond-make-anthropologists-so-mad |work=[[NPR]]}}</ref>
* Editorial board of the ''Skeptic Magazine'', a publication of [[The Skeptics Society]].

* Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]].
==Selected memberships==
* Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].
* Editorial board of ''[[Skeptic (American magazine)|Skeptic]]'', a magazine of [[The Skeptics Society]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Editorial Board |url=https://www.skeptic.com/magazine/editorial_board/ |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=Skeptic}}</ref>
* Member of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]].
* Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jared Mason Diamond |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/jared-mason-diamond |access-date=Sep 29, 2023 |website=[[American Academy of Arts & Sciences]] |language=en}}</ref>
* US regional director of the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]].
* Member of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jared M. Diamond |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/56326.html |access-date=Sep 29, 2023 |website=[[National Academy of Sciences]]}}</ref>
* Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jared Mason Diamond |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Jared+Mason+Diamond |access-date=Sep 29, 2023 |website=[[American Philosophical Society]] |type=Search results}}</ref>
* Board of Directors of the [[World Wildlife Fund]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leadership |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/about/leadership |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=[[World Wildlife Fund]] (WWF) |language=en}}</ref>


==Awards and honors==
==Selected honors==
{{div col begin|colwidth=40em}}
{{div col begin|colwidth=40em}}
* 1992 [[Tanner Lecturer]], [[University of Utah]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.suunews.com/news/2012/mar/04/tanner-lecturer-will-present-tuesday/|work=SUU News|publisher=Southern Utah University|date=March 4, 2012|access-date=September 8, 2013|title=Tanner lecturer will present on Tuesday|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130908062215/http://www.suunews.com/news/2012/mar/04/tanner-lecturer-will-present-tuesday/|archive-date=September 8, 2013}}</ref>
* 1975 Distinguished Achievement Award, [[American Gastroenterological Association]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gastro.org/about/awards/distinguished-achievement-award|title=Distinguished Achievement Award|publisher=gastro.org|accessdate=September 8, 2013}}</ref>
* 1985 [[MacArthur Foundation]] "Genius" Grant<ref name=ng>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/jared-diamond/|title=Jared Diamond, Geographer, Explorer-in-Residence|accessdate=August 10, 2013|publisher=National Geographic}}</ref>
* 1989 [[Archie F. Carr]] Medal<ref>{{cite news|work=Gainesville Sun|date=April 5, 1989|accessdate=September 8, 2013|title=Carr is honored for activities|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1320&dat=19890405&id=sUpWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LuoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5397,1563603}}</ref>
* 1992 [[Tanner Lecturer]], [[University of Utah]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.suunews.com/news/2012/mar/04/tanner-lecturer-will-present-tuesday/|work=SUU News|publisher=Southern Utah University|date=March 4, 2012|accessdate=September 8, 2013|title=Tanner lecturer will present on Tuesday}}</ref>
* 1992 [[Rhône-Poulenc Prize for Science Books]] for ''The Third Chimpanzee''<ref name=rsocprizes/>
* 1992 [[Rhône-Poulenc Prize for Science Books]] for ''The Third Chimpanzee''<ref name=rsocprizes/>
* 1992 [[Los Angeles Times]] Science Book Prize<ref name="latimesprize"/>
* 1993 [[Zoological Society of San Diego]] Conservation Medal
* 1997 [[Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science|Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Prize]] for ''Guns, Germs and Steel''
* 1997 [[Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science|Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Prize]] for ''Guns, Germs and Steel''
* [[1998 Pulitzer Prize]] for ''Guns, Germs and Steel''<ref name=ng/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/1998-General-Nonfiction|publisher=pulitzerprize.org|year=1998|accessdate=August 10, 2013|title=The 1998 Pulitzer Prize Winners: General Nonfiction}}</ref>
* [[1998 Pulitzer Prize]] for [[Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction|General Nonfiction]] for ''Guns, Germs and Steel''<ref name=ng>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/jared-diamond/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111224054001/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/jared-diamond/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 24, 2011|title=Jared Diamond, Geographer, Explorer-in-Residence|access-date=August 10, 2013|magazine=National Geographic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/1998-General-Nonfiction|publisher=pulitzerprize.org|year=1998|access-date=August 10, 2013|title=The 1998 Pulitzer Prize Winners: General Nonfiction}}</ref>
* 1998 [[California Book Awards]], Gold Medal in nonfiction for ''Guns, Germs and Steel''
* 1998 [[California Book Awards]], Gold Medal in nonfiction for ''Guns, Germs and Steel''
* 1998 [[Aventis Prize for Science Books]] for ''Guns, Germs and Steel''<ref name=rsocprizes/>
* 1998 [[Aventis Prize for Science Books]] for ''Guns, Germs and Steel''<ref name=rsocprizes/>
* 1998 [[International Cosmos Prize]]<ref name="ecosmos"/>
* 1998 [[International Cosmos Prize]]<ref name="ecosmos"/>
* 1998 Elliott Coues Award, [[American Ornithologists Union]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aou.org/awards/senior/coues/|title=Previous awardees|accessdate=September 8, 2013|publisher=aou.org}}</ref>
* 1999 [[Lannan Literary Awards#Lannan Literary Award for Non-Fiction|Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction]]
* 1999 [[Lannan Literary Awards#Lannan Literary Award for Non-Fiction|Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction]]
* 1999 [[National Medal of Science]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/UCLA-Physiologist-Dr-Jared-Diamond-1454.aspx?RelNum=1454|publisher=UCLA Newsroom|accessdate=August 10, 2013|date=January 30, 2000|author=Schmidt, Elaine|title=UCLA Physiologist Dr. Jared Diamond Wins National Medal of Science}}</ref>
* 1999 [[National Medal of Science]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/UCLA-Physiologist-Dr-Jared-Diamond-1454.aspx?RelNum=1454|publisher=UCLA Newsroom|access-date=August 10, 2013|date=January 30, 2000|author=Schmidt, Elaine|title=UCLA Physiologist Dr. Jared Diamond Wins National Medal of Science|archive-date=October 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013150559/http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/UCLA-Physiologist-Dr-Jared-Diamond-1454.aspx?RelNum=1454|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2001 [[Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement]]
* 2001 [[Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement]]
* 2002 [[Lewis Thomas Prize|Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science]]
* 2002 [[Lewis Thomas Prize]] for Writing about Science
* 2004 A foreign holder of honorary title of Academician<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.aka.fi/en/about-us/scientists-behind-the-research/academicians-of-science/ulkomaiset-tieteen-akateemikot/ |title=Jared Diamond is awarded by the Academy of Finland |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005160948/http://www.aka.fi/en/about-us/scientists-behind-the-research/academicians-of-science/ulkomaiset-tieteen-akateemikot/ |archivedate=October 5, 2015 |df= }}</ref> in [[Academy of Finland]]
* 2004 A foreign holder of honorary title of Academician<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.aka.fi/en/about-us/scientists-behind-the-research/academicians-of-science/ulkomaiset-tieteen-akateemikot/ |title=Jared Diamond is awarded by the Academy of Finland |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005160948/http://www.aka.fi/en/about-us/scientists-behind-the-research/academicians-of-science/ulkomaiset-tieteen-akateemikot/ |archive-date=October 5, 2015 }}</ref> in [[Academy of Finland]]
* 2005 Elected Honorary Fellow, [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], England<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=204|title=Honorary Fellows|publisher=Trinity College|year=2013|accessdate=September 8, 2013}}</ref>
* 2005 Elected Honorary Fellow, [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], England<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=204|title=Honorary Fellows|publisher=Trinity College|year=2013|access-date=September 8, 2013}}</ref>
* 2006 [[Royal Society Prize for Science Books]] for ''Collapse'' (shortlisted)<ref name=rsocprizes/>
* 2006 [[Royal Society Prize for Science Books]] for ''Collapse'' (shortlisted)<ref name=rsocprizes/>
* 2006 [[Dickson Prize in Science]]
* 2006 [[Dickson Prize in Science]]
* 2008 PhD Honoris Causa at the [[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven]], Belgium
* 2008 PhD Honoris Causa at the [[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven]], Belgium
* 2013 [[Wolf Prize in Agriculture]]<ref>{{cite news|last=Shmulovich|first=Michal|title=Seven scientists and an architect to be awarded Israel’s prestigious Wolf Prize|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/seven-scientists-and-an-architect-to-be-awarded-israels-prestigious-wolf-prize/|accessdate=6 February 2013|newspaper=The Times of Israel|date=2 January 2013}}</ref>
* 2013 [[Wolf Prize in Agriculture]]<ref>{{cite news|last=Shmulovich|first=Michal|title=Seven scientists and an architect to be awarded Israel's prestigious Wolf Prize|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/seven-scientists-and-an-architect-to-be-awarded-israels-prestigious-wolf-prize/|access-date=February 6, 2013|newspaper=The Times of Israel|date=January 2, 2013}}</ref>
* 2016 [[American Humanist Association]] [[Humanist of the Year]]
* 2016 [[American Humanist Association]] [[Humanist of the Year]]
{{div col end}}
{{div col end}}
Eastern long-beaked echidna ''[[Eastern long-beaked echidna|Zaglossus bartoni diamondi]]'' was named in honor of Jared Diamond,<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1515/mamm.1998.62.3.367 |last1=Flannery |first1=T.F. |last2=Groves |first2=C.P. |name-list-style=amp |title=A revision of the genus ''Zaglossus'' (Monotremata, Tachyglossidae), with description of new species and subspecies |year=1998 |journal=Mammalia |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=367–396 |s2cid=84750399 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/270023}}</ref> as was the frog ''[[Austrochaperina adamantina]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zweifel |first1=R. G. |year=2000 |title=Partition of the Australopapuan microhylid frog genus ''Sphenophryne'' with descriptions of new species |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=253 |pages=1–130 |hdl=2246/1600 |doi=10.1206/0003-0090(2000)253<0001:POTAMF>2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=85621508 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/324513 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>


==Selected bibliography==
==Selected bibliography==
{{main|Jared Diamond bibliography}}
{{main|Jared Diamond bibliography}}
* 1992: ''[[The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal]]'' ({{ISBN|0-06-098403-1}}-).
* 1992: ''[[The Third Chimpanzee]]: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal'' ({{ISBN|0-06-098403-1}}-)
* 1993: "Ten Thousand Years of Solitude" Discover Magazine; March 1993
* 1997: ''[[Why Is Sex Fun?]]'' ({{ISBN|0-465-03127-7}}-).
* 1997: ''[[Guns, Germs, and Steel|Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies]]'' ({{ISBN|978-0-099-30278-0}}). Also published with the title ''Guns, germs and steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years'' ({{ISBN|978-0099302780}}).
* 1997: ''[[Why Is Sex Fun?]]'' ({{ISBN|0-465-03127-7}})
* 1997: ''[[Guns, Germs, and Steel]]: The Fates of Human Societies'' ({{ISBN|978-0-099-30278-0}}). Also published with the title ''Guns, germs and steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years'' ({{ISBN|978-0099302780}})
* 2005: ''[[Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed]]'' ({{ISBN|978-0241958681}}).
* 2005: ''[[Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed]]'' ({{ISBN|978-0241958681}})
* 2010: ''Natural Experiments of History'', with [[James A. Robinson (Harvard University)|James A. Robinson]] ({{ISBN|0-674-03557-7}}).
* 2010: ''Natural Experiments of History'', with [[James A. Robinson (Harvard University)|James A. Robinson]] ({{ISBN|0-674-03557-7}})
* 2012: ''[[The World Until Yesterday|The World until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?]]'' ({{ISBN|978-0141024486}}).
* 2012: ''[[The World Until Yesterday]]: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?'' ({{ISBN|978-0141024486}})
* 2015: ''The Third Chimpanzee for Young People: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal'' ({{ISBN|9781609806118}}).
* 2015: ''The Third Chimpanzee for Young People: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal'' ({{ISBN|9781609806118}})
* 2019: ''[[Upheaval: How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change]]'' ({{ISBN|978-0316409131}})


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Assembly rules]]
* [[Assembly rules]]
* [[Comparative history]]
* [[Environmental determinism]]
* [[Environmental determinism]]
* [[List of important publications in anthropology]]
* [[List of important publications in anthropology]]


==References==
== References ==
{{Reflist|3}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Sister project auto}}
{{Commons category|Jared Diamond}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|about=no}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|about=no}}


* [http://jareddiamond.org Personal website]
* [http://jareddiamond.org Official website] (JaredDiamond.org)
* [http://www.geog.ucla.edu/people/jared-diamond Diamond's page at the UCLA Department of Geography]
* [http://www.geog.ucla.edu/people/jared-diamond Diamond] at UCLA Geography
* [https://www.ted.com/speakers/jared_diamond Diamond] at [[TED (conference)|TED]]
* [http://spotlight.ucla.edu/faculty/jared-diamond/ UCLA Spotlight – Jared Diamond]
* [http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/diamond.html Jared Diamond] with bio, conversations, podcasts at ''[[The Third Culture]]'', ([[Edge Foundation]])
* [https://www.c-span.org/person/?60047/JaredMDiamond Diamond] at [[C-SPAN]]
* {{IMDb name|1991200|name=Diamond}}
* {{TED speaker}}
*[https://www.edge.org/memberbio/jared_diamond Diamond] at [[Edge.org]]
** [http://www.ted.com/talks/jared_diamond_on_why_societies_collapse Jared Diamond: Why do societies collapse? (TED2003)]
** [https://www.edge.org/conversation/jared_diamond-why-do-some-societies-make-disastrous-decisions Why Do Some Societies Make Disastrous Decisions?]
** [http://www.ted.com/talks/jared_diamond_how_societies_can_grow_old_better Jared Diamond: How societies can grow old better (TED2013)]
*[http://spotlight.ucla.edu/faculty/jared-diamond/ Diamond] at UCLA Spotlight; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023204812/http://spotlight.ucla.edu/faculty/jared-diamond/|date=October 23, 2007}}
* [http://vimeo.com/2761241 Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed] at [[The Earth Institute]] at [[Columbia University]], April 2007
*[https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel Guns, Germs, and Steel] via [[PBS]]
* {{YouTube|oOsOb0QRaQs|The Evolution of Religions}} at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, [[University of Southern California]]
* [http://vimeo.com/2761241 Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed] via [[YouTube]]; from [[The Earth Institute]], April 2007
* [http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel PBS – Guns, Germs and Steel] at [[PBS]] (with full transcripts)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOsOb0QRaQs The Evolution of Religions] via [[YouTube]]; from Dornsife College, [[University of Southern California]], October 2009; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502230026/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOsOb0QRaQs|date=May 2, 2020}}
* [http://richannel.org/what-can-we-learn-from-traditional-societies What can we learn from traditional societies?] at [[Royal Institution]], October 2013
* [http://newbooksinhistory.com/2010/01/20/jared-diamond-and-james-a-robinson-natural-experiments-of-history/ Natural Experiments of History] at [[New Books in History]], January 2010; [https://archive.today/20130104023844/http://newbooksinhistory.com/?p=1858 Archived] January 4, 2013, at [[archive.today]]
*[http://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2010/03/jared-diamond-john-long/ Hammer Conversation with Jared Diamond and John Long], [[Hammer Museum]], March 16, 2010
* [http://louisproyect.org/category/jared-diamond/ Interview with Charlie Rose]
* [http://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2010/03/jared-diamond-john-long/ Jared Diamond & John Long] at [[Hammer Museum]], March 2010
* [http://richannel.org/what-can-we-learn-from-traditional-societies What can we learn from traditional societies?] from the [[Royal Institution]], October 2013; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022080152/http://richannel.org/what-can-we-learn-from-traditional-societies |date=October 22, 2016 }}
* [http://newbooksinhistory.com/?p=1858 Interview with Jared Diamond and James A. Robinson about ''Natural Experiments of History''] at ''[[New Books in History]]''
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBAt2Oh3nng Conversation With Jared Diamond: To Solve a Crisis, We Have to Acknowledge It First] via [[YouTube]]; from the [[Berggruen Institute]], July 2020
* {{IMDb name|1991200}}


{{Jared Diamond}}
{{Jared Diamond}}
{{Evolutionary psychologists}}
{{Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction}}
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|biological}}
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|biological}}
{{PulitzerPrize GeneralNon-Fiction 1976–2000}}
{{Wolf Prize in Agriculture |state=collapsed}}
{{Wolf Prize in Agriculture |state=collapsed}}
{{Evolutionary psychology}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Environment|Science}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Environment|Science}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond, Jared}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond, Jared}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American biologists]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:21st-century American biologists]]
[[Category:American biologists]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:American biophysicists]]
[[Category:American geographers]]
[[Category:American geographers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American people of Moldovan-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American physiologists]]
[[Category:American science writers]]
[[Category:American science writers]]
[[Category:Writers from California]]
[[Category:American skeptics]]
[[Category:Jewish atheists]]
[[Category:American evolutionary biologists]]
[[Category:Jewish American writers]]
[[Category:Harvard College alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Fellows]]
[[Category:Human evolution theorists]]
[[Category:Jewish American scientists]]
[[Category:Jewish American scientists]]
[[Category:Jewish American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Jewish American social scientists]]
[[Category:Jewish American social scientists]]
[[Category:Theorists on Western civilization]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]]
[[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]]
[[Category:Non-fiction environmental writers]]
[[Category:American non-fiction environmental writers]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction winners]]
[[Category:Roxbury Latin School alumni]]
[[Category:Theorists on Western civilization]]
[[Category:University of California, Los Angeles faculty]]
[[Category:Wolf Prize in Agriculture laureates]]
[[Category:Writers from Boston]]
[[Category:Writers from Boston]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction winners]]
[[Category:Writers from California]]
[[Category:Wolf Prize in Agriculture laureates]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:University of California, Los Angeles faculty]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Evolutionary biologists]]
[[Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine]]
[[Category:Human evolution theorists]]
[[Category:Discover (magazine) people]]
[[Category:American skeptics]]
[[Category:20th-century American writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American writers]]
[[Category:Guggenheim Fellows]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:American people of Moldovan-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Roxbury Latin School alumni]]

Latest revision as of 22:21, 15 November 2024

Jared Diamond
Diamond in 2013
Born
Jared Mason Diamond

(1937-09-10) September 10, 1937 (age 87)
Education
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysiology, biophysics, ornithology, environmental science, history, ecology, geography, evolutionary biology, and anthropology
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Los Angeles
ThesisConcentrating activity of the gall-bladder (1961)

Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937)[1] is an American scientist, historian, and author. In 1985 he received a MacArthur Genius Grant, and he has written hundreds of scientific and popular articles and books. His best known is Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997), which received multiple awards including the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. In 2005, Diamond was ranked ninth on a poll by Prospect and Foreign Policy of the world's top 100 public intellectuals.[2]

Originally trained in biochemistry and physiology,[3] Diamond has published in many fields, including anthropology, ecology, geography, and evolutionary biology.[4][5] In 1999, he received the National Medal of Science, an honor bestowed by the President of the United States and the National Science Foundation. As of 2024, he is a professor of geography at UCLA.[6]

Early life and education

[edit]

Diamond was born on September 10, 1937 in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were both Eastern European Jewish immigrants. His father, Louis Diamond, was a physician who emigrated from Chișinău in present-day Moldova, then known as Bessarabia. His mother, Flora née Kaplan, was a teacher, linguist, and concert pianist.[7][8] Diamond began studying piano at age six; years later, he would propose to his wife after playing Brahms' Intermezzo in A major for her.[9]

By the age of seven he developed an interest in birdwatching.[3] This became one of his major life passions and resulted in a number of works published in ornithology.[10] He attended the Roxbury Latin School and studied biochemical sciences at Harvard College, graduating in 1958. He later studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduated from Cambridge with a Ph.D. in 1961; his thesis was on the physiology and biophysics of membranes in the gallbladder.[6][11][12]

Career

[edit]

After graduation from Cambridge, Diamond returned to Harvard as a Junior Fellow until 1965, and, in 1968, became a professor of physiology at UCLA Medical School. While in his twenties he developed a second, parallel, career in ornithology and ecology, specialising in New Guinea and nearby islands, which he began visiting from 1964.[3] Later, in his fifties, Diamond developed a third career in environmental history and became a professor of geography at UCLA, his current position.[12] He also teaches at LUISS Guido Carli in Rome.[13] He is a lecturer on the biodiversity management course at the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability (EIIS) in Rome.[14] He won the National Medal of Science in 1999.[15] He has been invited to give two TED talks, "Why do societies collapse" (2008), and "How societies can grow old better (2013).[16]

Diamond originally specialized in salt absorption in the gall bladder.[11][17] He has also published scholarly works in the fields of ecology and ornithology,[18][19] but is arguably best known for authoring a number of popular science and history books combining topics from diverse fields other than those he has formally studied. Because of this academic diversity, Diamond has been described as a polymath.[20][21]

[edit]

Diamond has written scores of academic peer-reviewed articles for publications such as the scientific journal Nature. He has also written scores of popular science articles in publications such as Discover, as well as several bestselling popular books, notably The Third Chimpanzee (1991); Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997, awarded a Pulitzer Prize); Collapse (2005), The World Until Yesterday (2012), and Upheaval (2019). For a full list, see Jared Diamond bibliography § Books.

The Third Chimpanzee (1991)

[edit]

Diamond's first popular book, The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (1991), examines human evolution and its relevance to the modern world, incorporating evidence from anthropology, evolutionary biology, genetics, ecology, and linguistics. The book traces how humans evolved to be so different from other animals, despite sharing over 98% of our DNA with our closest animal relatives, the chimpanzees. The book also examines the animal origins of language, art, agriculture, smoking and drug use, and other apparently uniquely human attributes. It was well received by critics and won the 1992 Rhône-Poulenc Prize for Science Books[22] and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.[23]

Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997)

[edit]
Jared Diamond in San Francisco, 2007

His second and best known popular science book, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, was published in 1997. It asks why Eurasian peoples conquered or displaced Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of vice versa. It argues that this outcome was not due to genetic advantages of Eurasian peoples themselves but instead to features of the Eurasian continent, in particular, its high diversity of wild plant and animal species suitable for domestication and its east/west major axis that favored the spread of those domesticates, people, technologies—and diseases—for long distances with little change in latitude.[citation needed]

The first part of the book focuses on reasons why only a few species of wild plants and animals proved suitable for domestication. The second part discusses how local food production based on those domesticates led to the development of dense and stratified human populations, writing, centralized political organization, and epidemic infectious diseases. The third part compares the development of food production and of human societies among different continents and world regions. Guns, Germs, and Steel became an international best-seller, was translated into 33 languages, and received several awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, an Aventis Prize for Science Books[22] and the 1997 Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science.[24] A television documentary series based on the book was produced by the National Geographic Society in 2005.[25][26]

The book is controversial among anthropologists.[27]

Why is Sex Fun? (1997)

[edit]

In his third book, Why is Sex Fun?, also published in 1997, Diamond discusses evolutionary factors underlying features of human sexuality that are generally taken for granted but that are highly unusual among our animal relatives. Those features include a long-term pair relationship (marriage), coexistence of economically cooperating pairs within a shared communal territory, provision of parental care by fathers as well as by mothers, having sex in private rather than in public, concealed ovulation, female sexual receptivity encompassing most of the menstrual cycle (including days of infertility), female menopause, and distinctive secondary sexual characteristics.[28]

Collapse (2005)

[edit]

Diamond's next book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, published in 2005, examines a range of past societies in an attempt to identify why they either collapsed or continued to thrive and considers what contemporary societies can learn from these historical examples. As in Guns, Germs, and Steel, he argues against explanations for the failure of past societies based primarily on cultural factors, instead focusing on ecology. Among the societies mentioned in the book are the Norse and Inuit of Greenland, the Maya, the Anasazi, the indigenous people of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Japan, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and modern Montana.

The book concludes by asking why some societies make disastrous decisions, how big businesses affect the environment, what our principal environmental problems are today, and what individuals can do about those problems. Like Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse was translated into dozens of languages, became an international best-seller, and was the basis of a television documentary produced by the National Geographic Society.[29] Collapse was also nominated for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books.[22] When it was nominated, Diamond was the only author to have won the award twice previously,[30] though he did not win a third time.

Fifteen archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, and historians from the American Anthropological Association criticized Diamond's methods and conclusions, working together with the larger association to publish the book Questioning Collapse as a counter to Diamond's claims.[31] In response, Diamond, as an editor at the time for the journal Nature, published an official review in the journal negatively covering the book,[32] without mentioning that the book was a critique of his own work. The authors and the publisher, Cambridge University Press, called out Diamond for his conflict of interest on the subject.[33][34]

"Vengeance is Ours" controversy (2008)

[edit]

In 2008, Diamond published an article in The New Yorker entitled "Vengeance Is Ours",[35] describing the role of revenge in tribal warfare in Papua New Guinea. A year later, two indigenous people mentioned in the article filed a lawsuit against Diamond and The New Yorker, claiming the article defamed them.[36][37][38] In 2013, The Observer reported that the lawsuit "was withdrawn by mutual consent after the sudden death of their lawyer."[8]

Natural Experiments of History (2010)

[edit]

In 2010, Diamond co-edited (with James Robinson) Natural Experiments of History, a collection of seven case studies illustrating the multidisciplinary and comparative approach to the study of history that he advocates. The book's title stems from the fact that it is not possible to study history by the preferred methods of the laboratory sciences, i.e., by controlled experiments comparing replicated human societies as if they were test tubes of bacteria. Instead, one must look at natural experiments in which human societies that are similar in many respects have been historically perturbed. The book's afterword classifies natural experiments, discusses the practical difficulties of studying them, and offers suggestions on how to address those difficulties.[39]

The World Until Yesterday (2012)

[edit]

In The World Until Yesterday, published in 2012, Diamond asks what the western world can learn from traditional societies. It surveys 39 traditional small-scale societies of farmers and hunter-gatherers with respect to how they deal with universal human problems. The problems discussed include dividing space, resolving disputes, bringing up children, treatment of elders, dealing with dangers, formulating religions, learning multiple languages, and remaining healthy. The book suggests that some practices of traditional societies could be usefully adopted in the modern industrial world today, either by individuals or else by society as a whole.[citation needed]

Upheaval (2019)

[edit]

In Upheaval: How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change Diamond examines whether nations can find lessons during crises in a way like people do. The nations considered are Finland, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Germany, Australia, and the U.S.[40] Diamond identifies four modern threats: nuclear weapons, climate change, limited resources, and extreme inequality.[41]

Anand Giridharadas, reviewing for The New York Times, claimed the book contained many factual inaccuracies.[42] Daniel Immerwahr, reviewing for The New Republic, reports that Diamond has "jettisoned statistical analysis" and the associated rigour, even by the standards of his earlier books, which have themselves sometimes been challenged on this basis.[43]

Personal life

[edit]

Diamond is married to Marie Cohen, granddaughter of Polish politician Edward Werner. They have twin sons, born in 1987.[6] Although Diamond is a non practicing Jew and has described religion as irrational,[44] he and his wife attend High Holiday services.[45]

Reception

[edit]

While Diamond's writings have received considerable praise,[27] they are controversial among anthropologists, with his argumentation having been described as "shallow", with criticism suggesting that Diamond overemphasises the importance of environmental factors like geography and climate over other influences.[27][46][47]

Selected memberships

[edit]

Selected honors

[edit]

Eastern long-beaked echidna Zaglossus bartoni diamondi was named in honor of Jared Diamond,[60] as was the frog Austrochaperina adamantina.[61]

Selected bibliography

[edit]
  • 1992: The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (ISBN 0-06-098403-1-)
  • 1993: "Ten Thousand Years of Solitude" Discover Magazine; March 1993
  • 1997: Why Is Sex Fun? (ISBN 0-465-03127-7)
  • 1997: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (ISBN 978-0-099-30278-0). Also published with the title Guns, germs and steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years (ISBN 978-0099302780)
  • 2005: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (ISBN 978-0241958681)
  • 2010: Natural Experiments of History, with James A. Robinson (ISBN 0-674-03557-7)
  • 2012: The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? (ISBN 978-0141024486)
  • 2015: The Third Chimpanzee for Young People: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (ISBN 9781609806118)
  • 2019: Upheaval: How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change (ISBN 978-0316409131)

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Man Who Knows Too Much".
  2. ^ "Prospect/FP Top 100 Public Intellectuals Results". Foreign Policy. October 15, 2005. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Diamond, Jared (2005). Collapse. Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-14-303655-5.
  4. ^ Rothenberg, Randall (July 1, 2001). "Jared Diamond: The Thought Leader Interview". strategy+business. Booz & Company. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  5. ^ Anthony, Andrew (April 21, 2019). "Jared Diamond: So how do states recover from crises? Same way as people do". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Al-Khalili, Jim (December 4, 2012). "Jared Diamond". The Life Scientific; "Jared Diamond". Discovery. January 12, 2013.
  7. ^ "Jared Diamond: 'Humans, 150,000 years ago, wouldn't figure on a list of the five most interesting species on Earth' | Jared Diamond | the Guardian". October 24, 2014.
  8. ^ a b McKie, Robin (January 5, 2013). "Jared Diamond: what we can learn from tribal life". The Observer. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  9. ^ Berkeley, Michael (March 3, 2013). "Jared Diamond". Private Passions.
  10. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Diamond, Jared (2001). The Birds of Northern Melanesia. Color Plates by H. Douglas Pratt. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514170-2.
  11. ^ a b Diamond, Jared Mason (1961). Concentrating activity of the gall-bladder (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge.
  12. ^ a b c "The Prizewinner 1998". International Cosmos Prize. Expo '90 Foundation. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  13. ^ "Geografia Politica". LUISS Guido Carli. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  14. ^ "Manager della Biodiversità". eiis.eu. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  15. ^ "The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details". National Science Foundation. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  16. ^ "Jared Diamond, Civilization Scholar". TED. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  17. ^ "Understanding History With 'Guns, Germs, And Steel'". NPR. September 8, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  18. ^ Symes, C. T.; Hughes, J. C.; Mack, A. L.; Marsden, S. J. (January 2006). "Geophagy in birds of Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Papua New Guinea". Journal of Zoology. 268 (1): 87–96. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2005.00002.x. ISSN 0952-8369.
  19. ^ Diamond, Jared; Bishop, K. David; Gilardi, James D. (June 2008). "Geophagy in New Guinea birds". Ibis. 141 (2): 181–193. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1999.tb07540.x.
  20. ^ "Human Stars". The Animal Attraction. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on May 7, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  21. ^ "Rapa Nui déjà vu". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  22. ^ a b c d e f "Prize for Science Books previous winners and shortlists". Royal Society. Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  23. ^ "Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winners: Science & Technology". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 4, 2002. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
  24. ^ "1997 Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Award". The Phi Beta Kappa Society. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  25. ^ Lovgren, Stefan (July 6, 2005). "'Guns, Germs and Steel': Jared Diamond on Geography as Power". Science. National Geographic. Archived from the original on March 4, 2007. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  26. ^ "Guns Germs & Steel: The Show. Overview". PBS. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  27. ^ a b c Jaschik, Scott (August 2, 2005). "'Guns, Germs, and Steel' Reconsidered". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  28. ^ Diamond, Jared (1997). Why Is Sex Fun?. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-03127-6.
  29. ^ "Perspectives on Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed". Current Anthropology. 46 (S5): S91–S99. 2005. doi:10.1086/497663. ISSN 0011-3204. JSTOR 10.1086/497663.
  30. ^ Pauli, Michelle (April 13, 2006). "Diamond in the running for Aventis hat-trick". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  31. ^ Flexner, James L. (December 2011). "Asia General, Book Reviews: QUESTIONING COLLAPSE: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath of Empire". Pacific Affairs. 84 (4): 740. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  32. ^ Diamond, Jared (February 2010). "Two views of collapse". Nature. 463 (7283): 880–881. Bibcode:2010Natur.463..880D. doi:10.1038/463880a. S2CID 41340630.
  33. ^ "Puttin' the Objective in Objectivity". Fifteen Eighty Four. Cambridge University Press. March 8, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  34. ^ Smith, Sydney (March 23, 2010). "Cambridge U Press backs authors against Jared Diamond's Nature review". iMediaEthics. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  35. ^ Diamond, Jared (April 14, 2008). "Vengeance Is Ours". The New Yorker.
  36. ^ Balter, Michael (May 2009). "'Vengeance' Bites Back at Jared Diamond". Science. 324 (5929): 872–874. doi:10.1126/science.324_872. JSTOR 20493922. PMID 19443760.
  37. ^ Maull, Samuel (April 22, 2009). "Author Jared Diamond sued for libel". The Huffington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  38. ^ Smillie, Dirk (October 19, 2009). "Fresh Legal Jab At 'The New Yorker'". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  39. ^ Diamond, Jared; Robinson, James A., eds. (2010). Natural Experiments of History. Belknap Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctvjghwf6. ISBN 978-0-674-06019-7. JSTOR j.ctvjghwf6.
  40. ^ Hughes, Ian (May 11, 2019). "Upheaval review: How countries seldom learn from their past". The Irish Times. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  41. ^ Martindale, David (May 9, 2019). "Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond to discuss new book, 'Upheaval,' in Dallas". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  42. ^ Giridharadas, Anand (May 17, 2019). "What to Do When You're a Country in Crisis". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  43. ^ Immerwahr, Daniel (June 11, 2019). "All Over the Map". The New Republic. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  44. ^ "Jared Diamond: It's irrational to be religious". January 13, 2013.
  45. ^ https://www.timesofisrael.com/ancient-culture-clash-brings-diamond-into-the-rough/amp/ [bare URL]
  46. ^ Davis, Wade (January 9, 2013). "The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  47. ^ King, Barbara J. (January 17, 2013). "Why Does Jared Diamond Make Anthropologists So Mad?". NPR.
  48. ^ "Editorial Board". Skeptic. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  49. ^ "Jared Mason Diamond". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  50. ^ "Jared M. Diamond". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  51. ^ "Jared Mason Diamond". American Philosophical Society (Search results). Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  52. ^ "Leadership". World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  53. ^ "Tanner lecturer will present on Tuesday". SUU News. Southern Utah University. March 4, 2012. Archived from the original on September 8, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  54. ^ "Jared Diamond, Geographer, Explorer-in-Residence". National Geographic. Archived from the original on December 24, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  55. ^ "The 1998 Pulitzer Prize Winners: General Nonfiction". pulitzerprize.org. 1998. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  56. ^ Schmidt, Elaine (January 30, 2000). "UCLA Physiologist Dr. Jared Diamond Wins National Medal of Science". UCLA Newsroom. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  57. ^ Jared Diamond is awarded by the Academy of Finland, archived from the original on October 5, 2015
  58. ^ "Honorary Fellows". Trinity College. 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  59. ^ Shmulovich, Michal (January 2, 2013). "Seven scientists and an architect to be awarded Israel's prestigious Wolf Prize". The Times of Israel. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  60. ^ Flannery, T.F. & Groves, C.P. (1998). "A revision of the genus Zaglossus (Monotremata, Tachyglossidae), with description of new species and subspecies". Mammalia. 62 (3): 367–396. doi:10.1515/mamm.1998.62.3.367. S2CID 84750399.
  61. ^ Zweifel, R. G. (2000). "Partition of the Australopapuan microhylid frog genus Sphenophryne with descriptions of new species". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 253: 1–130. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2000)253<0001:POTAMF>2.0.CO;2. hdl:2246/1600. S2CID 85621508.
[edit]