GGS - Chapters 3, 4 & 5

Chapter 3 was a retelling of Spanish conquistador Pizarro over Inca emperor Atahuallpa. It is made clear that a band of around 200 Spanish soldiers was able to defeat an army of 80,000 through guns, steel weapons and armor, and horses. Diseases from neighboring invasions had also weakened the political landscape of South American before the conflict. European traditions of maritime technology and literacy allowed Pizarro to arrive in South America with a vast amount of information of previous conflicts to allow for an informed encounter. Finally, the political organization of Europe allowed for methodical operations to eventually conquer South America.

The question that Diamond with try to answer through the remainder of the book is, what allowed Europe to procure these resources and technologies much faster than the Inca?

I'm looking forward to his explanation for two reasons: Atahuallpa had a very large army, so they obviously had strong food production. So why weren't there nonproduction professions to allow for the development of new technology? Is it simply that South American land didn't have the minerals necessary? Second, why did European diseases win-out over South American ones? Ostensibly, the Inca Empire was densely populated enough to have its own diseases and resistances.

Chapter 4 starts Part 2 of the book, explaining the importance and development of food production. Specifically, this short chapter discuss how food production can lead to the proximate causes of a societies triumph over another (those causes being horses, guns, steel, ships, political organization, writing and diseases). It his thesis that the ultimate cause, geography on the east/west axis, leads to these proximate causes.

The transition from a hunter-gatherer society to a food production one with domesticated plants/animals allows for increased food per acre (compared to nomadic foraging) and increased population. Animal domestication allows for meats, milks, furs and heavy manual labor(and horses which are of military importance). The sedentary lifestyle also allows for more children per woman and storage of food. Food surplus in turn allow for nonproduction specialists which give rise to technology, artisans and an army.

A new political structure is possible with food production. Hunter-gatherers live an egalitarian lifestyle because everyone is required to work towards supporting the group. With more food, political classes can emerge, leading to social stratification and taxation.

With the benefits of food production explained, he'll continue to described where and how it happened the best.

Chapter 5 begins with a brief discussion of radiocarbon dating and how researchers determine the original location of plant/animal domestication. It is established that the earliest center of independent development of food production was the Fertile Crest of Southwest Asia/Near East (with China soon after). The latest independent development was in America.

From the Fertile Crest, food production spread to neighboring areas of western/central Europe, India and Ethiopia. Its likely that founder plants from the Fertile Crest transitioned the other populations to a sedentary lifestyle, giving them the opportunity to domesticate local wildlife.

Another way to spread food production was the replacement of hunter-gatherers with farmers from another area. This is the case with European settlers of North American, Siberia and Australia.