Editing Jared Diamond (section)

==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}}''.

=== ''The Third Chimpanzee'' (1991) ===
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'' (1997) ===
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) ===

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>

=== ''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 |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|url-access=subscription }}</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.

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>

[[File:Jared diamond.jpg|thumb|right|Jared Diamond in 2007]]

=== "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. -->
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>

=== ''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}}

[[File:JaredDiamond.jpg|thumb|right|Diamond in 2013]]

=== ''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>