Editing Jared Diamond

{{Short description|American scientist, historian, and author (born 1937)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Jared Diamond
| image             = Jared Diamond author academic.jpg
| caption           = Diamond in 2016
| birth_name        = Jared Mason Diamond
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1937|9|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| citizenship       = 
| nationality       = 
| fields            = [[Physiology]], [[biophysics]], [[ornithology]], [[environmental science]], [[history]], [[ecology]], [[geography]], [[evolutionary biology]], and [[anthropology]]
| workplaces        = [[University of California, Los Angeles]]
| education         = {{ubl|[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Trinity College, Cambridge]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}}
| thesis_title      = Concentrating activity of the gall-bladder
| thesis_url        = https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/permalink/f/16u99e0/44CAM_ALMA21429605800003606
| thesis_year       = 1961
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = 
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| awards            = {{ubl
|[[MacArthur Fellowship]] (1985)
|[[Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science]] (1997)
|[[1998 Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer Prize]] (1998)
|[[International Cosmos Prize]] (1998)
|[[National Medal of Science]] (1999)
|[[Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement]] (2001)
|[[Royal Society Prizes for Science Books|Royal Society Prize for Science Books]] (1992, 1998, 2006)
|[[Wolf Prize in Agriculture]] (2013)
}}
| signature         = 
| 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]]. He was a professor of geography at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] until his retirement in 2024.<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>

==Early life and education ==
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://www.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 | work=The Guardian | date=October 24, 2014 | last1=Burkeman | first1=Oliver }}</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 />

==Career==
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>

Diamond originally specialized in salt absorption in the [[gall bladder|gallbladder]].<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|url-access=subscription }}</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|url-access=subscription }}</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>
{{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>

==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>

==Personal life==
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>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/ancient-culture-clash-brings-diamond-into-the-rough/|title=Diamond polishes position on ancient-modern culture war|first=JP O’|last=Malley|website=www.timesofisrael.com}}</ref>

== 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>

==Selected memberships==
* 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 [[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>
* 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>

==Selected honors==
{{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>
* 1992 [[Rhône-Poulenc Prize for Science Books]] for ''The Third Chimpanzee''<ref name=rsocprizes/>
* 1997 [[Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science|Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Prize]] for ''Guns, Germs and Steel''
* [[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 [[Aventis Prize for Science Books]] for ''Guns, Germs and Steel''<ref name=rsocprizes/>
* 1998 [[International Cosmos Prize]]<ref name="ecosmos"/>
* 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|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]]
* 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 |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|access-date=September 8, 2013|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200416/http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=204|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2006 [[Royal Society Prize for Science Books]] for ''Collapse'' (shortlisted)<ref name=rsocprizes/>
* 2006 [[Dickson Prize in Science]]
* 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/|access-date=February 6, 2013|newspaper=The Times of Israel|date=January 2, 2013}}</ref> 
* 2016 [[American Humanist Association]] [[Humanist of the Year]]
{{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==
{{main|Jared Diamond bibliography}}
* 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 (Harvard University)|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==
* [[Assembly rules]]
* [[Comparative history]]
* [[Environmental determinism]]
* [[List of important publications in anthropology]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{subject bar|auto=y|d=y|Biography|Environment|Science}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|about=no}}

* [http://jareddiamond.org Official website] (JaredDiamond.org)
* [http://www.geog.ucla.edu/people/jared-diamond Diamond] at UCLA Geography
* [https://www.ted.com/speakers/jared_diamond Diamond] at [[TED (conference)|TED]]
* [https://www.c-span.org/person/?60047/JaredMDiamond Diamond] at [[C-SPAN]]
* {{IMDb name|1991200|name=Diamond}}
*[https://www.edge.org/memberbio/jared_diamond Diamond] at [[Edge.org]]
** [https://www.edge.org/conversation/jared_diamond-why-do-some-societies-make-disastrous-decisions Why Do Some Societies Make Disastrous Decisions?]
*[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}}
*[https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel Guns, Germs, and Steel] via [[PBS]]
* [http://vimeo.com/2761241 Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed] via [[YouTube]]; from [[The Earth Institute]], April 2007
* [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://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/ 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 }}
* [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

{{Jared Diamond}}
{{Evolutionary psychologists}}
{{Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction}}
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|biological}}
{{Wolf Prize in Agriculture |state=collapsed}}

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