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Monday, July 11, 2005
GG&S Episode One Review
I'll give a complete series review in about three weeks when it's over, but if the first episode of Guns, Germs and Steel is any indication, this PBS special is going to rank up there with Nature's Africa mini-series (the best history/nature documentary ever).
Entitled "Out of Eden," the first installment was about farming, plant and animal domestication, and the establishment of the first settled communities in Mesopotamia, Asia, and Northern Africa. It was beautifully filmed with some great archival footage of New Guineans muscling out a living. I was thankful that the reenactment sequences weren't terribly annoying and overdramatic as I'm afraid they're going to be in the next episode which features Pizzaro's conquest of the Inca.
The visual representations of the topics discussed in Guns, Germs and Steel the book have clarified many aspects of Jared Diamond's theory of geographical and ecological determinism. It was helpful to see a couple of the relevant archaeological sites that support his theory as well as the actual people that provided Diamond's inspiration to answer "Yali's question."
Update: PZ has his review at Pharyngula, along with some good discussion in the comments section.
Posted by Will at July 11, 2005 11:28 PM in In the News