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Guns, Germs, and Steel one: Style

Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2003 9:56 pm
by Jeremy1952
I'm about halfway through Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel. Not the easiest read, but fascinating. I have three barely related comments so I'm going to give each its own thread and see if anyone bites.The style and approach of GGS remind me of another author/book, and I realized today who/what it is. I find Diamond's book strongly reminiscent of Darwin, On The Origin of Species. Not bad company... Like Darwin, Diamond has accumulated many, many facts to make a specific case. The core concept of each book, without the evidence, could probably be summarized in a paragraph or two. Each author feels the ideas are important enough to touch on as many different ramifications as possible. Edited by: Jeremy1952 at: 2/8/03 9:00:41 pm

Re: Guns, Germs, and Steel one: Style

Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2003 7:49 pm
by Chris OConnor
Jeremy:I moved this thread to this forum since it pertains to Guns, Germs and Steel. These book forums never die so feel free to continue the discussions even when we have moved to another book.Chris Edited by: Chris OConnorĀ  at: 10/30/05 3:40 pm

Re: Guns, Germs, and Steel one: Style

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2003 9:56 am
by pigliucci
Jeremy,yes, I agree. Darwin called his effort "one long argument" and it is an example of what in philosophy of science people refer to as "consilience" or "triangulation in logical space." The idea is that each individual piece of evidence is not overwhelming per se, but the cumulation of it makes for a strong case. It is typical of the biological and social sciences' modus operandi.Now, there are people like Stephen Gould who took the "one long argument" way too literally, and came up with the awful The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, an unreadable and unbearable book that I most certainly do not suggest this group adopts for reading!Cheers,Massimo

Re: Guns, Germs, and Steel one: Style

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2003 7:55 pm
by Chris OConnor
MassimoI recently was looking at Goulds book at Barnes & Nobles and was thinking what a nightmare it must be to read. It might work better for jacking my car up to change a tire.Chris Edited by: Chris OConnorĀ  at: 10/30/05 3:41 pm