Guns, Germs and Steel (TV Series 2005): A PBS documentary concerning Jared Diamond's theory on why there is such disparity between those who have advanced technology and those who still live primitively. (7.4)
Stars: Jared Diamond
This is a three-part NatGeo/PBS documentary based on Jared Diamond's book by the same name. The details about the book and Diamond's theory are outlined in this Wikipedia article. Note that he is a professor of geography (at UCLA). He argues that the reason for the Europeans to have more "cargo" (stuff) is the simple matter of geography ... they were in the right place at the right time with the right raw material (crops, animals and steel). The documentary should really be called a docu-drama as some scenes are reenactments of what "may have" happened in key historical events. My argument is that Diamond glosses over the effects of economic, cultural and religious reasons for Europeans concurring the rest of the world. IMHO, he gives too much emphasis to the happenstance and geography of early societies. (But, a debate of the content is suitable for a different blog.) The documentary is good, but it probably could have been condensed into a single episode. As is always the case, I bet the book is better. My Rating: 7.0
