Jared Diamond

Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American author, evolutionary biologist, physiologist, and biogeographer. He is best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997), which explores the geographic, cultural, environmental, and technological factors which have led to domination of Western culture in the world and argues for a new kind of history based on science that can make predictions rather than merely describing "one fact after another."

Related Topics:
September 10 - 1937 - American - Evolutionary biologist - Biogeographer - Pulitzer Prize - Guns, Germs, and Steel

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diamond was born in Boston to a physician father and a teacher/musician/linguist mother. After attending The Roxbury Latin School, he earned a BA degree from Harvard in 1958 and his PhD in physiology and membrane biophysics from Cambridge University in 1961. During 1962-1966, he returned to Harvard as a junior Fellow. He became professor of physiology at UCLA Medical School in 1966. While in his twenties, he also developed a second parallel career in the ecology and evolution of New Guinea birds, and he has led numerous trips to explore New Guinea and nearby islands. In his fifties, Diamond gradually developed a third career in environmental history, becoming professor of geography and of environmental health sciences at UCLA, his current position.

Related Topics:
Boston - Roxbury Latin School - Harvard - Physiology - Membrane biophysics - Cambridge University - UCLA Medical School - New Guinea

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diamond is renowned as the author of a number of popular science works that combine anthropology, biology, linguistics, genetics, and history. While Diamond is a staunch opponent of genetic arguments to account for the different levels of technological sophistication among the races, his early work included a paper entitled "Ethnic differences: Variation in human testis size", in which he investigated correlations between possible racial variations in testicular size and hormone levels and argued that testicular size and hormone levels were highest among African populations and lowest in East Asian, with Caucasian populations falling between the two.

Related Topics:
Popular science - Anthropology - Biology - Linguistics - Genetics - History - Testicular - Hormone

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In his most recent book, ' (2004), Diamond examines what caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin and considers what contemporary society can learn from their fates.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diamond speaks a dozen languages, and his books rely on fields as diverse as molecular biology and archaeology, as well as obscure knowledge about everything from typewriter design to feudal Japan. Because of his broad expertise and the large number of articles credited to him, it has been suggested jokingly by Mark Ridley that "Jared Diamond" is not a single person, but instead "is really a committee".

Related Topics:
Molecular biology - Archaeology - Typewriter - Feudal Japan - Mark Ridley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diamond is on the editorial board of Skeptic Magazine, a publication of The Skeptics Society.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diamond is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Related Topics:
American Philosophical Society - American Academy of Arts and Sciences - National Academy of Sciences

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~