Perspective

Jared Diamond, the author, is a professor of physiology at the UCLA Medical School. He has authored several books that have similar themes, and is widely regarded as fair and thorough in his treatment of difficult social subjects. The author has conducted field science in New Guinea and has first-hand experience with many of the topics considered in the text. The author's dedicatory paragraph indicates that the book was written for his two sons "to help them understand where we came from and where we may be heading" (p. v); clearly, with the publication of the text the author contemplates sharing his theories with a far larger audience.

The writing style, generally simple and largely free of technical jargon, indicates the author does not intend the text to be limited to experts and instead has targeted a general audience with, perhaps, a college-level ability to read and conceptualize...