Chapter 10: Spacious Skies and Tilted Axes
RJ Stangherlin | English 5: Guns, Germs, and Steel | Salisbury High School

Spacious Skies and Tilted Axes

      /                                      /
Eurasia                              American
                    or...

Latitude        and               Longitude

Subtitle: Why did food production spread at different rates on different continents?

East-West axis=> climate => growing conditions, ease of spread of founder package
                                                                                                             //
                                                                                                       germination
                                                                                                       growth
                                                                                                       disease resistance

Lack of:
*latitude => E-W axis spread
*topographical barriers
*ecological barriers
      //
*climate and disease stopped the founder package

Axis orientation affected:

    food production==>technologies==>invention

Anna Karenina Principle: only one thing is needed to disrupt the flow of founder package

Things necessary to acquire guns, germs, steel:
  • calories = creation
  • farmer-herder lifestyle
  • food production           \  both require all components for domestication
  • animal domestication   /
  • disease resistance: humans to animal domestication
  • stratified society
  • government
  • artisans ==> technology
  • inventions
  • surpluses
  • codification
  • laws
  • writing....
Bottom Line: location, climate, topography, ecological conditions, E-W axis needed to move toward a stratified society; lack of any one condition negates development.
View Note | Edit Note | Download | Send | Delete Note