Chapter 1 Up to the starting line
The spread of humans around the world:
1) Separate from chimpanzee— 7 million years ago
2) Bipedal—4 million years ago
3) Our prohuman cousins—Australopithecus afarensis (3 million years), Homo habilis (2.8 million years), Australopithecus africanus (2.5 million years), Australopithecus Sediba (2 million years), Homo naledi (2 million years), Homo erectus (1.9 million years), Homo neanderthalensis (250,000 years), Homo floresiensis (18,000 years)
4) 1st wave of Out of Africa—Homo erectus around 1 million years ago to Java, Indonesia
5) Colonization of Europe—0.5 million years ago
6) 2nd wave of Out of Africa—Homo sapients around 50,000 years ago: appearance of Cro-Magnons and extinct of Neanderthals in Europe, arriving at Australia/new Guinea ~40,000 years ago, arriving at Serbia ~20,000 years ago, colonizing America ~13,000 years ago
Chapter 2 A natural experiment of history
December 1835, Chatham island, hunter-gather Moriori people were extinguished by agricultural Mori people
The contribution of environmental factors: climate, geological type, marine resources, area, terrain fragmentation, and isolation.
Environmental difference—> subsistence—> population and social complexity
Why strong nation always invade weak nation even for poor resources?
Chapter 3 Collision at Cajamarca
November 16, 1532 at Cajamarca, Peru
Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro vs Inca Emperor Atahuallpa
168 vs 80,000 soldiers
guns, amours, horses, germs, writing, organizations
Chapter 4 Farmer power
domestic plants, animals—> more foods, more people, more germs and diseases—> more complex society—> more specialists (king, priest, soldier, artisan, bureaucrats)—> more technology and explorations
Chapter 5 History's haves and have-nots
When and where the first plants and animals were domesticated?
Independent domestication centers: South west Asia (wheat, pea, olive, sheep, goat), China (rice, millet, pig, silkworm), Mesoamerica (corn, beans, squash, turkey), Andes and Amazonia (potato, manioc, llama, guinea pig), Eastern US (sunflower, goosefoot)
Chapter 6 To farm or not to farm
competition of farming, hunter-gather, and herder, farming became dominant because:
1) decline of wild food availability
2) increase production of domesticable wild plant
3) innovative technologies for collecting, processing, and storing foods
4) rising food production and increasing population density
5) famers displace hunter-gathers
Chapter 7 Ho to make an almond
artificial domestication vs natural selection
Chapter 8 Apples or Indians
Why agriculture never arise independently in some fertile areas (California, Australia)? local people and available wild plants.
Why all major domesticated plants derived from thousands years ago? Our ancestors have tried all? The domesticated ones are enough for food supply?
Advantage of Fertile Crescent— climate (mild wet winter, long dry summer), available easily domesticated plants, high percentage of hermaphroditic selfers.
Advantage of Fertile Crescent over other mediterranean zones– high diversity of wild plants; greatest variation of climate with high percentage of annual plants; wild range of altitudes and topographies within a shot distance; variable domesticated mammals: goat, sheep, pig,cow; less competition from hunter-gatherers.
Size of the seeds/Abundance/Production/
Chapter 9 Zebras, Unhappy marriages and the Anna Karenina principle
Why major livestocks were domesticated in Eurasia but not America, Australia, or Africa?
1) large area and ecological diversity with more candidates
2) lost candidates due to human invasion with advanced techniques
3) Suitability: dirt, growth rate, mating habits, disposition, tendency to panic, social organizations.
Chapter 10 Spacious skills and tilted axies
Why domesticated crops and livestocks spread faster in Eurasia than that in Africa and America?
Climate are similar in 30-40 degree latitude for survival and breeding.
Chapter 11 Lethal gift of livestock
Why Indians were eliminated 95% by germs?
increased population density (farm, city)—> increased domesticated animals—> increased epidemics
Chapter 12 Blueprints and borrowed letters
Sumerian, Egyptian,Chinese, and Mexico developed their own writings, all other writings derived from them.
Why? Food production and connections
Chapter 13 Necessity's mother
I read this book for the 2nd time, truly finished the whole book this time. It is an enjoyable reading. After reading many different books on human evolution and anthropology, I think this is the one I like the most so far, with clear and well organized ideas and arguments, also cautious conclusions.
I am most interested in the question "Why Europe, not China?" about the modern science origin. I quite agree that unity may inhibit the competition, which is the basic for science and technology. That is true of China for the past 2000 years. Yet, it's complicated. There are many other factors, say a few, the dominant golden mean doctrine of Confucianism, the contempt of commercials, and strong parental control.
The author argues population growth is the start of civilization and the advantage of one state against the other. This may be true in the beginning, in China's case, before 15 century. The continued population growth after some point will slow down the progress for short of resources unless the problem is solved by technological change. It happened that China didn't seek this solution to explore overseas to get more resources to support more people, but let the heaven to solve the problem by famine and war. Why? just a haphazard incident. If the Ming emperor didn't stop the oversea fleet building and commerce with Arab and Africa and Europe then, it will be another result now.
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