ABSTRACT
Jared Diamond's key themes in Guns, Germs, and Steel concern the global history of development based on environmental factors. His secondary ideas relate to how particular areas of the Old World developed differently- he focuses in particular on China and Africa. "As one moves along a north-south axis", he writes, "one traverses zones differing greatly" in terms of climate, native species of plants and animals, and terrain. Both Europe and China sat along the East-West axis of Eurasia, and both enjoyed indigenous food production and rapid technological advance. "Until around a.d. 1450", Diamond argues, "China was technologically much more innovative and advanced than Europe but then ceased to be innovative". China's structure meant mistakes made by rulers would be implemented across the entire country, whereas Europe's structure meant that while several princes might not see the value of the voyage, eventually one would.
