Rating: 
Summary: Interesting and relevant
Review: As others have written very complete reviews, I just had a few comments. As I have an interest in linguistics, I enjoyed the chapter on the evolution of the proto-Indo-European language. I also enjoyed the part on the development of the plains horse culture which dominated the area from eastern to western Russia for thousands of years because of their ability to communicate and travel over wide distances using the horse. This explains why countries such as Hungary speak a non-Indo-European language today--the horse riders were stopped at the Great Hungarian Plain--since they would have had to cross the mountains to the west to conquer any further. Thus they were able to impose their language, but because they couldn't venture any further to the west, the peoples there of course speak true Indo-European languages.I recall one odd fact about the plains horseman that I picked up somewhere else. The last gasp of their empire, most of you will recall, was when it was briefly revived by Genghis Kahn and Tamerlane in the 1300s. They practically lived on their horses, and I read once that you could smell the Golden Hordes coming 20 miles downwind. Historians still debate whether they killed either 2.4 or 1.6 million people in some city, might have been Harat, I'm not sure now. But anyway, it sounds like they could kill with their smell just as well. I enjoyed his speculations on some of the other topics also, especially the chapter on why humans use drugs. He discusses the theory that this is the human equivalent to the birds of paradise in New Guinea having tails so large that they're an impediment to movement. This is in effect saying, "I'm so tough and capable physically I can still survive even with this big, stupid tail. All you females out there, take note." The person who smokes, drinks, or takes drugs too much is saying the same thing--that they're so tough they can handle the debilitating effects without much harm. His story about Ardy, the Indonesian biologist and martial arts expert, who drinks a glass of kerosene to show how tough he is, was interesting, since I myself am a long-time martial arts student and teacher (although not to the point of drinking glasses of kerosene!), and have even studied a little of the Indonesian art of Pentjak Silat myself. In the book, Diamond says Ardy's a kung-fu expert, but he might actually have been a practitioner of one of the many styles of Silat found in Indonesia, of which some of the better-known styles are Harimau, Perisai-Diri, Tapak Suci, Purguruan, Tjimande, and Pukulan Pentjak Silat. One minor fault. Diamond states that Ardy says he is a "kung fu, eighth-level" expert, meaning that he can take on 8 guys at once, and mentions Ardy's story about actually doing this one time. However, it's more likely that "eighth level" refers to an 8th degree black belt, or some similar system of ranking, which they have in common with the more well-known Japanese, Korean, and Okinawan ranking systems in karate, taewondo, judo, jiu-jitsu, and other arts. As I said, I have some knowledge of Silat, and I also hold black belts in three different martial arts and am an instructor myself. But I didn't mind that, as I don't expect Diamond to be very knowledgeable about in martial arts. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. In addition to the fascinating ideas discussed, many of them are also relevant to the current sad problems and predicaments of humanity and our civilization. The book should be read by anyone with an interest in politics and social policy, not just those with an interest in natural history and biology.
Rating:
Summary: Read it, then re-read it
Review: Really-really good science writing. Very illuminating and readable. I intend reading it for the n-th time soon. Along with Dawkins, Hawking, Wilson, Gribbin ... Diamond is a prime science writer of our time.
Rating:
Summary: A good choice to put the pieces together
Review: This book is well written, and has interesting facts, stories, insights and humor on every page. Having said this, some are bound to be offended by it. When the author speaks with authority in areas outside of his discipline, and especially when he dismisses theories that have a lot of support with just one or two sentences, other academics are bound to scream. On top of this, much of the book carries an explicit ethical bias which is generally not accepted in 20th century scholarship. The book reminds me of how scharship was done prior to the 20th century. Marx, for example, was called a 'Political-Economist', and used political, economic, social, historical and other data to argue that people needed to behave a certain way. Both Marx and Diamond discuss topics that cut across many of today's academic disciplines, and to varying degrees, both take the tone of an evangelist, saying 'Change thy ways, or ye are doomed!'. I say that its a good thing for academics, after decades in their field, to do this. I suspect that the problems of the 21st century and beyond will be solved as much by those who bring disciplines together and provide ethical guidance, as those who produce original research in a very specific area devoid of ethical considerations.
Rating: 
Summary: Popularized Insight
Review: Diamond provides an interesting study of human progress but usually provides a biased list of options regarding causation. One would tend to think that he knows the answers and that they are consistent with his synthesis of the data. This makes the book interesting but somewhat too popularized? On the whole, it was written with wit and had thought provoking concepts that could be developed using some of the reference material. In total, worth the money and the reading time.
Rating:
Summary: answers to questions we've always asked
Review: In The Third Chimpansee, Jared Diamond presents a marvelous analysis of the human animal. Observing us like a visitor from outter space, the author discusses humanity from a perspective that incorporates both the social and the biological factors. The incredible sense made when seeing through Diamond's eyes will stir the brain of every reader. This book is a must for all those interested in evolutionary biology and biological anthropology. If you've ever wondered why humans act the way they do, Diamond will certainly offer an insight that will captivate your entire mind.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but too Ambitious
Review: Jared Diamond has a knack for taking difficult anthropological theories, condensing them to a few pages, and making them eminently readable. This is the greatest success of "The Third Chimpanzee". If you ever wanted to know the latest ideas on why certain people are attracted to each other, why some people are dark skinned and others aren't (no, it's not simply a matter of sun exposure), or why we are vastly different from chimpanzees despite sharing 98% of our genetic code with theirs, this book is for you. Ostensibly, the goal of Diamond's book is to explain how we grew from little more than a third species of chimpanzee (hence the title) to a species which possess the power to eliminate virtually all life on earth. Accordingly, the first few chapters detail where humanity came from, outlining our genetic divergence from apes and chimpanzees, and offering ideas as to why, after millions of years as hunter-gathers humans began to move toward more complex societies. These first few chapters are excellent, both in their explanatory power and in keeping with the larger theme of the book. From these first few chapters Diamond goes on to explore some of the more interesting questions about sex, explaining, among other things, male testes size and female menopause. These chapters are no less interesting than the opening chapters, but it is at this point that the book begins to lose coherence--we are only dimly aware of how this information fits into the overall theme of the book. After the chapters on sex, Diamond goes on to examine some of the more unique of the human traits--language, art, agriculture, drug abuse and genocide. While these chapters make for quite interesting reading, some of the "explanations" they offer are really little more than Diamond's own thoughts and theories. Further, the overall thrust of the book, to explain humanity's rise to dominance, and perhaps doom, is completely lost. Diamond seems to lose track of his reason for writing his book and becomes wrapped up in explaining how other animals may share art, language, agriculture, drug abuse, and genocide with us, but never makes it clear why this is relevant. The book is closed out with a few chapters which are little more than environmentalist preaching mixed with some anthropological information. While I am sympathetic to the environmental threats Diamond identifies, he comes off as too alarmist; perhaps worse, Jared leaves us wondering exactly why he decided to run off on this tangent. Certainly environmental destruction fits into the overall theme of the book, but Diamond never tells us why this is unique to humans, or why we came to be so destructive. Overall, "The Third Chimpanzee" is a very uneven book which would have worked better as a loosely grouped collection of articles than an actual book with a persistent theme. This is unfortunate because Diamond has shown, most notably in "Guns, Germs, and Steel," that he can carry an argument through the hundreds of pages necessary to create a book. Despite this flaw, Diamond has put together a book which is at once highly readable, highly informative, and highly entertaining. You certainly could do worse if you wanted to read up on some of the most famous of the anthropological theories.
Rating:
Summary: God who?
Review: If you have any religious beliefs in God, this book will
take them away. A very good book, but depressing if
you think you are special. I'd like to read material, based on this
book's structure, that looks at man's spiritual construction.
Like, where do we get off thinking there is a god? Jimmy
Rating:
Summary: A thought provoker
Review: Having read books on the Origins question written by Paleontologists, archeologists, anthropologists and myticists, Jared Diamonds book is a refreshing new thought from a zoologist. The book itself is an easy read, with lot of humor thrown in, and with a vast array of examples. This is a very good book if you already have opinions and ideas on the subject and are looking for examples and data. I tend to frequently disagree with the authors' view points since I see many personal biases reflected in the conclusions drawn. Having said that, this is a book which makes you rethink a lot about our origins and what it means to be human, and Jared definitely achieves his purpose as described in the Introduction, a definite must read which opens the mind to new ways of thought
Rating: 
Summary: Blind spots
Review: Interesting, but flawed. Any book that tries to make such big generalizations about human sexuality and utterly ignores homosexuality is sweeping too much under the rug.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Diamond is the writer of the very successful Guns Steel and Germs. He is a biologist by profession and he has spent a lot of time in New Guinea. This is an earlier book and perhaps does not reach the standard of "Guns" but despite that is entertaining and interesting to read. Diamond is a witty and entertaining writer and he is good at popularizing scientific matters. The book covers a range of issues and is in reality more of a series of essays than a book exploring a central theme. This however does not detract from its interest at all. Most of the book is devoted to discussing evolution and putting a new perspective on it. In the past popular descriptions of evolution suggested that man evolved and as part of that evolution he developed a large brain which led to him being able to develop the use of tools, language and a range of skills which enabled him to dominate the planet. Diamond however explains a set of ideas that have become known as evolutionary psychology. What that means is that certain parts of our behavior and ideas are not things which we develop as part of our free intelligence but are part of our mental evolution. One example is the role of altruism and group cooperation. Humans are unique in having children who are very slow at developing. An animal child will be able to feed itself after birth, is able to move around a few days after being born and can function as an adult within a year. A human child cannot feed itself for a year and is dependent for at least six. This means that the mother has to protect it and is in turn vulnerable to predators. Diamond suggests that humans have developed a set of instinctive feelings which lead to group cooperation to offset this rather major evolutionary deficiency. Thus humans naturally tend to develop cooperation and long term sexual relationships. Diamond also provides further research to again break down what used to be seen as the division between men and animals. He shows that some other animals, a specie of monkey, have a language which has complex verbal warnings to distinguish various predators such as leopards, birds of prey and other animals of the same type. Each leads to a different response from the monkeys with them running up trees or hiding on the ground depending on the sort of threat. The book is fascinating and it is a valuable in making available to the general reader of a number of important advances in biology and science. Highly recommended.
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