Rating: 
Summary: Good "Fieldbook" for Studying Humans
Review: While in Australia working as an engineer, I read his book, and found much validity in the author's claims/conjectures all around me. Australia seemed to be quite a suitable laboratory for proving/disproving the claims made by Mr. Diamond. Australia's continental isolation makes it a kind of Pitcairn Island for human evolution. Darwin would probably have agreed somewhat with that statement--during the early times of the (re)"settlement" of Australia by the Europeans.Let's get to one of the more interesting chapters. Denial of Genocide: Mr. Diamond had a chapter which concerned itself with our persistent ability to deny the past occurrance of genocide in the World. This chapter offers up interesting examples of our genocidal past. I was able to validate Mr. Diamond's claim here when I telephoned a woman mentioned in this chapter of his book. The woman lived in Sydney, and had written a graduate thesis (really!) which refuted the claim that abori! ! ginal Tasmanians were systematically eliminated when the Europeans resettled that land. Her paper was even published in a respected Australian Journal! Makes you wonder if just getting a high school education there is considered an act of genius..... Anyway, this woman is held up as a prime example of somenone who cannot live with her genocidal past, and therefore, vehemently denys it. I truly wished I had tape-recorded the conversation for the rest of the World to hear. Mr. Diamond would probably have enjoyed hearing it as well. Anyway, this woman attempts to convince her readers that no Ozzie settlers EVER committed any act of genocide against an Aborigine in Australia (including Tasmania). I told her that she was named in Mr. Diamond's book as a prime example of a person/culture in genocidal denial. I also informed her that this book was (then) a New York #1 bestseller, was globally distributed, and was available in many different languages. Her response was to the! ! effect that she stood by her work. She truly believed she! had told the truth in the journal that published her work, and that the very act of her paper being published validated its truthfulness (ala peer review). I winced at her response, and gave a hellacious upward yank on my hip waders. She appeared undaunted by Mr. Diamond's book, and his claim that she is the benchmark for a person in complete denial of her culture's genocidal past. She appeared to be behaving much her country's national symbol, (the Emu) when it sticks its head in the sand to "hide" from danger. How has "The Third Chimpanzee" Affected My Life?" As I was single at that time, I was able to "try-out" alot of Mr. Diamond's theories/conjectures concerning human behavior--there in Australia. I lived at Bondi Beach (like Malibu, Calif), and had quite a human behavior laboratory at my disposal. I am always looking for symbolism and matching patterns in the process. This meshed quite well with my amusing search for plugNp! ! lay validity of Mr. Diamond's theories on human behavior there in Australia. I suggest that this book be made mandatory reading material for all personnel in both the US State Department and Diplomatic Corp.
Rating:
Summary: Know your history, "Man" !
Review: The history of our species thrillingly presented. Excellent writing style, easy to digest. Make up your mind about mankind's future, after you have read the facts of our past.
Rating:
Summary: Genius
Review: This book will change your life. It puts into perspective politics, philosophy and thought and allows us to reestablish ourselves as part of the animal kingdom with self-respect. READ IT.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, educational, makes you want more...
Review: I consider a book great when you read half of it and can draw your own conclusions from explanations presented. While not stopping there, your conclusions also coincide with the authors towards the end of the book. Diamond is supreme in the way he writes. A contributor to _Discover_ magazine, he lays it out to the average person with above average curiousity. Don't think this will be like another pompous, arrogant, traveling off tangeant read like you might find in Stephen Jay Gould's book. Diamond draws strength the same way Sagan did, by picking our curiousities and leaving us breathless when (and there's plenty) we read something new.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant examination of the human animal
Review: An excellent read, insightful in its exploration of our origins and possible destiny. While our intelligence gives us an advantage, it is still only a survival trait, and very much a double edged sword. The sort of book more fundamentalists and politicians should read. Alas
Rating:
Summary: A thought-provoking study of humans, both past and present.
Review: "The Third Chimpanzee," by Jared Diamond, is a fascinating study on how humans evolved, how seperate they are from other animals, and if anything can be done to stop the global destruction they are causing today. Much of the text of this book illustrates just how much human behavior is controlled by genes; many of the behaviors which are regarded as immoral (adultery, for instance) are shown to give the person who behaves in this manner an evolutionary advantage. Partnered with describing how much of human behavior is genetically controlled is a clear, well documented argument that humans and their unique behavior (specifically culture) are not so unique in the animal kingdom. Almost every form of "unique" human behaviors, ranging from art to language to genocide, have been observed in other species of animals. Diamond makes the point that it is known that these behaviors are not unique to humans; humans just practice these behaviors to a greater degree than most other animal species. Diamond also traces the beginnings of the environmental problems that humans are facing today to the cro-magnon period of human history. Diamond makes the point that many of the large species of mammals, such as the wooly mammoth, were not killed off by the ice age. Rather, the mammoths were driven to extinction by early human hunting parties. Diamond points out with frightening clarity that environmental destruction is part of our evolutionary history based on our genes, a history which is still influencing us today. Finally, Diamond gives some thought to what can be done to reverse humanity's penchant for environmental destruction, and most importantly, if it is too late to save the earth. This book is thought-provoking, scientifically sound, and articulate, and a joy to read. Anybody who has any opinions on human evolution, human interaction, society, or the environment will find this book an intriguing and eye-opening experience. "The Third Chimpanzee" is a triumph of original scientific thought into the history and behavior of human beings
Rating:
Summary: a fascinating account of human similarities to animals
Review: This book opened my eyes to various traits once considered
unique to humans over animals. Mr. Diamond lists and provides
examples from the animal kingdom which debunk our ideas of uniqueness. I found the text lucid, thought-provoking, and occasionally very humorous. If you think you are in control
of your ideas and ethics, then this book is a neccesary read.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat confused.
Review: First the good points. Jared Diamond writes excellently and makes some very good arguments, his humanity and morality is evident throughout the book. The later part of the book, which highlights many of the modern worlds more repugnant acts (especially on genocide) is a masterpiece in the critique of human barbarity and it's attempted justifications. Now for the criticism. Jared Diamond seems to have at best a rudimentary understanding of evolution and natural selection, and some of his statements don't stand up to even the most cursory reflection. For example he states 'The winner takes the losers land, sometimes also the losers women, and thus the loser's opportunity to perpetuate genes'. This seems to be a very male centered way to look at the facts (a common mistake throughout the book). It is evident on even a moments reflection that the women so enslaved are the mothers, sisters and daughters of the `loser' and therefore carry the same genes. Again on convergent evolution (and the possibility of extra-terrestrial life) 'radio communication is one of those things that happens to have evolved here..'. When did radio communication evolve? It was discovered and developed through scientific experimentation but it hasn't evolved, not ever. Another inaccuracy is the statement 'Since evolutionary multiplications of species are very slow, natural extinctions must also be slow'. Jared Diamond seems to have an antiquated Neo-Darwinian view of evolution, which doesn't stand up to the actual observations in the fossil record, species explosions are very rapid. He states that mass extinctions are rare events, but this is simply not true, there have been many mass extinctions, which are amply recorded in the fossil record. Mass extinctions occur when the environment changes dramatically and quickly, this has occurred many times. Ecological niches in those conditions remain open, and are usually filled very quickly by pre-adapted organisms (ie those which, by accident can survive the change in environment), which also very quickly adapt, through natural selection to their 'new' niche. These are well-developed arguments first proposed by Niles Eldrige and Stephen Gould, which fit the observed fossil record perfectly. An adequate understanding of the theory of punctuated equilibrium is required for anyone who wants to venture into the world of evolution, and, unfortunately the very gifted and articulate Jared Diamond seems to score very poorly indeed.
Jared Diamond makes the cardinal sin of stating that 'the vulnerable species get eliminated quickly, and what we see persisting in nature are the robust combinations of species' this statement to me is arrant nonsense. During a dramatic change in environment, for example when Humans first colonised New Zealand, was it the robust species that survived? Well it depends how you define robust. Those species best adapted to life without human predators (ie the most robust in the original environment) weren't necessarily the same ones that were the 'most robust' after Human colonisation, the goalposts had been moved. This is the case with all mass extinctions. So those which were most robust after the colonisation had a pre-adaptive advantage (avoiding humans). But there was absolutely no way of any species 'deciding' to evolve 'avoidance of humans' just in case humans decided to come (none of the species knew of the existence of humans). This is the classic definition of pre-adaptation. It's the survival of the luckiest not survival of the fittest. It's the same with dinosaurs, they were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for well over 100 million years, far longer than mammals (which were around at the time of the dinosaurs), have been the dominant terrestrial vertebrates. So did they suddenly realize 'hey guys mammals are superior lets all die'. No some cataclysmic event (for the dinosaurs, anyway) occurred. Mammals were lucky enough to survive, and then through selection occupied the niches vacated by the extinct dinosaurs. If that dramatic extinction event had not occurred then there is no doubt that dinosaurs would still rule the world and mammals would still be the 'loser' vertebrate. There's an old-fashioned 'Victorian era' view of evolution as being 'progressive' which is just plain wrong, Jared Diamond falls into the trap when he infers that natural selection is the sole force behind evolution (ie speciation), but it is now accepted that natural selection and at least one other force must be behind speciation events. In truth selection is adaptive, and only leads to speciation or evolution during special periods (like just after extinctions). The upshot is that during periods of equilibrium (ie no dramatic environmental catastrophes) then natural selection acts to keep species as they already are, that is already well adapted to their environment. I recomend reading 'Wonderful Life' by Stephen Jay Gould for a more lucid and accurate explanation of Evolution and Selection.
There are some other poorly argued points in the book. Jared Diamond correctly states that we should not look for 'evolutionary'- (whatever that's supposed to mean) reasons for all our behavioural or physical characteristics, but then goes on to do just that. He looks for selective reasons for all sorts of things, without ever explaining the genetic basis of pleiotropy, which is the fact that one gene can have two or even more effects. That is that a gene can exist for a given reason, but may manifest itself in another, apparently totally unrelated way. So people may be looking for the selective reason for a characteristic that a gene confers upon us by accident, because the gene is required for it's other effect. Getting back to the male centered view of the book, he spends some time on the fact that human males have inordinately (relatively speaking) large penises compared to other apes. He concludes that it's for 'display purposes'!!!!! So it couldn't be due to the fact that human women may have selected for them because that way they have more fun then? Or that there seems to be 'no selective reason' for female infidelity (but plenty for men). So can't women have chosen one male as a 'rearer' and another as a 'donator of genes'. None of these not unreasonable explanations seem to have occurred to the 'male centered' Jared Diamond.
All these criticisms aside it's still a well written book with lots of humanity and much truth, It's only the selection/evolution bits which lack coherence.
Rating:
Summary: "The Animal With the Big Penis"
Review: This fascinating book provided information about some items familiar to me and some not.
About Testis Size: "The combined wt. of the
testis in the average man is 1.5 oz. This may boost the macho man's ego when he reflects on the slightly lower testis weight in a 450 lb male gorilla...but wait: our testis are dwarfed by the 4-5 oz. testis of a 100-lb male chimp! Why? Answer: When fertilization is a competitive lottery, large testis enable a male to enter more sperm into the lottery."
About Penis Size: "From the above triumph of scientific explanation we descend to a glaring failure: the inability of 20th century science to formulate an adequate "Theory of Penis Length." The length of the erect penis averages 1.25" in a gorilla. 1.5" in an orangutan, 3" in a chimp, and 5" in a man. Why does the human male need his relatively enormous, attention-getting penis? Here is a rich field for research."
One chapter concerned the finding of Stone Age tribes in New Guinea in 1938. These tribes had perhaps as many as 1000 languages, many of them unrelated to any other known language in New Guinea or elsewhere. Nowadays, some of the descendants of these tribes are flying airplanes and programming computers.
Another chapter critizes the efforts of astronomers to communicate by radio to life outside this earth. "Fortunately for us, the silence from Outer Space is deafening. Considering how we have treated less intelligent species on earth, any advanced extra-terrestrial who discovered us would surely treat us in the same way."
About "The Great Leap Forward:" Also covered extensively in "A Brief History of the Mind", by Calvin; somewhere between 100,000 and 40,000 yrs ago, we got smarter without changing our external appearance. "The tools suggest that modern anatomy had at last been joined by innovative modern behavior. The identity of the ingredient that produced the 'Great Leap Forward' poses an archeological puzzle without an accepted answer." Diamond thinks that it is "the anatomical basis for spoken complex language."
Other chapters included an impressive data spread concerning the always present and continuing genocidal tendencies of man, and a chapter suggesting that the most important factor in differential cultural development is geography. This chapter is the subject of his highly acclaimed book, "Guns, Germs, & Steel."
Parts of the end of the book treats you as if you are in environmental Sunday School, however, I will forgive that, and give this book a 5.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting book on human nature
Review: I thought that the 12 years past since The Third Chimpanzee was published, until I have read it would be a heavy burden for the book. I was very wrong. The Third Chimpanzee has been without any doubt one of the most interesting, pleasant, and thought-stimulator that I have read.
I also approached to TTC after reading Guns, Germs & Steel (GGS) by Diamond. But contrarily to other people, I find TTC much better book than the former. TTC is more compact, has a more proper length (in relation to its contents), and is less speculative than GGS.
Not all the book keeps the same level of quality, there are some chapters a bit less interesting and clear (because of speculation) than others, but don't doubt that all of them are worthy reading.
The book is divided in five parts. The first part is destined to locate the human just as one more animal species within the filogenetic tree, very close to other apes and particularly to chimpanzees. According with his view, human being should be classified as a third member of the chimpanzeesÂEgenus, and such genus would be named Homo. But after that, with a small biological change (at least small portion of our DNA), it happened the great leap forward, which made the now apparent differences between humans and other animal species. This part is interesting, supported by strong arguments.
The second part goes through the peculiarities of the human life cycle: our long life, reproductive biology, sexual selection, etc. I think it is the best part of the book. Worthy to read for everybody, there are many things to learn.
The third part analyses some traits commonly assumed to be uniquely human, such as language, art, agriculture, and others more. The conclusion is supposed to be that these traits are not really unique, and that you can find similarities and parallelisms in other animal species, or isn't that the conclusion? This is the most speculative part of the book, and not always in a good way. For me those are the weakest chapters of TTC.
When I was beginning to get disappointed with the evolution of the book the forth part, dedicated to war, conquer, and genocide again attracted all my interest. The story about the Hittites, the indo-european languages and horse-ridding peoples from Asian steppes was one of the most appealing of the book. The chronicle of genocides like the one of Tasmanian people will sure touch you. However, the objective of the section is to discuss the uniqueness of some more obscures traits of human beings. You can guess the conclusion.
The last section is dedicated to humans as a key species, to how humans have spread and increased in numbers and technological power, and its consequences for our environment and biological communities. You will find the role of humans in the extinction of megafauna, the colonization of the American continent, and the risks posed by the present human-driven species extinction crisis. All these topics have been later developed and updated by other authors, but you will not waste your time by reading Diamond's story.
As I said, it is one of the most interesting books that I have read. I strongly encourage the reading of this book, particularly to people who are not especially familiar with natural science, ecology, anthropology, etc. There is much to be learnt and enjoy in it.
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