May 13

Guns, Germs and Steel
For various reasons, farming produces denser populations. Hence eventually farmers can overcome hunters even w/o better weapons and such.
Development of agriculture depends upon the wild plants and wild mammals surrounding you. The Fertile Crescent beats everybody. That is why we conquered the world, after the horsemen came down from Asia.
The something came down like a wolf on the fold
Their cohorts all gleaming with silver and gold.

Agriculture produces surplus food products which allows the development of specialists who invented writing, metal alloys, bureaucracy and military organization.

Wednesday morning. At 7 the trash man cometh and the dogs make a fuss. Arthritis Index is very high and every muscle in my body aches.
I managed to go Krogering. I needed to go to Kroger to get Rug Dr Enzyme Cleaner. That took a brief period. Came home and took a nap.
I have 45 blocks to go, one finished. I press all blocks, add a strip by pin, stitch a strip and start over.
Took another nap.

PPQS tonight. Lea made home made pizza. We discussed when pizza came to America. John remembered his first taste of pizza.
Watched most of National Geographic's Baby Mamoth. Judy taped it for me. It was fun watching it with Lea bc she is a paleontologist. She was curator of a museum in Alaska which has an incomplete baby mamoth.

Lady Chica's Tale
What happens at Pup's stays at Pup's. Mom doesn't know.

Blitzen's Tale
Mom doesn't know. What happens at Pup's stays at Pup's.


BOOK REVIEW:
Jared Diamond, *Guns, Germs and Steel*
Fascinating explanation of how writing developed. Little by little. Description of how Sequoya developed Cherokee alphabet. S did not speak English. He just knew they had writing. He was a blacksmith and he started keeping accounts. Then he tried syllables. Finally he devised an alphabet. Cherokee learned to read and write, had a printing press. (Little good it did them.)
The author points out that cultural diffusion is easier east and west, the same latitude for growing plants and keeping domestic animals. For example, the Mayans would have difficulty diffusing culture easily, surrounded by jungle.
In order for an animal to be easy to domesticate, they must have a group with dominance hierarchy. Then a human can be alpha dog or cow.

Lea has not read the book but says that some professionals question the book. Diamond over simplifies and over generalizes. I think Diamond has enuf disclaimers.



Hugs, Dr. Liz