I understand that overstepping one's expertise can cause inherent doubt, but are any of Diamond's major theses demonstrably (simply or not) _wrong_ or merely challengeable. Lack of authority does not automatically imply lack of accuracy or correctness, and though it may expose my own ignorance on too many issues, I have found Diamond's lines of reasoning and general conclusions to be pretty good. And to bring this on topic (I'm still reading PotD, so don't know if any of these answers are forthcoming, or whether I simply missed them): Is there a reason why an empire-less Dragaera was not simply overrun by the East during the Interregnum? The shorter Fenarian life-span can imply faster adaptability to major changes. 120 years into the Interregnum, a feudal Fenario would be perhaps 5 generations deep into a world where the Dragaerans were relatively quite weak. Perhaps a partial answer lies in this question. Are the diseases of Dragaerans (like the various plagues of the Interregnum) communicable to Fenarians? Noam On Feb 4, 2004, at 11:56 AM, Julie Alipaz wrote: > I will probably make an ineffectual mess out of explaining my > distaste for Jared diamond, but oh well I had to go and put the > statement out there----Diamond in an attempt to duplicate the success > of S. J. Gould stretched his science into areas for which he has no > knowledge--that's the easiest way, as a scientist, to dislike his > work. Intelligent people read his work and think they understand the > phenomena at hand, however because he himself is walking in sand, the > stretch is often so off as to be entirely incorrect except in the most > superficial manner. Even though Gould would get way out there, he > always extended his 'science to the masses' in fields that he was > either actively studying, or areas he already had extensive knowledge > in. Gould was poo-pooed by biologists and paleontologists alike, > largely because of his overwhelming ego---I worked around him for a > year, and that is all true, there is also a fair bit of envy there > also- I should say that Diamonds' earlier work island population > dynamics is spot on, and often fundamental reading for the first and > second year evolutionary biologist. Ah! A Prime Bronze Angel (Noam Raphael Izenberg - keeping the halo polished)