The book selection for September/October 2004 provided one possible answer to the question "Why did Eurasians conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of the reverse?" It is a winner of several literary awards, including the

• Pulitzer Prize,
• Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science,
• Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and
• Commonwealth Club of California's Gold Medal.

About the Author

Jared Diamond is professor of physiology at the UCLA School of Medicine and author of The Third Chimpanzee. He has expanded his scientific career into evolutionary biology and biogeography. He has published over 200 articles in Discover, Natural History, Nature, and Geo magazines.