Guns, Germs, and Steel

This book by Jared Diamond attempts to answer one of the biggest questions asked by historians: why did history turn out the way it did? More specifically, why did Eurasians conquer the rest of the world and not the other way around? Diamond offers much evidence to support the theory that the fates of societies are based on their environments. He explains how Eurasia had many significant advantages over the rest of the world: Eurasia had the most animals and plants capable of being domesticated as well as a landmass most favorable for diffusion of developments and ideas.

I thought this was a very interesting read because it does provide much explanation for why our world is the way it is today. It also fiercely refutes any racist theories that some humans are innately inferior to others. However, the book was a very tedious read and probably could have been shorter. Despite this, I would still recommend this book to anyone who wants a basic understanding of human societies.

~Mohammed

The Botany of Desire

Humans and plants have had a close and interrelated history. In The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan, the author discusses history to show how mutually influential plants and humans are. He illustrates this using four influential plants for his examples, the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. All of the plants are said to satisfy different human desires, sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control, respectively.

Michael Pollan is well known for his books about plants. This one is certainly interesting and makes for a light read, but some of it can seem strange, and indirect. For example, his examination of the potato, seems like an afterthought, an attempt to round out the book by adding the desire “control” to the human picture (Obviously his own little bit of the dominator culture). In his introduction, he makes his case that plants are as important as people very strongly and convincingly. This irritated me enough to wait until the last week of summer to pick up the book again. However, the force of his introduction is lost during the rest of the book, making it much more dispassionate and unfocused. As a history of these specific plants, the book is certainly interesting and somewhat readable, but in terms of revolutionizing the view of plants, it has a way to go.

~Timothy Leary

The Omnivore's Dilemma

The Omnivore's Dilemma is a very interesting book which looks at the obesity epidemic in America through the lens of the "Omnivore's Dilemma," which is the problem of omnivore's deciding which foods to eat; foods that could be poisonous or unhealthy must be avoided, and those that are healthy should be eaten. The author, Michael Pollan, dissects this issue by tracing the history of four meals, a fast food dinner, an organic store-bought meal, an organic meal bought directly from the farm, and a meal composed entirely of foods that the author hunted and gathered himself.

The book goes deep into all aspects of food and how it is grown, processed, shipped, and eaten. It is extremely enlightening and changes the way one thinks about the meal they are eating. One of the most interesting parts of the book is when Pollan becomes a "temporary vegetarian" until he can justify meat eating. He discusses vegetarianism with influential vegetarians and eventually comes to the conclusion that vegetarianism may be good for individual animals, but for entire species, it would be very harmful if humans stopped eating meat.

Overall the book is a fantastic read, and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject. It opens the readers eyes to the inner workings of the food industry.

-Napoleon Bonaparte