John Hawks notes that Guns, Germs and Steel is now turning into a PBS special. Looks like Diamond is making for a Sagan, trying to jump from being well know amongst the >1 standard deviation set to transitioning into a cultural icon. In any case, I echo many of John's concerns about GSS's thesis, the more we know about the arc of the development of past societies, the more we know we didn't know and don't know. Wish I could say otherwise....