Diamond probes the other side of the equation: what caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates?

Explore the Earth's last frontier, learn how the dinosaurs died, or discover the direction human evolution is heading...

Winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize, Guns, Germs, and Steel answers the question: Why did Eurasians conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of the reverse?

Why did Eurasians conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians and Africans, instead of the reverse? In this groundbreaking book, evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors actually responsible for shaping the modern world.

An audience of 850 attended the Ideas Lecture on 2 June 2005 to listen to the remarkable scientist, thinker and historian Jared Diamond present the Ideas Lecture.

Jared and Susan Diamond in conversation with Roy Eisenhardt.

Jared Diamond is the author of "Guns, Germs and Steel" and the current New York Times' best selling "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed."

Why is life on Earth inequitable? After journeying to the four corners of the world to answer to that query, Prof. Jared Diamond came up with a straightforward explanation.