Guns, Germs, and Steel
A PBS documentary concerning Jared Diamond's theory on why there is such disparity between those who have advanced technology and those who still live primitively. He argues it is due to the acquisition of guns and steel and the changes brought about by germs.
- 2005-2005
- 1 season
- Documentary
A PBS documentary concerning Jared Diamond's theory on why there is such disparity between those who have advanced technology and those who still live primitively. He argues it is due to the acquisition of guns and steel and the changes brought about by germs.
Season 1 Episode Guide
3 Episodes 2005
Episode 1
Out of Eden
Wed, Aug 19, 2026 55 mins
Jared Diamond's journey of discovery began on the island of Papua New Guinea. There, in 1974, a local named Yali asked Diamond a deceptively simple question: "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo, but we black people had little cargo of our own?"
Episode 2
Conquest
Wed, Aug 19, 2026 55 mins
On November 15th 1532, 168 Spanish conquistadors arrive in the holy city of Cajamarca, at the heart of the Inca Empire, in Peru. They are exhausted, outnumbered and terrified - ahead of them are camped 80,000 Inca troops and the entourage of the Emperor himself. Yet, within just 24 hours, more than 7,000 Inca warriors lie slaughtered; the Emperor languishes in chains; and the victorious Europeans begin a reign of colonial terror which will sweep through the entire American continent.
Episode 3
Into the Tropics
Wed, Aug 19, 2026 55 mins
So far, Jared Diamond has demonstrated how geography favored one group of people - Europeans - endowing them with agents of conquest ahead of their rivals around the world. Guns, germs and steel allowed Europeans to colonize vast tracts of the globe - but what happened when this all-conquering package arrived in Africa, the birthplace of humanity?