Was Jared Diamond's Theory Correct?

     Since the beginning of prehistory, people of European Origin have dominated the globe. Some believe that guns, germs, and steel was what led them to their success. But how did the Europeans develop these advantages in the first place? For more than thirty years, Jared Diamond has been trying to solve the question of why some civilizations developed advantages over the other. Jared Diamond believes that "geographical luck" was what led to a civilizations success or failure.
     Jared believes that the people of the Middle East and Europe had geographical advantages over the rest of the world, because they were located near the Fertile Crescent. This area was filled with lots of food and natural resources for the people to use. People living in the Fertile Crescent learned how to farm their own crops, which made getting food much easier for them. The people learned how to domesticate the plants and the animals around them. Jared Diamond was able to total up 148 different kinds of domesticated animals that weighed over 100 pounds. However, of those 148, only 14 of those animals were successfully domesticated for any length of time. 13 of those 14 animals were native to North Africa, Asia, and Europe. The people of the Fertile Crescent had advantages apart from the rest of the world due to the large surplus of food. People could also support large populations with the availability of food, and with more people came a larger work force. With the development of domestication, people could now focus more on advancing in their society and culture rather than just focusing on hunting and gathering.
     Not only was the food an advantage to the people of the Fertile Crescent, but the climate and temperature also played an important role in the development of the Ancient Civilizations. As stated on page 9 in the Western Civilization Textbook, the planet was warming and the ice that gathered in the Northern Hemisphere started to melt. Southwestern Asia and the area around it became a region where the climate and temperature was ideal enough to grow crops and establish communities. The good weather and climate allowed for advancement in technology as well.
Thanks to the large amount of food available, the ideal climate and temperature, and the geographical features, the people of the Fertile Crescent had many advantages to the other people located around the world. So, in conclusion, Jared Diamond's theory about geographical luck is correct.