Guns, Germs and SteelThe book Guns, Germs and Steel talks about how many different things are attributed to the succession of societies compared to the destruction of other societies. The book begins with the author, Jared Diamond, in New Guinea talking to a New Guinea politician named Yali. Yali asked Diamond "Why did the white men develop so much cargo and bring it to New Guinea, where we blacks had little cargo of our own?" Diamond was determined to seek an answer to Yali's question. Diamond argues his answer about how “History has taken different courses for different peoples because of differences between peoples' environments, not because of biological differences between peoples themselves” (Diamond 25). Diamond first examines the Maori and Moriori civilizations. The Moriori were an isolated civilization living on an island about 500 miles east of New Zealand. They were primitive hunter-gatherers, who always resolved altercations peacefully. The Maori came from the North Island of New Zealand and were always engaged in fighting which forced them to create more advanced weapons and also forced them to have strong leadership skills. Climate and geography also played an important role in the two totally different lifestyles. The tropical climate of the Maori allowed them to produce their own food. The Moriori lived in a much cooler climate which made it almost impossible for them to produce their own food, which is why they had to resort to hunter-gatherer activity and had no extra people to do specialized work. The Maori also had a much larger island to live on, which meant they could have more people living on the island. The large demographic difference along with the advancement in weapons and technology greatly helped the Maori people conquer the Moriori people. Diamond then examines Francisco Pizarro's capture of an Inca monarch. The monarch, Atahuallpa, was in Cajamarca Square after battles with other Indian tribes. Along with Atahualpa was his army of 80,000 men. Following Atahualpa was Pizarro with 168 Spanish soldiers. Although his men were greatly outnumbered, Pizarro's troops had much more advanced weapons and military technology in their cavalry and weapons. Thanks to this advantage, Pizarro managed to capture Atahualpa while most of the monarch's soldiers, so frightened by the soldiers' shots, retreated. The Spanish, who had domesticated the horse and a variety of crops, were able to employ more people to research new technologies and weapons.