(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best history of civilization & culture books

This has given me some good ideas about a story/book that i'd like to write.

I think i'll call it Cosmologica, and make it a trilogy, the first in the series to be called "One Meter per Second" in reference to the revolution of the moon aruond the earth where i would employ the research contained in a book by the same people who wrote "Who Built the Moon" called "Civilization One: The World Is Not as You Thought It Was". The second would be called "What is Man?" and the final one "Kingdom of the Heavens".

It would be told from the POV of a few differnt beings at the various levels, that of a "Watcher" who went along with the rebellion begrudgingly, based on nothing but peer pressure, and who's been charged with the responsibility to cover-up ancient involvement by "higher beings" in the affairs of Earth if only because all their efforts to seed Civilization on Earth as a bid to attain a New Universal Order NUO fell apart at the cross of J.C.

a brainiac historical researcher and his college friends in collaboration with an eccentric but brilliant astophysicist end up on the trail of the Great Mystery,, and an Angel of Heaven who already knows the end game, but can't be quite sure precisely how it will play out, and lastly, the main character, an elusive figure who it turns out at the end of book one is none other than the reader, himself.

But i'll need to make a lot of money and have an internet business that i'm working on, to have the time to do this, and i'll need to take a creative writing course or two to figure out how to mix it all together in a way that makes for a great read.

The 'world' though would be very interesting as our own universe from different perspectives, particularly when it includes and highlights ancient Biblical history all the way up to the life of Jesus Christ, who in spite of being a central object of the whole thing, will never speak except historically, having already made his case perfectly clear.

What a great way to present Christian thought and ideals and authentic Biblical history while engaging the reader in the consideration of paradigms and ways of looking at the world that they would never have considered for the life of them, otherwise.

The Vatican would label it some sort of heresy as Biblical fanfare, although it wouldn't pretend to be anything more or less than that, and i'd have a best selling series but best of all, the chance to share God's truth with the up and coming generation of scifi fans or generations both new and old, because everyone loves a good story and the pursuit of mysteries, and even signs and wonders the tracks of which have all been laid.

> Of the many social and technological problems early humans would have encountered, I can imagine few which would not have involved deference to individuals with cultural prestige or privileged relationship to social norms, therefore the recognition of a right of certain individuals to command or decide in certain situations.

This here may be the problem, because it does not conform to what has been studied and observed or described by people who lived in our closest analogues to the types of societies that humans lived in for literally thousands of years. I really recommend reading this book, its very interesting, has pictures even lol, and is a super fun read with very little technical language. I think you may be very surprised to read the details of just how power/prestige worked in these societies. As well as the stories of how hierarchy (of the kind we think of as normal) evolved in different circumstances and how it came to dominate and was also resisted.

https://www.amazon.com/Creation-Inequality-Prehistoric-Ancestors-Monarchy/dp/0674064690

Even if from the outside it might look like a special person 'decided' something and then others obey, expressing power of a sort, that is not how it plays out or is experienced. Above all, it is most important that power NOT be seen to be exercised by a special person. It is a social game that we might say lies to itself about what is happening, but playing the game is what is interesting, how it works and why it is essential. Even if we could make the argument that some individuals in the group do have more decision making power or influence, it is important in the group that this is not evident in a way that exposes the powerful as powerful. Not because people are deluded, but because everyone understands the need to play the game and why they play it. Nothing is more important than the group and minimizing conflict within the group. Nothing is more harmful in the group than special people who think they deserve a bit extra based on a natural or earned ability/prestige.

You also state that the mechanisms of envy don't target authority figures, and I'm not sure where you would get such an idea when in fact it is usually the opposite in societies that are 'fierce egalitarian' in structure. It is precisely the management of envy among the group for those individuals who are smarter, better looking, better hunters, better gatherers, better story tellers, and in other ways unequal to their peers that matters for the group. Nobody is more aware of this than those talented people themselves, they must practice huge amounts of social intelligence to navigate the pitfalls presented by their 'superiority' in the eyes of their society. Boasting is probably among the greatest sins in these societies, and nobody knows the risks more than those who might feel they have reason to boast. Again, the two books I recommended are really fascinating in regards to these questions.

A few titles on specific topics that seem uncovered:

• The Thirty Years War by C.W. Wedgwood -- Written in the '30s, this is still probably the best single volume on the topic (in English anyway). Fantastic place to start for anyone looking to get into a hugely significant though often overlooked conflict in European History. It was recently republished in paperback so shouldn't be too hard to come by.
  
  
• The Crusades: A History by Christopher Riley-Smith -- There are endless books on the various Crusades from an endless array of perspectives and focuses. To me, Riley-Smith is the best single volume on the whole subject. Again a great starting point for those new to the area.
  
  
• The Atlantic World: Europeans, Africans, Indians and Their Shared History, 1400-1900 by Thomas Benjamin -- This is a rather hefty work but serves as a wonderful encapsulation of the subject of Atlantic History. As is often the case in this field, particular attention is paid to the complex interconnections of economic and social exchange at various edges of the Atlantic World. For something a little more focused, The British Atlantic World, 1500-1800 by David Armitage is also great.
  
  
• Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest by Matthew Restall is an awesome take on the subject. Restall basically debunks most modern misconceptions about the conquest of South America drawing on an array of creative source material. For primary reading on the conquest of Mexico specifically, by far the most important is The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz del Castillo-- basically reads as an adventure novel.

Racism is not "unfounded", there is clear, irrefutable evidence that is simply suppressed in mainstream discussion. But even in the mainstream, it's ok to say "blacks are better athletes". (their muscle tissue is composed of more fast twitch, while whites have more of the slower more powerful kind, so lots of black sprinters in the Olympics but few weight-lifters) If a doctor doesn't take into account the race of the patient and known risks for his race he can be sued for malpractice. So race exists when it's to the benefit of any given non-white group.

Race is not allowed to exist only when it would benefit whites, or would demonstrate their superiority in one or another respect. There are thoroughly documented differences in IQ (avg black IQ is a standard deviation below avg white IQ), and attitudes (see the higher frequency of 'lack of empathy' or 'warrior gene' in blacks) where whites are superior but this cannot be said publicly. Interestingly it's ok to say that jews have high IQ. (actually only in verbal, in visual/spatial they're below whites - this is why there are many bullshit artist jewish lawyers, but jewish engineers are rare) Charles Murray made a very thorough survey, and the take-away is that ~97% of modern civilization was created by whites. But this cannot be stated publicly, because it would make whites proud of themselves.

So races do exist, but the anti-white agenda suppresses discussion and evidence. Jews controlling the media and academia do everything they can to prevent whites from uniting or being proud of themselves.

For a gentle intro start with Sean Last. If you want overwhelming amounts of data Jayman's blog (he's black BTW) and HBDchick are good places.

A Little History of Science, by William Bynum. (Link) It's a little newer than Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, but on par with it in most respects. Covers the histories of medicine, astronomy, chemistry, the discovery of plate tectonics... pretty much all areas of science. Highly entertaining (particularly the section on anatomy and how early artists were painters by day and grave-robbers by night).

I also liked The Blogger Abides, by Chris Higgins (Link), which is an extremely practical guide to managing a freelance career. It's written for writers but is applicable to most freelance professions (photographers, consultants, etc.), and includes sections that most "be a writer" books wouldn't, like how to manage self-employment taxes and give pesky publicity people the brush without looking like an asshole.

For more traditional nonfic, I liked Deep State (link) about the government's secrecy industry; Agent Garbo (link), about a farmer who just decides to be a spy and ends up helping the Allies bring down the Nazis (it's insane); and literally anything written by Mary Roach -- even her tweets are great.

No ones mentioned it, but Niall Ferguson just brought a book out with a complementary documentary series.

It's called Civilization: The west and the rest

I'm sure an American version is out or will come out soon. He takes an alternative approach to Diamonds 'Geographic circumstances' thesis. He suggest that there are 6 killer apps that made the West succeed:

1. Competition
   
2. Science
   
3. Property rights
   
4. Medicine
   
5. The consumer society
   
6. The work ethic.
   
   I think the beauty of his approach is that it makes available to younger readers of history. This is something that could easily be taught to 14 year olds. Whilst I disagree with parts of it (it would be hard not to find an individual that doesn't) I believe this History is not one that just encourages debate, but encourages participation from those who would have had no interest beforehand. Economic History is utterly fascinating and it's great to see a 6 part documentary on a major television channel here in the UK (channel 4).
   
   If you are interested you can get it from amazon.co.uk (US version not out till November):
   
   http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1846142733 - book
   
   http://www.amazon.co.uk/Civilization-West-History-Niall-Ferguson/dp/B004LQG1AC/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1302889938&sr=1-1 - dvd

Hello!

My book is free from January 25th – Jan 29th, 2015
Thank you and please enjoy!

10 Out of Place Artifacts (OOPARTS): That Suggest Higher Intelligence or Conspiracy

US
http://www.amazon.com/Out-Place-Artifacts-OOPARTS-Intelligence-ebook/dp/B00RYGM1ZU/

UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Place-Artifacts-OOPARTS-Intelligence-ebook/dp/B00RYGM1ZU


B00RYGM1ZU


This book will cover 10 OOPARTS.

What is an OOPART ??

OOPART is an abbreviation for “out of place artifact” and they are officially classified as anomalies of science, sometimes worth a philosophical discussion, and sometimes not even worth a second of time. Most people don’t know these artifacts as “ooparts”, unless they are familiar with the colloquial usage of the term. As in, “But if that’s true how do you explain ooparts?”

Theories cannot be absolutely proven but they are generally accepted by modern civilization, since trusting in these systems has brought about practical results and useful technology. For example, the theory of gravity, the theory of relativity, and the theory of heliocentric solar system, which helped us travel and coordinate our shuttles into space.

OOPARTS are challenging our views of history, science and established theories. If our history happened just as they say it did, then how are we to explain artifacts that are genuine but that do not fit in with the chronology or “timeline” that we have built?

What would life be without some unanswered questions now and then? Read on, and enjoy!

I don't know if you meant it to be, but I read your comment as condescending....

You're not sure if what's possible? Renewable energy? Fusion Energy? Or you don't think it's possible to focus our attention on technological advancement?


Edit: I'm impatient of your response, so I'm just going to assume that you believe the advancement of civilization can't be moved forward by resource management. There is, however, historical context for the advancement of civilization through the allocation of resources regardless of luxury. In an effort to clarify,
>The first step towards civilization is the move from hunter-gatherer to agriculture, with the domestication and farming of wild crops and animals. Agricultural production leads to food surpluses, which supports sedentary societies, rapid population growth, and specialization of labor.
-Guns, Germs, and Steel

Allocation of resources and the ability to work less and think more has happened, and continues to happen in societies all the time. I believe that by investing in renewable, clean, and cheap energy (physicists are doing amazing research into Fusion energy, it's only a matter of time...), our entire civilization can be allowed to grow technologically.

I believe this process will happen with or without your luck! :-D

Haha, it was kind of a tongue in cheek suggestion, since the author (Matthew Kenner) is an extremely online fixture of various leftist twitter groups who also got lit up for stanning some edgelady nazi girl (also on twitter). I won't do the book justice with my own description since I've only read the first chapter (he has his own style and he packs a lot of info and ideas on the page) so here's the amazon link with the blurb.

https://www.amazon.com/Geohell-Imagining-History-Contemporary-World-ebook/dp/B01N0K02CJ

https://twitter.com/cutasterfee?lang=en looks like he pruned a lot of his content, followers, follows, etc. since I last saw. He's an interesting dude and would probably like to talk about his book.

I love gnosticism. I'm currently reading The Secret Teachers of the Western World by Gary Lachman, which is a great overview of the Western esoteric tradition. If I didn't have to work for a living I'd probably be squirreled away in a laboratory somewhere trying to turn lead into gold. I love alchemy, gnosticism, neoplatonism, rosicrucianism, all that kind of stuff.

I would also like to give a small US history lesson. As industrialization drove local farmers to plant more intensely, soil exhaustion ended up driving western expansion. Here is an interesting book on the topic:

http://www.amazon.com/Dirt-Civilizations-David-R-Montgomery/dp/product-description/0520258061

In other words, IMHO once population really increased and population density increased and the world moved toward industrialization, the need for agricultural yield densities drove the need for a different way of fertilizing (managing) the soil. As Borlaug states, there is not enough fertilizer produced through natural means to support a true change to organic fertilizer.

Adding to what the other have said I'll link to the /r/askhistorians books and resources list. I think what you are looking for can be found in the general category

From this I read McKay so I'll copy the description from that one:

> A History of Western Society by McKay, Hill and others, 2008: A good overview, picks up where The Human Past left off (with an overlap in antiquity) and provides the historical, rather than archaeological, perspective. Very readable, and though it's a textbook and thus most suitable for students (with plenty of 'summaries' and lists of important key words), I'd still recommend it to people who are interested in history without having access to the formal education (and to archaeologists who only study prehistory!).

It's a big book (more than a thousand page) and because it was meant for students it has many summaries and even some onine multiple choice tests. I'll link to an image of the index page so you get an idea of the contents:
1 and 2

Edit: I will say that this book has a bit of the classic western bias (kind of obvious with the name) and it follows the classic line of Mesopotamia > Egyptians > Greeks > Romans > Middle Ages > Renaissance and Enlightenment. And it's more focussed on recent history so if you are more interested in ancient history then you might want to look more towards one of the other books on that list.

I enjoy critiques of intellectuals and learning relations between them. You should also check out The Seduction of Unreason: The Intellectual Romance with Fascism by him. Mark Lilla is very similar, The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals and Politics and The Shipwrecked Mind: On Political Reaction Of course philosophers and politics would be very lacking without Isaiah Berlin Also Fools, Frauds and Firebrands: The Thinkers of The New Left is very good. Lastly The Opium of Intellectuals of Raymon Aron is a must-read classic.

Fair enough, but there are also books that simply talk about atheism without having a strong agenda in either direction. One of my favorite books ever is God's Funeral https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Funeral-Decline-Western-Civilization/dp/0393047458 which gives an objective history about how Western society has moved away from religion, and how atheism has manifested itself in art, academia, and philosophy. The entire time I was reading it I was also trying to figure out whether or not the author intended to promote or argue against it all, but I never could. That's actually one of my favorite things about it.

Also I think your argument only goes so far. Books like God is not great https://www.amazon.com/God-Not-Great-Religion-Everything/dp/0446697966 do spend a lot of time talking about religion, but they spend more time promoting things like reason and critical thinking, only using religion as proof to the points, and not giving it the objective or in depth coverage of any real "study".

> Everything from the trial of Galileo and Copernicus

There is a huge chance that you bought into urban legends and deliberate falsifications (originally, an anti-Catholic propaganda spread by Protestant Christians) regarding that.

Read The Sleepwalkers from (atheist) author Arthur Koestler, he gets the story right, backed up with proper sources, and is a fascinating story in general.

Seriously do, it is an absolutely great book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Sleepwalkers-History-Changing-Universe/dp/0140192468

I just start reading Written In Stone by Brian Switek, so far I'm really enjoying it. It's about paleontology, evolution, and how that relates to humans. Another amazing book in a similar vain is Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin, inspired a tattoo for me.

Would be great for an intellectual discourse if you understood what you're talking about before opening your mouth.

Europe has dominated invention and scientific discovery, mathematics, literature, art, music from about the 16th century onwards, there is no debate about it.

Might I suggest some actual reading for you. You're welcome back when you actually know what you're talking about.

The following books are taken from the General section of our books and resources list:

• Why the west rules - for now, it's an overview of both eastern and western history.
  
  
• A History of Western Society, it looks at the history of western civilization.
  
  
• A Little History of the World, it does what it says and tells the history of world up until the 1930's.
  
  I'm sure more books can be found in the book list.
  
  Happy reading :)

Actually, even that's not strictly true. The Galileo Affair was more to do with Galileo insulting the Pope than his scientific positions. The Church was happy to reinterpret scripture when scientific proof was shown, but Galileo didn't have the necessary proof and instead argued that scientific theory, even without proof, must come before scripture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair

I highly recommend "The Sleepwalkers" for a good history of the relationship between the church and science. http://www.amazon.com/Sleepwalkers-History-Changing-Universe-Compass/dp/0140192468

Edit: strictly true

This is the best explanation I could find. And the Amazon reviews for the book are all ironic. But I don't remember if it was ever actually explained. Basically it seems like an inside joke between the Chapo guys that other people are pretending to be in on.

It is historical consensus that the Viking Rus' caught "slavs" in what is today Russia, and then sold them through on the Eastern slave markets, and that's where the name comes from.

Peter Frankopan dedicated a chapter to this slave trade in his The Silk Roads.

On page 117 he writes (yes, you made me walk up to my library):

> The Rus' were ruthless when it came to enslaving local populations and transporting them south. [...] So many were captured that the very name of those taken captive — Slavs — became used for all those who had their freedom taken away: slaves.


Also here:

> "Therefore, the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe were for a long period an obvious target for European and Nordic slave traders. It is from this area that the term “slave” originates." Source

http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC050.html

http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB925.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_evolution_fossils

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/illustr.html

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/faqs.html


http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/

Some books:

Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature by Brian Switek

Primate and Human Evolution (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology) by Susan Cachel

The Last Human: A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans by G. J. Sawyer, Viktor Deak, Esteban Sarmiento and Richard Milner

The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors by Ann Gibbons (Apr 10, 2007)

Evolution For Dummies

Also see the books (and other resources) on evolution in our FAQ, and also the resources in the /r/atheistgems FAQ

--

edit: Oh, you might find this graphic I made interesting - it's of the evolution of brain size in humans (Homo).

There's a link to another graph at the bottom of that post that also includes Australopithecines, which uses color effectively (it's not on the log-scale though).

The brain sizes in the leftmost fossils in that second display completely overlap modern chimpanzee brain sizes (300-500 cc).

So over 3 million years or so, you see our ancestors brain sizes - through a number of species - go from pretty much exactly the size of a modern chimp's brain, to four times that volume, and then drop back a little (yes, our brains are actually smaller on average than our ancestors brains from a few tens of thousands of years ago).

Thanks for taking the time to write this up! The book is $36 on Amazon but, a quick search produced this pdf for anyone that's interested.

This was a pretty good read regarding precision: https://www.amazon.com/Perfectionists-Precision-Engineers-Created-Modern/dp/0062652559/ref=sr_1_1

You were capable of understanding all the 'issues' regarding religious belief at 13? A. N. Wilson is a British intellectual and writer, and personal friend of Christopher Hitchens. He was an avowedly militant atheist all throughout the 80s and 90s, writing several pamphlets, and even a highly recommendable book entitled God's Funeral where he goes through the entire history of western philosophical religious criticism. Then a few years ago he openly converted back to Christianity. So you'll have to excuse me if I pour plenty of scorn on your "I was a very smart teen".

And I just realized that your'e still a high school student who hasn't even gone to college yet. I was also an angry teenaged atheist once.

Just some advice for the future, don't label yourself anything until you're 28. I did, and I wouldn't recommend it.

Here are half-a-dozen good ones for you:

• The Axemaker's Gift: Technology's Capture and Control of Our Minds and Culture, by James Burke and Robert Ornstein
  
• Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, by Marc Reisner
  
• Ceasefire!: Why Women and Men Must Join Forces to Achieve True Equality, by Cathy Young
  
• The Essential William H. Whyte, ed. Albert LaFarge
  
• No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, by Naomi Klein
  
• Toxic Sludge Is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry, by John Stauber & Sheldon Rampton

I'm unsure if there are ever been a society void of altruism, but one theory that has been popular with a lot of anthropologists is that human societies began as egalitarian, and that rank and hierarchies are an invention. Under this system, there are mechanisms for maintaining egalitarianism, which include behaviors you might call altruistic or selfless. Joyce Marcus and Kent V. Flannery wrote a book in the last few years called The Creation of Inequality in which they argue for this theory using archaeological evidence. They're both pretty entertaining writers and it's worth a look.

Basically, I think they'd probably argue with you that it doesn't make sense that there would ever been a purely selfish, non-altruistic society.

"The Silk Roads: A New History of the World"
https://www.amazon.com/Silk-Roads-New-History-World/dp/1101912375

Best book I read in 2018

Hi friend! I don't know how well this book would fit the general argument of your class, but it made a deep impression on me in college:

https://www.amazon.com/Axemakers-Gift-Robert-Ornstein/dp/0874778565

The Axemaker's Gift by James Burke: All about examining of why we are the way we are and how we got here the way we did--it's the evolution of technology starting all the way back when monkeys came down from the trees.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson: The science textbook you wish you got in school. Funny, informative, and provides an accessible way to learn about the world around us.

The Republic by Plato: Pretentious, I know, but this was the first philosophy book that ever really opened my mind to different types of thought.

the contradictions and inefficiencies of the larger (government) systems is such a joke. I know that many of the waste management agencies, Rumpke.com, being my local provider (there are three in my city, Rumpke, Waste Management, and City of Louisville(ky)) does composting with all the yard waste it gets from people. I believe they feed it back into the city for parks and public spaces, etc, or for cover for their landfills.... or, hell, they sell it for a profit.

Compost is relatively expensive. The whole idea of soil healthy really intrigues me. In fact, I'm very heavily researching getting into the business of this. I am a builder and have had a 'dirt' problem. When we dig basements or clear land, the dirt that we don't use to level the property and grade it to make it finish nicely, we have to dump. I have free places to dump it, no problem, but it hit me when scouring Craigslist farm&garden section one night... I could sell the dirt. (to be fair, its more I'm charging for the service, costs, labor, etc than actually selling the dirt but....) Since summer, I've averaged probably $1,000 a month just selling dirt.

Doesn't sound like a lot but, the housing business is slow here (as everywhere) and I've unfortunately had to let go of a few guys, or move them out to contract/as-needed status because theres just not enough work to keep them busy (and we're pretty inventive)... the extra $1k a month (some months its more) has managed to be a good side job for them. I guess the point is, it wasn't until I started looking into this that I realized how much of a demand for... dirt/soil there is. And, the thing is, its not just dirt, people want all sorts of less traditional services... things that even the local garden shops or nurseries aren't providing.

I had to call ten places before I could find worms for vermiculture.... and, for shits and giggles, I called another ... I'd say it was 25 total, nurseries, garden centers, industrial suppliers, etc... 1 carried worms on a larger level, others thought I was crazy for even asking. but the real kicker was... biochar. I called 25 places (made a list)... of the 25 places, none of them carried biochar, didn't surprise me.. but of the 25 places, 20 acted like i was crazy as in "biochar?!? what the hell is biochar??" crazy. The other 4 were like, no, we don't carry that, maybe next season, but had no clue what I was talking about thinking it was just a brand or a product or something... like miracle grow or brand x product. 1, there was 1 single place that had even heard of it... but sounded extremely interested.

That place is in kind of the 'yuppier' part of town, not the hippy or the new age part, more the... .... the people who would go skiing at Vail, Co like 10-15 years ago. Nothing against them, great people, its to say that of all of the people, they were the ones who took the time to keep up with it (they also had worms = ) and even they didn't carry it.

I've read the moral arguments, technical arguments, etc of biochar, most of it really disagreeing with it on an industrial level relating to saving the environment... but zoom out and look at it just as soil remediation and health and it seems to work even better than compost.

I, personally, think that a combination of compost, biochar, and vermiculture (even if all created from just the waste every year) could easily turn the health of both our foods and our environment around that, if done just on a recycling sort of way, could and would drastically cut down on the amount of money that needs be spent on petroleum based fertilizers.

(thats long... I'm going to insert random paragraph breaks just to break that up to make it easier to read.. note the random)

but, in my research about this (and its probably been about 30-40 hours focused (if i read one more phd dissertation I'll go mad) I ran across a book that I want to come back to if/when/as I get the time. (history is a side interest)

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations ... no particular loyalty to amazon just the first place on the list it showed up

also, I found a movie (with a nice youtube clip preview) that I plan on ordering at about the same time (you might find it interesting too...)
http://www.dirtthemovie.org/

This book might interest you:

https://www.amazon.com/Perfectionists-Precision-Engineers-Created-Modern/dp/0062652559

If you're interested in the history behind all of this, I would definitely check out The Sleepwalkers by Arthur Koestler.

I recommend The Ultimate Cannon of Knowledge by Alvin Boyd Kuhn, The Secret Teachers of the Western World by Gary Lachman and The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall

I mostly found Diamond to be overly fatalistic. he seems to be of the opinion that human civilization is inherently not just a delicate system in need of care and maintenance but irrevocably and inexorably doomed and doomed within our lifetime. (a common theme among the aging boomers I know and read)

he's also focusing hard on the things that prove his points and not so much on the stuff that doesn't, a forgivable sin in a pop-sci author.

I recommend instead Dirt: the erosion of civilizations which is a bit more of a history/geology/geography/anthropology type of book and when it's speculative it's both a lot more hopeful, and a lot more helpful.

I'm also currently reading Niall Ferguson's civilization the west and the rest which is essentially a defense of the classic western-centric historical education in addition to a defense of a western-centric modernist mindset. it's good, it's dense, it's meaty, I'm not sure if I agree with it's conclusions, but you could do worse and he's very much a historian first.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OVLJSC/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1

(Virtually everyone in this list is literate in a world which had a literate person in each VILLAGE. If not 1% they were at least in the top 10%)

You should read The Perfectionists it's all about the history of precision measurement, telling stories centered around the 'leaps' (now able to measure to .1", now able to... etc.) and how it impacted the world.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Sleepwalkers-History-Changing-Universe/dp/0140192468

Robert Ornstein and James Burke.

https://www.amazon.com/Axemakers-Gift-Technologys-Capture-Control/dp/0874778565

Check out The Axemaker's Gift.

https://www.amazon.com/Geohell-Imagining-History-Contemporary-World-ebook/dp/B01N0K02CJ

I found this in the woods.. https://www.amazon.com/Perfectionists-Precision-Engineers-Created-Modern/dp/0062652559/

I did a Google search and there's a book with that tile but not sure if it's what they were referencing.

For the shifting view of Galileo you can read: http://www.amazon.com/The-Sleepwalkers-History-Changing-Universe/dp/0140192468 for the basis of the argument against him.

As for the inquisition declaring heliocentrism heretical you can just check out the wikipedia page on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair

It's right in the opening paragraphs: "in 1616 the Inquisition declared heliocentrism to be formally heretical."

I'm sorry if you took my comment spitefully as that was not my intent. Here is some reading you might find interesting:

• The Axemakers Gift - a chronicle of how technology has changed our perception of the world
  
  
• The Tree of Knowledge - a scientific and biological approach to philosophical questions about human perception and understanding.
  
  
• Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things - trying to understand human cognition through how we categorize things

He makes bad conclusions about history because he cherrypicked historical events and made unsubstantiated conclusions from them but I haven't seen much controversy with his claims on anthropology. His claims of how violent tribal society are repeated in other books I've read like The origins of political order and the creation of inequality.

Edit: Here's a askhistorians thread on some of Mr Diamonds anthropological writings.. In short, his work on anthropology is a quite a bit worse than I thought. "The creation of inequality" goes pretty depth about tribal violence and backs up his claims in Guns Germs and Steel so its safe to say that that part is accurate at least.