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Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American geographer, historian, ornithologist, and author best known for his
popular science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
books '' The Third Chimpanzee'' (1991); ''
Guns, Germs, and Steel ''Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies'' (subtitled ''A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years'' in Britain) is a 1997 transdisciplinary non-fiction book by Jared Diamond. In 1998, it won the Pulitzer Prize for ...
'' (1997, awarded a Pulitzer Prize); ''
Collapse Collapse or its variants may refer to: Concepts * Collapse (structural) * Collapse (topology), a mathematical concept * Collapsing manifold * Collapse, the action of collapsing or telescoping objects * Collapsing user interface elements ** ...
'' (2005), ''
The World Until Yesterday ''The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?'' is a 2012 popular science book by American intellectual Jared Diamond. It explores what people living in the Western world can learn from traditional societies, includ ...
'' (2012), and '' Upheaval'' (2019). Originally trained in
biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
and
physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...
,Jared Diamond, ''Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive'',
Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
,
ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
,
geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
, and
evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...
. He is a professor of geography at UCLA. In 2005, Diamond was ranked ninth on a poll by ''
Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...
'' and '' Foreign Policy'' of the world's top 100 public intellectuals.


Early life and education

Diamond was born on September 10, 1937, in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts, United States. Both of his parents were from Ashkenazi Jewish families who had emigrated to the United States. His father,
Louis Diamond Louis Klein Diamond ( yi, לאָויס קלעין דיאַמאָנד; May 11, 1902 – June 14, 1999) was an American pediatrician, known as the "father of pediatric hematology." Early life and career Diamond was born in Chişinău, Bessarabia ...
, was a physician who emigrated from Chișinău, (present-day Moldova, then known as Bessarabia), and his mother, Flora (Kaplan), a teacher, linguist, and concert pianist. Diamond began studying piano at age six. Years later, he would propose to his wife after playing the Brahms Intermezzo in A major for her.Jared Diamond in conversation with Michael Berkeley
on the BBC Radio 3 program '' Private Passions'' (broadcast March 3, 2013)
Already at the age of seven he developed an interest in bird-watching. This became one of his major life-passions and resulted in a number of works published in ornithology. At the age of 15 for the first time his parents took him outside of the eastern U.S., to
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
, where they spent holidays at the Hirschy's family ranch on Big Hole River. In summer 1956, as a college student, he returned to the ranch to work. Later, impressed by the beauty of the state, he regularly spent here his own family holidays, and Montana and the
Bitterroot Valley The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern Montana, along the Bitterroot River between the Bitterroot Range and Sapphire Mountains, in the Northwestern United States. Geography The valley extends approximately from Lost Trail Pass in Ida ...
became one of the key examples in his book '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'' . He attended the Roxbury Latin School and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemical Sciences from
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...
in 1958 and a PhD on the
physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...
and biophysics of membranes in the gall bladder from
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
, Cambridge in 1961.


Career

After graduation from Cambridge, Diamond returned to Harvard as a Junior Fellow until 1965, and, in 1968, became a professor of physiology at UCLA Medical School. While in his twenties he developed a second, parallel, career in
ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and t ...
and ecology, specialising in
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...
and nearby islands, which he began visiting from 1964. Later, in his fifties, Diamond developed a third career in
environmental history Environmental history is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time, emphasising the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs and vice versa. Environmental history first emerged in the United States out of th ...
and became a professor of
geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
at UCLA, his position. He also teaches at LUISS Guido Carli in Rome. He won the National Medal of Science in 1999 and
Westfield State University Westfield State University (Westfield State) is a public university in Westfield, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1839 by Horace Mann as the first public co-educational college in America without barrier to race, gender, or economic class. ...
granted him an honorary doctorate in 2009. Diamond originally specialized in salt absorption in the gall bladder. He has also published scholarly works in the fields of ecology and
ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and t ...
, but is arguably best known for authoring a number of
popular-science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, inclu ...
books combining topics from diverse fields other than those he has formally studied. Because of this academic diversity, Diamond has been described as a
polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
.


Popular science works


''The Third Chimpanzee'' (1991)

Diamond's first popular book, '' The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal'' (1991), examines
human evolution Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of '' Homo sapiens'' as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes the great apes. This process involved the gradual developmen ...
and its relevance to the modern world, incorporating evidence from
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
,
evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...
,
genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar work ...
, ecology, and
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...
. The book traces how humans evolved to be so different from other animals, despite sharing over 98% of our DNA with our closest animal relatives, the chimpanzees. The book also examines the animal origins of language, art, agriculture, smoking and drug use, and other apparently uniquely human attributes. It was well received by critics and won the 1992 Rhône-Poulenc Prize for Science Books and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.


''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' (1997)

His second and best known popular science book, '' Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies'', was published in 1997. It asks why Eurasian peoples conquered or displaced Native Americans,
Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...
, and Africans, instead of vice versa. It argues that this outcome was not due to genetic advantages of Eurasian peoples themselves but instead to features of the Eurasian continent, in particular, its high diversity of wild plant and animal species suitable for domestication and its east/west major axis that favored the spread of those domesticates, people, technologies—and diseases—for long distances with little change in latitude. The first part of the book focuses on reasons why only a few species of wild plants and animals proved suitable for domestication. The second part discusses how local food production based on those domesticates led to the development of dense and stratified human populations, writing, centralized political organization, and
epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...
infectious diseases. The third part compares the development of food production and of human societies among different continents and world regions. ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' became an international best-seller, was translated into 33 languages, and received several awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, an Aventis Prize for Science Books and the 1997 Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science. A television documentary series based on the book was produced by the
National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, ...
in 2005.


''Why is Sex Fun?'' (1997)

In his third book, '' Why is Sex Fun?'', also published in 1997, Diamond discusses evolutionary factors underlying features of human sexuality that are generally taken for granted but that are highly unusual among our animal relatives. Those features include a long-term pair relationship (marriage), coexistence of economically cooperating pairs within a shared communal territory, provision of parental care by fathers as well as by mothers, having sex in private rather than in public, concealed ovulation, female sexual receptivity encompassing most of the menstrual cycle (including days of infertility), female menopause, and distinctive secondary sexual characteristics.


''Collapse'' (2005)

Diamond's next book, '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'', published in 2005, examines a range of past societies in an attempt to identify why they either collapsed or continued to thrive and considers what contemporary societies can learn from these historical examples. As in ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'', he argues against explanations for the failure of past societies based primarily on cultural factors, instead focusing on ecology. Among the societies mentioned in the book are the Norse and
Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territorie ...
of
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...
, the Maya, the
Anasazi The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, ...
, the indigenous people of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Japan, Haiti, the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
, and modern
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
. The book concludes by asking why some societies make disastrous decisions, how big businesses affect the environment, what our principal environmental problems are today, and what individuals can do about those problems. Like ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'', ''Collapse'' was translated into dozens of languages, became an international best-seller, and was the basis of a television documentary produced by the National Geographic Society. ''Collapse'' was also nominated for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books. Fifteen archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, and historians from the
American Anthropological Association The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, ...
criticized Diamond's methods and conclusions, working together with the larger association to publish the book '' Questioning Collapse'' as a counter to Diamond's claims. In response, Diamond, as an editor at the time for the journal ''
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'', published an official review in the journal negatively covering the book without mentioning that the book was meant to be a critique of his own works. The authors and the publisher,
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...
, called out Diamond for his conflict of interest on the subject.


"Vengeance is Ours" controversy (2008)

In 2008, Diamond published an article in ''The New Yorker'' entitled "Vengeance Is Ours", describing the role of revenge in tribal warfare in
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. A year later, two indigenous people mentioned in the article filed a lawsuit against Diamond and ''The New Yorker'', claiming the article defamed them. In 2013, ''The Observer'' reported that the lawsuit "was withdrawn by mutual consent after the sudden death of their lawyer."


''Natural Experiments of History'' (2010)

In 2010, Diamond co-edited (with James Robinson) ''Natural Experiments of History'', a collection of seven case studies illustrating the multidisciplinary and comparative approach to the study of history that he advocates. The book's title stems from the fact that it is not possible to study history by the preferred methods of the laboratory sciences, i.e., by controlled experiments comparing replicated human societies as if they were test tubes of bacteria. Instead, one must look at natural experiments in which human societies that are similar in many respects have been historically perturbed. The book's afterword classifies natural experiments, discusses the practical difficulties of studying them, and offers suggestions on how to address those difficulties.


''The World Until Yesterday'' (2012)

In ''
The World Until Yesterday ''The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?'' is a 2012 popular science book by American intellectual Jared Diamond. It explores what people living in the Western world can learn from traditional societies, includ ...
'', published in 2012, Diamond asks what the western world can learn from
traditional societies In sociology, traditional society refers to a society characterized by an orientation to the past, not the future, with a predominant role for custom and habit. Such societies are marked by a lack of distinction between family and business, with the ...
. It surveys 39 traditional small-scale societies of farmers and hunter-gatherers with respect to how they deal with universal human problems. The problems discussed include dividing space, resolving disputes, bringing up children, treatment of elders, dealing with dangers, formulating religions, learning multiple languages, and remaining healthy. The book suggests that some practices of traditional societies could be usefully adopted in the modern industrial world today, either by individuals or else by society as a whole.


''Upheaval'' (2019)

In '' Upheaval: How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change'' Diamond examines whether nations can find lessons during crises in a way like people do. The nations considered are Finland, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Germany, Australia, and the U.S. Diamond identifies four modern threats: nuclear weapons, climate change, limited resources, and extreme inequality.
Anand Giridharadas Anand Giridharadas () is an American journalist and political pundit. He is a former columnist for '' The New York Times''. He is the author of four books: ''India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation's Remaking'' (2011), ''The True American: ...
, reviewing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', claimed the book contained many factual inaccuracies. Daniel Immerwahr, reviewing for ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'', reports that Diamond has "jettisoned statistical analysis" and the associated rigour, even by the standards of his earlier books, which have themselves sometimes been challenged on this basis.


Personal life

Diamond is married to Marie Cohen, granddaughter of Polish politician Edward Werner. They have twin sons, born in 1987.


Boards

* Editorial board of the '' Skeptic Magazine'', a publication of The Skeptics Society * Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
* Member of the National Academy of Sciences * Member of the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
* U.S. regional director of the
World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...


Awards and honors

* 1992 Tanner Lecturer, University of Utah * 1992 Rhône-Poulenc Prize for Science Books for ''The Third Chimpanzee'' * 1997 Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Prize for ''Guns, Germs and Steel'' *
1998 Pulitzer Prize A listing of the Pulitzer Prize award winners for 1998: Journalism Letters * Biography or Autobiography ** ''Personal History'' by Katharine Graham (Alfred A. Knopf) * Fiction ** ''American Pastoral'' by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin) * Hi ...
for General Non-Fiction for ''Guns, Germs and Steel'' * 1998 California Book Awards, Gold Medal in nonfiction for ''Guns, Germs and Steel'' * 1998 Aventis Prize for Science Books for ''Guns, Germs and Steel'' * 1998 International Cosmos Prize * 1999 Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction * 1999 National Medal of Science * 2001 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement * 2002 Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science * 2004 A foreign holder of honorary title of Academician in Academy of Finland * 2005 Elected Honorary Fellow,
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
, England * 2006 Royal Society Prize for Science Books for ''Collapse'' (shortlisted) * 2006 Dickson Prize in Science * 2008 PhD Honoris Causa at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium * 2013
Wolf Prize in Agriculture The Wolf Prize in Agriculture is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine, Physics and the Ar ...
* 2016 American Humanist Association
Humanist of the Year The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defend the constitutiona ...
Eastern long-beaked echidna '' Zaglossus bartoni diamondi'' was named in honor of Jared Diamond, as was the frog '' Austrochaperina adamantina''.


Selected bibliography

* 1992: '' The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal'' (-) * 1997: '' Why Is Sex Fun?'' (-) * 1997: ''
Guns, Germs, and Steel ''Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies'' (subtitled ''A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years'' in Britain) is a 1997 transdisciplinary non-fiction book by Jared Diamond. In 1998, it won the Pulitzer Prize for ...
: The Fates of Human Societies'' (). Also published with the title ''Guns, germs and steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years'' () * 2005: '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'' () * 2010: ''Natural Experiments of History'', with James A. Robinson () * 2012: ''
The World Until Yesterday ''The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?'' is a 2012 popular science book by American intellectual Jared Diamond. It explores what people living in the Western world can learn from traditional societies, includ ...
: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?'' () * 2015: ''The Third Chimpanzee for Young People: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal'' () * 2019: '' Upheaval: How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change'' ()


See also

* Assembly rules * Comparative history *
Environmental determinism Environmental determinism (also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism) is the study of how the physical environment predisposes societies and states towards particular development trajectories. Jared Diamond, Jeffrey Herbst ...
* List of important publications in anthropology


References


External links


Personal website

Diamond's page at the UCLA Department of Geography

UCLA Spotlight – Jared Diamond


with bio, conversations, podcasts at '' The Third Culture'', ( Edge Foundation) * *
Jared Diamond: Why do societies collapse? (TED2003)
*
Jared Diamond: How societies can grow old better (TED2013)
*
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
at
The Earth Institute {{Infobox organization , name = The Earth Institute , image = Ei blue1.gif , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , map2 = , type = , tax_id ...
at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, April 2007 * at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California
PBS – Guns, Germs and Steel
at PBS (with full transcripts)
What can we learn from traditional societies?
at Royal Institution, October 2013
Hammer Conversation with Jared Diamond and John Long
Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur ...
, March 16, 2010
Interview with Jared Diamond and James A. Robinson about ''Natural Experiments of History''
at '' New Books in History'' *
Conversation With Jared Diamond: To Solve a Crisis, We Have to Acknowledge It First
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond, Jared 1937 births 20th-century American biologists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American biologists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American writers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge American biophysicists American geographers American people of Moldovan-Jewish descent American physiologists American science writers American skeptics Evolutionary biologists Harvard College alumni Harvard Fellows Human evolution theorists Jewish biophysicists Jewish American writers Jewish American social scientists Living people MacArthur Fellows Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences National Medal of Science laureates American non-fiction environmental writers Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction winners Roxbury Latin School alumni Theorists on Western civilization University of California, Los Angeles faculty Wolf Prize in Agriculture laureates Writers from Boston Writers from California 21st-century American Jews Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the National Academy of Medicine