(apologizing again for posting in English, am using my linguistically challenged computer in school)...

I'm so happy that Guns, Germs and Steel is out in Hebrew. Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees, I found it to be a fascinating read. And I enjoyed the concise review, too.

As someone who is more biased towards a social science reading of the text, I read it a bit less "scientifically" and more "socially". As mentioned in the review, the author avoided accepting the geographical conditions - namely, the difference in grain and fauna variety - as "scientifically given", and emphasized the fact that social construction, political governance (e.g. China), and ambition, had a lot to do with the development of European imperialism. Moreover, a lack of difference in abilities between various world populations (emphasized by the author) does not imply a lack of difference in ambition and motivation, which might have sped the development of steel and the drive benihd imperialism in the first place (for better and for worse).

Natural conditions can influence human development - but only to an extent (I'm reminded of Asimov's concept of psycho-history); human motivation, social interactions and ambitions - as fuelled by politics and religion - make a big, often dramatic, difference. The author didn't forget that, and the reviewer smartly highlighted that, and that, for me, is the crucial point in the theory - not undermining it, but making it flexible and allowing it to account for a multifaceted human development.