Iain: Mention the name Jared Diamond in serious human-science circles, and you will hear much grinding of teeth. The guy has made boxcar-loads of money by writing books that pander to the “Left Creationist” mindset of our university Humanities departments and their media camp followers.

Most astounding was Diamond’s bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, which described the development of human beings and their societies in all sorts of different environments without once letting go of the Left-Creationist article of faith that Natural Selection suddenly ceased operating on human beings 50,000 years ago.

As Nicholas Wade reported in the New York Times a couple of days ago, it is now plain, and getting plainer by the hour, that human evolution has been proceeding at a cracking pace throught the history and prehistory of our species. The only real question about Jared Diamond’s books is the number of years it will be before they look like content-free historical curiosities. My guess would be: five to ten.

As if Jared Diamond cares, as he laughs his way to the bank.