agricultural populations permits greater resistance to disease, which is another reason why contact among geographically separated cultures – mostly agricultural versus hunter-gatherer societies – often leads to extinction of the latter through devastating infections. The process of first contact between differing civilizations is examined through the descriptions of Papua New Guinea highlanders, who were first visited half a century back. Historically, Diamond argues such contacts between widely differing populations have very frequently culminated in the extinction of the disadvantaged groups like many Native American tribes, the Tasmanians, etc. There is a long list of genocides in history. The question of why some civilisations conquered others is the main theme of Diamond's later book Guns, Germs and Steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years (1997). Environmental impact and extinction (part five) Here the argument is that civilizations sometimes get caught up in internal superiority contests, and deplete the environment to such an extent that they may never recover. Examples include Easter Island and the ruins of Petra, both of which were the result of deforestation resulting in desertification, according to Diamond. The question of why some civilizations collapse and others survive is the main theme of Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005). Awards The Third Chimpanzee was the recipient of the Royal Society Prize for Science Books and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 1992. Reviews A contemporary review of the work by Frans de Waal was published by the New York Times (March, 1992), who praises the wit and breadth of the author's approach to the subject matter. He notes there is an emphasis on linguistic diversity by the author, and endorses the virtue of his inclusion and comparison of historic or far-fetched speculation on origins in hominids. In popular culture In 2021, Martin L. Gore, a principal songwriter of Depeche Mode, released an EP inspired by the book and named after it. Notes and references 1991 non-fiction books English-language books Human evolution books Works by Jared Diamond