Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American scientist and author best known for his
popular science books
The Third Chimpanzee (1991),
Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997),
Collapse (2005) and
The World Until Yesterday (2012). Originally trained in
physiology, Diamond's work is known for drawing from a variety of fields, including anthropology, ecology, geography, and evolutionary biology. He is currently Professor of
Geography at the
University of California, Los Angeles. He has been described as "America’s best-known geographer".