... experience in working with metal, and in developing different techniques in manufacturing metal that seemed more refined, Mann argues in 1491 that the Natives' techniques and use for metal was not nearly as primitive as what Diamond presumes in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel. Diamond argues that the Europeans conquered the Natives because of superior metal technology. A close examination shows Mann's argument that the Natives' metal techniques undermines Diamond's argument that the Europeans had superior metal techniques. To understand the main differences between these two authors, one should examine the specific points before considering their different views on the specific metalworking techniques in the respective cultures. The Europeans had steel and Indians did not, which has led some researchers, Diamond among them, to "argue that Indian metallurgy essentially [did not] exist" (2). "After all, they didn't have the steel axe," (1) Diamond says in the national geographic movie ...

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