Please join the Harvard Club of San Francisco Reading Group to "Discuss 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus"
In-Person Meeting For Those Fully Vaccinated
Location: San Francisco (location will be sent a few days before the meeting to those who RSVP). Please note location is not wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, July 18
4:30pm PT
HCSF Members: Free, but RSVP required
Click here to register
In this groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology, Charles C. Mann radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.
Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering. Indeed, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.
The author brings to our attention material changes in our understanding of three key questions: How many people lived in the Western Hemisphere prior to contact with Europeans? When did they arrive? And how much impact did they have on their physical environment?
Space is limited, so register soon. Attendees will be notified of the location a few days before the meeting. Please note home is not wheelchair accessible.
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Event Organizer
Kirsten Miclau
kirstenmiclau@yahoo.com