Even among the hundreds of thousands of books published each year, rarely does one come along that changes our way of thinking about not only the facts, but also how the facts fit into the big picture, and what that picture actually is.

Jared Diamond's last two books, "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and more recently, "Collapse," achieve such significance. In the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Guns, Germs, and Steel," Diamond details how the distribution of wealth and power among societies around the world has been successfully shaped by biogeographic factors. In other words, environmental endowment has sharply favored some societies, and even some continents, over others. In "Collapse," the gripping question is why "failed" civilizations were unable to avert destruction and what warnings their chronicles hold for us.

Among other distinctions, Diamond's books argue for the possibility of a genuinely scientific history that goes beyond theories about conquering cultures. "I've set myself the modest task of trying to explain the broad pattern of human history, on all the continents, for the last 13,000 years. Why did history take such different evolutionary courses for peoples of different continents? This problem has fascinated me for a long time, but it's now ripe for a new synthesis because of recent advances in many fields seemingly remote from history, including molecular biology, plant and animal genetics and biogeography, archaeology, and linguistics," Diamond writes.

These complex, exhaustively researched subjects make for compelling, educational and unexpectedly entertaining reading when written about by Diamond.

Despite his overwhelming achievements as a scientist, researcher, educator and writer-a professor of geography at UCLA, he's also a research associate in ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York; a research associate in ornithology and mammalogy for the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History; a contributing editor for Discover Magazine; and director of the U.S. Division of the World Wildlife Fund, and has won international prizes, awards and research fellowships too numerous to mention-Diamond is a caring, approachable, humble thinker.

From his home in Los Angeles, Diamond offered us some insight on where he's coming from and where he thinks we should be going.

What most got you interested in pursuing a career in life science?

A love for birds that turned me into a bird watcher when I was 7 years old; the example of my father, who was a physician, so that until the end of my college career, I, too, expected to become a doctor, and then made the transition into medical research; and, finally, from childhood onwards, an interest in all aspects of the real world.

What types of challenges have you faced when communicating your speculations and ideas to the layperson? What have been successful strategies for common understanding?

When I first attempted to write for lay people, I failed utterly, because I couldn't free myself from the style and expectations of academia. When I renewed the attempt in my 40s, I found then that it was easier: I learned about subjects outside my usual specialty, worked hard to explain them clearly to myself, and then explained them to other people in the same way that I had explained them to myself.

What are the most intriguing cultures you've investigated?

The most intriguing cultures of which I have experience are the dozens and dozens of New Guinea tribes with which I have been working for the last 40 years. But while I found New Guineans especially interesting, I have enjoyed and been interested in virtually all peoples that I've encountered.

What are some important topics in science that 'must' be taught in our K-12 classrooms?

It's not so much a matter of teaching certain particularly important topics. It's instead a matter of teaching students to think critically, ask questions and assess evidence, so that they can do so throughout their lives about any topic-not just those of current interest, such as climate change and cancer and population, but also subjects that may emerge as important long after the children have left school.

'Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'

lecture and book signing with Dr. Jared Diamond at UNH Field House Wednesday, April 27 doors open at 6 p.m., free