WHAT:            “Washed Up: The Role of Water in the Collapse of Civilizations,” a public talk at the University of Pennsylvania that will provide insight into water’s impact on society

WHO:              Jared Diamond, a recipient of the National Medal of Science and leading scholar of physiology, ecology, conservation biology and history.  He is best known for his books Guns, Germs, and Steel, a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize; Collapse, Why is Sex Fun;? and The Third Chimpanzee. 

WHEN:            7 p.m. , Wednesday, April 6, followed at 8.30 by a public reception in the Philomathean Halls, fourth floor, College Hall

WHERE:            Penn’s Irvine Auditorium, 34th and Spruce streets

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

As parts of Africa suffer continued drought and Japan tries to recover the tsunamis, Diamond will discuss, as part of the University’s Year of Water, the impact of humankind’s choices in managing water resources.

His study of history's great vanished societies, including Easter Island, Anasazi, the Lowland Maya, Angkor Wat and Great Zimbabwe, suggests that the social collapses were due in part to the types of environmental problems that beset the world today.

This event, free and open to the public, is sponsored by Penn’s Philomathean Society, the Office of the Provost and 24 other University organizations.

Additional information is available at www.upenn.edu/themeyear.