Lecture #8: How Plants, Animals & Diseases Changed the World

by John Horgan
published on 30 September 2026

bookmark_addbookmark_addedSave Video person_addperson_checkSubscribe to Author

Join Dr. John Horgan, history professor at Concordia University Wisconsin, as he takes us on a fascinating journey through the Columbian Exchange, one of the most transformative periods in world history. In this engaging lecture, Dr. Horgan explores how the arrival of Europeans in the Americas triggered an unprecedented global exchange of plants, animals, and deadly diseases, reshaping diets, economies, and societies across five continents.

📚 Recommended Reading:
The Columbian Exchange
by Alfred W. Crosby
https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0275980928

The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars
by Joël Glenn BrennerJoël Glenn Brenner
https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0767904575

A Good Time to Be Born: How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future
by Perri Klass
https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0393609995

— SUPPORT US VIA OUR PATREON—
https://www.patreon.com/join/whencyclopedia

— BUY OUR MERCH —
https://www.worldhistory.store​/

— ATTRIBUTIONS —
You can find all attribution and credits for images, animations, graphics and music here -

The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:
https://www.ancientlyre.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7Dx2vFEg8DmOJ5YCRm4A5v?si=emacIH9CRieFNGXRUyJ9
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ1X6F7lGMEadnNETSzTv8A

World History Encyclopedia
www.worldhistory.org