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Science Blogger Sued for Unfavorable Book Review

tigerhawkvok writes "Recently, new author Stuart Privar provided Professor PZ Meyers of Pharyngula a copy of his book, Lifecode, for review. Over the course of the review itself and a few follow-ups, it became evident that the content was nonsense (including, among other things, ten-legged spiders and other phenomena strongly at odds with developmental biology). However, the common threat of lawsuits finally became a reality, and now Privar is suing Myers for $15 million. Can calling someone a 'classic crackpot' in the face of such incorrect data have any chance at making it to court, or even winning the suit?"

5 of 588 comments (clear)

  1. The Turbo Pascal guy? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I vaguely recall the first really popular IDE for DOS machines was Turbo Pascal written by someone named like Philip Khan. Same dude?

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  2. Re:Kill a future cop. Support the war in Iraq. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    What does this have to do with the price of opium in Tibet aka the book review.

  3. Re:When Wealthy Christians and Crackpots Attack! by Delirium+Tremens · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Replying to your sig:

    Why wasn't that guy in the rightmost line of traffic anyway?

  4. Re:I see dollar signs by quintesse · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Not if we attach frickin' laser beams to their heads! :-)

    (sorry, couldn't resist)

  5. Re:the power of the web... by caffeinemessiah · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    He's got some 'positive' reviews too:

    [5 STARS] It's well accepted in the scientific community that the coolest theory is usually the correct one. Evolution for example is quite lame, with its long slow processes and lack of nifty illustrations. Evolution is also hampered by its insistence on verifiable well tested data. What's more boring then sitting in a darkened lab looking through a microscope. It is the definition of geeky. Lifecode is none of those things. Pivar begins with a cool theory, that our bodies are formed by mechanical process not genetic information, and then creates data to support it. Ask yourself what shows more intelligence finding data in the real world (easy) or actually creating it yourself (hard). He also includes amazing comics of how a perfect cone is molded into a skull. Now, scientists might argue that we see none of this when we actually look at developing embryos. That's not the point. They are making the critical error of putting data before theory. Pivar is smart enough to realize the absurdity of that. If you want well tested established theories look elsewhere. If you want a theory that is cool and makes you feel good look here. This book is must for all Creationists, home schoolers, and those few brave folks who can reject plain evidence in favor of amazing fancy.

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    An old-timer with old-timey ideas.