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?"

I see dollar signs

[Sierpinski]

If someone can be sued for their opinions... man I'm going to make a TON of money from my mother-in-law!

new business plan

[Anonymous Coward]

Aha, I see the floodgates opening now:

1). Write ridiculously inaccurate book
2). Send it to a well-known, respected scientist for review
3). Wait for the scathing reviews to come in
4). Sue
5). Profit!

But, at the expense of respect. Hey, who needs respect when you have 15 million dollars?

Bestest. Review. EVAR.

[plover]

I love this quote:

The doodles in this book bear absolutely no relationship to anything that goes on in real organisms, but after staring at them for a while, I realized what this book is actually about.

This book is a description of the development and evolution of balloon animals.

It's that bad. This is a book suitable only for use at clown colleges, and even there, I suspect the clowns would tell us that it is impractical, nonsensical, and has no utility in their craft.

Me too!

[Anonymous Coward]

Ten-legged spiders? Stuart Privar is a classic crackpot!

And I'll proudly say it...anonymously.

Re:I see dollar signs

[Nerdfest]

A pool full of lawyers ... for some reason, the thought brings a smile ....

Ten Legged spiders Exist!

[Bill, Shooter of Bul]

They only require a little patience, a couple extra spider legs, and some super glue.

The chilling effect

[mcmonkey]

For no other reason than getting people to RTFR (RTF-review) because the 2 images alone will probably make whatever liquid substance you're drinking come shooting out your nose. Lets hope it's not scalding hot coffee. This is one link /. readers need to read. =)

And now people are afraid to write a bad review of the review!

Re:I see dollar signs

[jedidiah]

Now, now.

That would be cruel to the sharks. Just think of all of the desperate shark screams as they're getting eaten alive by the lawyers.

Re:Real scientists don't sue

[dkf]

This is all very well, but of course it also includes a bunch of quakery about eating leaves so that their photosynthesis can oxegenate your gut.

It's "quackery". "Quakery" is something to do with porridge oats.

Re:When Wealthy Christians and Crackpots Attack!

[ColonelPanic]

The very real danger to the book's reviewer is that he may be placed in the position of defending rationality before a jury comprised of people who find it perfectly reasonable to symbolically eat the flesh of a cosmic Jewish zombie and telepathically implore him to save them from the consequences of a snake-deceived rib-woman's consumption of magic fruit.

Which is to say, in our rapidly medievalizing former republic, crazy nutbag plaintiffs are granted a decisive advantage.

Re:Real scientists don't sue

[Joe Random]

As the article I link points out, that wouldn't work too well unless you had a torch up your arse.

Gotta love the subtle differences between British and American English. If you put a torch up someone's ass here in the states, it's wouldn't be quite as . . . illuminating . . . an experience. Well, not unless you were one of the bystanders. You could even have some marshmallows ready to roast over the soon-to-be bonfire -- if you're able to deal with your bonfire running around, flailing and screaming, that is.

I think Pauli is more appropriate

[sconeu]

Pauli's famous two-liner:

This isn't right. It isn't even wrong.

Amazon tags

[SynergyBlades]

Slashdot readers hits the Amazon tag [amazon.com] system; hilarity ensues...

delusional (11)
junk science (11)
crank (8)
fiction (8)
garbage (7)
crap (2)
crazy (2)
absent-minded (1)
art (1)
creative thinking (1)
dog crap (1)
fantast (1)
flim flam (1)
insane (1)
junk science crackpot crank garbage ball... (1)
litigious (1)
non-science (1)

Re:Bestest. Review. EVAR.

[Andrewkov]

It's that bad. This is a book suitable only for use at clown colleges

I would prefer it if you not refer to Princeton in that manner.

Re:When Wealthy Christians and Crackpots Attack!

[gordo3000]

What's a religion without nasty threats?

Philosophy?

Re:When Wealthy Christians and Crackpots Attack!

[Hognoxious]

The guy who wrote the review looks pretty guilty to me.

That's because you're a crackpot too.

Re:When Wealthy Christians and Crackpots Attack!

[rizzo420]

i searched the review linked in the article and couldn't find the word "crackpot". i don't think it's libel at all. the only thing the reviewer does is completely trash this guy's "science" and calls it "nothing more than a bunch of pictures". after reading the review, it's obvious that this guy came up with some completely outrageous theories and threw them into a book and called it "science".

Vulgar Abuse

[giafly]

Just because someone publishes something that is wrong, doesn't mean you're allowed to publish statements that they're a crackpot. It's libel.

ShieldW0lf, you're a fucking retard! Vulgar abuse is not defamatory [lawteacher.net]. Thus you can't win a libel suit against me for calling you a fucking retard and the plaintiff in this case probably shouldn't sue for being called a crackpot.

That's it!

[Mycroft_514]

Now I can sue /. for the unfavorable reviews.

Re:When Wealthy Christians and Crackpots Attack!

[the_fat_kid]

Ah, Cthulhu, puting the FEAR into god-fearing for millions of years

Re:When Wealthy Christians and Crackpots Attack!

[Mr. Bad Example]

> What's a religion without nasty threats?

  The Church of England?

  "Cake or death?"

Re:I see dollar signs

[Fred_A]

A lawyer with a frickin laser on its head, now that's a scary thought !

Re:When Wealthy Christians and Crackpots Attack!

[Stormwatch]

But he didn't eat anyone's brain. He just flew to the heavens. That means... Jesus somehow had Jean Grey's powers.