Ken, I think people will read it, and the reaction in certain circles was predictable from the title. I ordered it last night after reading your recommendation. One local library has two copies with seven holds (I think I am number 7) and the other has it on order (I should be first on that list). Some of the best books I have ever read were written by scholars, not for other scholars in their fields but for the educated public. Ivor Noel-Hume, James Horn, and Helen Rountree are three names that come immediately to mind. We need more such books and fewer poorly-written, dull-as-dishwater, full-of-technical-jargon, peer-reviewed publications that even some scholars must cringe to read. Lindsey ****************************** The thread began with a one sentence recommendation to read the book and did not include a review or analysis of the book. So your subsequent outburst of miscelaneous slander seems over the top and rather dark to me at least. But let's hope the brouha will wet the appetites of some and actually lead to more reading the book. I notice that among the folks on the book jacket saying positive things about their reaction to the book are hard scientists James D Watson and Edward O Wilson, and even soft scientist Lionel Tiger. Author Nicholas Wade was educated at England's Cambridge University in Natural Science, he was reporter or editor at the well known journals Science and Nature, and eventually science reporter/editor at the New York Times. So his was a long career of working at the interface of science and the general wider public with interest in science matters. The book was not meant to be a "peer reviewed" scientific article, for the little that has come to mean in today's world