Brandon Keim
Science

The Dog Ate Our Book Reviews: Watson's Book Given Free Pass by Press

Much of the outcry over James Watson’s low estimation of black intelligence centers on remarks he made in a Times of London interview, but he was quite open about his views in his new book, Avoid Boring People: Lessons From a Life in Science. There he wrote, … there is no firm reason to anticipate […]

Avoidboringpeople_2
Much of the outcry over James Watson's low estimation of black intelligence centers on remarks he made in a Times of London interview, but he was quite open about his views in his new book, Avoid Boring People: Lessons From a Life in Science. There he wrote,

... there is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so.

How many book reviewers actually picked up on that? To the best of my Googling, only the Associated Press. The Boston Globe, Technology Review, Decatur Daily, MSNBC, Publisher's Weekly, San Diego Union Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Seed all missed it. (If you've seen it reviewed elsewhere, send me a link.) Given the realities of book review logistics and economics -- reviewers rarely have time or economic incentive to actually read more than a chapter or two -- this isn't surprising or unforgivable, but it does give the resulting furor a bad aftertaste. "We're shocked -- shocked!" But we shouldn't be.

Coming tomorrow: more of James Watson's views on breeding, gays and women; the danger of looking for scientific explanations to social problems; and a shout out to Rosalind Franklin.

Like this post? Then Digg our James Watson controversy frontpage.

See Also: