Debunking Tools

Sometimes You Can Read a Book by its Cover!

The old saying goes: "You can't read a book by its cover!" However, in the realm of pseudoscience and cult archaeology there are usually clues to the content of the book right on the cover. At the same time, you do owe it to yourself and the author to stay open minded until you have ample evidence to label a book as "off base."

Let's take a look at some clues!

Look at the front cover.

• Does it ask "leading" questions? These might be questions like: "Do you want to know the real truth behind UFOs?" or "Did the Air Force conspire to hide evidence about Roswell?"
• Does it make amazing claims? Examples might be such things as "Proof that extraterrestrials visited earth thousands of years ago!"
  If it uses either of these tactics, beware! They are attention-getting devices.
• Look at the lettering on the cover. Believe it or not, especially on paperbacks, the covers often use block lettering with dropped shadows! Who knows why? Attention getting, perhaps.
• Who is the publisher? Is it a reputable publisher of trade or scholarly books that might have put the book through outside or peer review? Many cult books are marketed by publishers of science fiction or are from general trade publishers that will print almost anything, such as Bantam.

Be careful! These traits don't always mean a book is bad. Two good books, Robert Silverberg's Mound Builders and Robert Wauchope's Lost Tribes and Sunken Continents actually use these techniques for parody and sales. Wauchope's book was actually published by the U. of Chicago Press.

Look at the back cover.

• Does the cover have "blurbs" from individuals? Who are they? Are they people who write in the same genre?
• Does the cover give any information about the author? (Look also on the last pages or on the back jacket flap if hardbound.) What are the author's credentials? If not on the cover or inside, you owe it to yourself to find out about the author. Try the web, Who's Who or some biographical dictionaries. Is the author qualified to write about the subject?

Now look just inside.

• In the back, does the book have a bibliography or endnotes? If so, what sort of sources are present? How many of them are foreign language sources? Are any of them the Bible? What are the dates on sources? Are they up to date? Are any of them really scholarly journals? How many are "pop" sources like Time or Newsweek? Good books have good sources!
• Read the author's acknowledgements. Did these people actually comment or critique the work? Or did they "inspire" the author?
• What organizational scheme is used? Is a logical flow indicated in the table of contents or introduction?
• Is the book indexed?

All these traits are indicators of the level of scholarship present in the book. True, mass market or popular books rarely have use for scholarly indicators, but good ones at least provide some point of reference for the reader. Be cautious, though, in that some pseudoscience has learned to mimic good science and scholarship.

Now go deeper inside.

You owe most books a look at the inside, that is, the author's writing. So,

• Is the writing clear?
• Is the author prone to hyperbole or outrageous claims?
• Does the author use "devices?" If so, what?
  • Straw man
  • Darwin was and amateur; I'm an amateur; therefore, I'm as good as Darwin?
  • Conspiracy and deception on the part of science or government
  • Poor use of argument from authority
  • ad hominum attack instead of logic
• Does the author use evidence well?
• Does the author mislead regarding factuality, actuality and validity?

If you look for these characteristics, just by a quick glance and a skim, you can get a pretty good idea of the nature of the book.

A last bit of advice: Be open, but be skeptical!

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larry-zimmerman@uiowa.edu
University of Iowa Anthropology
08/18/98