A review by davidsteinsaltz
Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure by Paul A. Offit

3.0

This book plays an important role in making a clear statement about the bizarre politics and pseudoscience of the anti-vaccine movement. The writing is not brilliant, however, and the tone of the book occasionally verges on the hysterical. The author is at his best on the science of vaccines, which is his area of expertise. Most of the book, however, is about politics, journalism, sociology or psychology (occasionally psychopathology), and on all of these topics the Offit has mainly boilerplate and platitudes to offer. Quack treatments have a long history, and are the subject of extensive research, but the discussion in this book makes little reference outside of itself.