The Right Coast

May 23, 2005
 
Fat Hype
By Tom Smith

Our friend and frequent recruiting target Paul Campos at Colorado-Boulder gets a lot of play in this must-read (for people who follow this sort of thing) article on the obesity controversy. Paul's book The Obesity Myth, seems to be getting a lot of attention. Some sages criticized Paul for writing a book that is not really about Law, as in The Law. People who know Paul know he is not overly preoccupied with what other people think. He even has certain tendencies toward fearlessness, an extremely rare trait in academics, which makes you wonder what tenure is for . . . In any event, the book seems to be just the sort of thing a Public Intellectual should write. If medical mavens are spouting bad science in order to maximize grant money, somebody has to call them on it, and other scientists may be reluctant to do so. Good work, Professor. Now, for another helping of mashed potatoes.