When the "expert" gets it wrong...

Gabriele Campbell · Post by **Gabriele Campbell** » Fri February 11th, 2011, 7:07 pm

[quote=""Russ Whitfield""]
finding a legionary eagle in China or something like that would re-write the history books.[/quote]

That would prove that the Chinese copied quality products from Europe already 2000 years ago.

Carla · Post by **Carla** » Tue February 15th, 2011, 8:38 pm

[quote=""EC2""]I guess to err is human, but if it happens time and again, there comes a stage where a reader loses alll confidence. But then you have to be a reader in the know. I wouldn't have a clue that the map of Alexandria was wrong. Someone else would have no idea that Geoffrey le Bel didn't go anywhere near the Middle East in his lifetime. It's a minefield.[/quote]

Agreed - if the reader knows enough to be able to judge whether all the facts are correct, they probably wouldn't need to read the book in the first place.

I tend to judge books and websites on their referencing. If the sources of statements are referenced and there's a clear distinction between evidence and interpretation/speculation, I give it much more credence than if it just expects me to take the author's word for it. It's impractical to check every reference so sometimes I spot-check a sample. If they turn out to be accurate, I'm more inclined to think the rest are probably accurate as well.