Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 81-85 of 87
 Poorly Written Bogus Book Lacks Credibility August 31, 2002
David G. Feltus (Raleigh, NC United States)
21 out of 31 found this review helpful
I was very impressed when I heard the author interviewed on NPR and I immediately went to my favorite book store and ordered the "The Hunt for Zero Point". From the discussion, it sounded like the book would be a well documented historical look at WWII and post WWII efforts to develop anti-gravity. After reading only a few pages I realized that "The Hunt for Zero Point" is basically a book of psuedo facts. So far, I've gotten to page 49. Cook uses a chatty, wordy style to pad out a book that includes little real information. In addition, he fills the book with quoted, often lengthy and unbelieveable, snippets of conversations he allegedly had with his sources. There is little documentation to support the mostly annectdotal information presented. The author frequently admits most of his "research" was done via the internet. The book reads like bad science fiction. Sample quote (page 30), "'I see,' General Craig replied. The man's urbane delivery earmarked him, to me at least, as someone big in Air Force intelligence." In general, this book has the tone of UFO book. It is worse than bad science fiction.
Bogus. November 4, 2002
KroolShooz
23 out of 37 found this review helpful
I purchased this book because I was interested in the potential practical applications of quantum physics, including the theoretical "zero point" energy. What I got was a half-baked conspiracy theory novel. Cook is clearly not a scientist, and there is precious little science between the covers of this book. What little there is is generally misrepresented or dead wrong, as when Cook makes some hogwash statement about the Theory of Relativity having been demolished by recent findings. I keep up on science news, and the Theory of Relativity is alive and healthy (see Scientific American, November 2002, pg.27) Cook has clearly been misled by his superficial understanding of quantum physics, which appears to offer relativity-defying possibilities (On this count, however, appearances are deceiving as even an informed layman should know). Cook clearly did a lot of interviewing, and a tremendous amount of flying back and forth, in his research for this book. Pity that he didn't actually interview physicists for a book that is largely about physics. And shame on Broadway Books, the publisher, for not having vetted the manuscript through a science review board to filter out the garbage (although that wouldn't have left much). I am stunned that the author is a journalist from Jane's Defence Weekly. I expected higher standards, a technical approach, and a modicum of healthy journalistic skepticism. With regard to the latter, Cook continually pays lip service to a skeptical attitude, while continually falling into all the traps that conspiracy theorists fall into. "If Mr. X was in Place Y when Event Z happened, can we doubt that Mr. X was secretly involved in Event Z?" Well, yes. I should have known what I was in for from the prologue, which had the reek of some noir detective novel. The whole book is shot through with a contrived sense of menace, as if Cook fears that the "Men in Black" are likely to grab him at any minute. The cheapest shot of all is a chapter that actually begins with government thugs breaking into his hotel room and preparing to shoot him in his bed. Then he wakes up, and whaddaya know, it was all a dream. Of course. One word...LAME. If you dig inane conspiracy theory babble, complete with government plots, UFOs, Nazi occult-science, and CIA psychic remote viewers, then this is the book for you! If you want to really learn something about quantum physics, which is astounding enough without the mystical mumbo jumbo, there are plenty of good books out there for the layman. Don't waste your money on this one.
A content-free conspiracy thriller January 14, 2004
Kyle Wilson
18 out of 30 found this review helpful
This book is terrible. Though Cook's style keeps you turning the pages, after reading 270 pages slackjawed and credulous adulation of every snake-oil salesman to cross his path you'll find that you have no better understanding of the physics of gravity than when you started. This is a work utterly devoid of scientific rigor.
No Credibility October 8, 2002
Thomas B. Talbot (Gunpowder, MD USA)
10 out of 22 found this review helpful
For an author with reportedly good credentials, his scientific understanding is low. More than speculation, this book is utter fantasy. Statements that the B-2 bomber has an antigravity device, that a U.S. ship teleported itself in WWII, and that the Germans may have had antigravity flying saucers are for the gullible.
Speculation is fine, but THE HUNT FOR ZERO POINT is so far off the reservation that it is silly. Readers interested in historic high-technology efforts in space and aviation may want to check out something like "Project Orion" instead.
Thanks for the Warning February 22, 2003
"Spinner" Dave (ST PAUL, MN United States)
10 out of 28 found this review helpful
OK, I got to page 40 and decidecd it was time to check and see if it was worth continuing. Guess not! I was hoping to learn about past research into anti-gravity, regardless of its outcomes, but it was looking more and more like a "Gummamint K-O-N-spiracy" book with each passing page. Glad I borrowed it from the library! It's too bad, it could have been interesting. As far as I know, the scientists still have no real model for gravity (gravitons? superstrings? c'mon, maybe it's just ether on the grassy knoll).
Showing reviews 81-85 of 87
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