Popular science becomes crackpot science
• UFOs & Bogus Science
People treat popular science books as primary research sources.
To readers who crave awe more than understanding, the scientists' hype feeds an unhealthy addiction. We frequently receive manuscripts describing "independent research," often including an ambitious new theory of everything or claiming to debunk Einstein's theories of relativity. These passionate and sincere creations are often full of carefully crafted jargon, but of course they are just nonsense. ...
I give a lecture on cosmology for a group of talented youth; afterward, a bright teen from the audience says portentously, "I don't have any questions for you . . . but I do have some answers." He then proceeds to discourse like a crackpot far beyond his years, spouting a variety of nonsense that he has clearly picked up from avidly reading popular books about the frontiers of science. ...
Craig J. Hogan, The Importance of Being Nothingness