What I've found interesting is reading these tomes by people that pile up stuff from all sorts of various fields, e.g. Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs, Steel). I'll

What I've found interesting is reading these tomes by people that pile up stuff from all sorts of various fields, e.g. Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs, Steel). I'll read along happily, completely convinced, being amazed and thrilled at the depth and scope of his knowledge ... and then I'll happen across some little tidbit that's in a field I know about—and he screws it up, saying something silly/wrong in an authoritative tone. It suddenly makes the entire thing come crashing down. I suddenly feel like I can't really trust anything he's said, because his obvious skill at sounding authoritative and confident, and the wide scope of his pronouncements, make it pretty obvious that there are probably other silly/wrong things in the book that I didn't get. So I don't read Jared Diamond books anymore, entertaining may they be. Worse than that, I really can't read any of these sorts of books anymore. I can suspend my disbelief for fiction, but that doesn't work so well for non-fiction...