SECRETS OF THE PYRAMIDS REVEALED by Robert K. Moffett

By now, it may have become apparent that doctorates carry substantial weight among the nonconformist schools of pyramid study. In fact, academic titles abound to a point where it is hardly paranoid to conclude that they are used for the purpose of impressing the reader with the author’s scholarship. But do they not also imply a promise that the scholarship in the books will be sound?

Perhaps a more accurate title would have been Secrets of Pyramidology Revealed? Author Robert K. Moffett teases us with a pointless introduction in a style that seems to have been de rigueur for skeptical works in the '70s: dressing up your critical work like it's just another mystery mongering meatloaf volume. Moffett mentions Karel Drbal and his razor sharpening pyramids, Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain, and Uri Geller - but none of these are relevant for the rest of the book. Moffett's actual text is about how we got here, to the pyramid mania of the '70s, through a history of the theories of the original pyramidologists. It's a crash course on writers like John Taylor and Howard Vyse (and their precursor John Greaves), fine tuners like Piazzi Smyth, and then bandwagon jumpers on up to the 20th century and the modern day. 

Moffett gives context on why specific writers were interested in certain aspects of the pyramids, and how oftentimes their facts and figures had less to do with the actual stones in the sand than with contemporary religious and political struggles:

At this point, Taylor was sure he had had a revelation, for this was a matter of keen topical interest.

The metric system, developed in France, had by this time spread throughout the Continent, and there was agitation both from the scientific community and export-conscious manufacturers to adopt it in Great Britain. But there was a strong British resistance movement largely based on religious grounds. The French Revolution, with its strong anticlerical bias, had aroused grave misgivings in Britain, and the metric system was closely identified with it. As originally proposed, the metric conversion had involved switching to a ten-day week. Genesis made it perfectly clear that the Lord endorsed the seven-day week. That, after a period of trial, the French themselves had abandoned the decimal week was immaterial. If, in this, the original thinking had been contrary to the Will of God, the entire system was suspect.

Now Taylor could perceive the true function of the Great Pyramid: It was not by chance that the pyramid used the British system of weights and measures. Rather, it was a compendium incorporating the original, Divinely inspired system which had survived in Britain. The Great Pyramid was a message passed down to modern times to strengthen the wills of the anti-metric faction.

The search for cosmic truths collapses inward! Moffett writes with a dry humor, respectfully conveying various crank ideas but occasionally popping an especially ridiculous balloon such as in the case of psychic gadfly Edgar Cayce:

In terms of both current popularity and sheer volume, the most important of the clairvoyants to have contributed to the story of Atlantis was Edgar Cayce who, despite the widespread belief in his ability to communicate across the barrier between this and the afterworld, hasn’t been heard from since his death in 1945.

Once we've completed our journey with Moffett from Ancient Egypt to 19th century Europe to 20th century America, we might be able to say we've learned something about human thought and frailty.

Tempo Books gifts us a few typos here and there, but at least they also give us a picture spread in the middle with lots of vintage images. Moffett, a class act, also gives us a bibliography:

Moffet has a few other books available, including one coauthored with (presumably) his wife - not the title you'd think though! Their shared author blurb says that "Robert and Martha Moffett are both editors as well as published writers. Mr. Moffett's introduction to the animal kingdom was as a snake farmer."

Pyramid Power now and forever! This title is available to read and download at archive dot org.

Tempo Books, 1976

SHARKS: ATTACKS ON MAN by George A. Llano

Springtime for sharks! Erstwhile botanist, lichen expert, and shark enthusiast George Albert Llano follows up H. David Baldridge's excellent text from yesterday with his own attempt at tackling the International Shark Attack File and explicating the lethal nature of SHARKS: ATTACKS ON MAN! Like Baldridge, Llano was a researcher who analyzed shark attacks for the US Navy, trying to tease out usable info from the chaotic noise of survivor reports. His book is much more straightforward than Baldridge's however, simply going through selected cases on a geographical basis, without as many scientific digressions. He covers the same handful of California attacks that Baldridge went over, including the terrible attack on Bob Pamperin which sees him cut in half by a Great White right in front of his dive partner's horrified eyes. A vintage Sports Illustrated article from 1960 covers these same shocking California cases while name dropping Llano, and also gives us a glimpse into midcentury shark attitudes: the extinct Megalodon is called "late and unlamented" and modern sharks are slurred as stupid, brutish killers even as staff writer Thomas Lineaweaver can't help but admit their evolutionary success. We hate 'em 'cause we ain't 'em!

In the American cases Llano makes note of the samaritans who were awarded Carnegie Hero Fund medals for their attempts at rescue. Some get gold, some silver or bronze, and I wonder who exactly was in charge of determining your rank for such a thing! Llano agrees with Baldridge that eyewitnesses have a nigh impossible time identifying shark species, often giving contradictory or impossible descriptions of fish. Llano is careful like Baldridge as well: in the case of the 1916 New Jersey attacks, he presents multiple theories as to the cause of the cluster, ranging from hungry sharks deprived their usual garbage meals from international shipping routes due to WWI disruption, to ravenous sharks pumped up for human flesh from feasting on stranded WWI sailors! Sharks got us coming and going, it seems!

Our author George out and about.

Like Baldridge, Llano focuses on heavily documented Australian and South African cases, the two perfect storms of prime shark habitats that see heavy beach usage by humans. We get brief but effecting glimpses into the human dramas playing out here, with bathers, life guards, scientists, and shark hunters all playing their parts in a grand tapestry tied to our million year old friends, the sharks. In South Africa we also have the specter of racially segregated beaches, and decades later we might wonder: were Black bathers safer than whites on less frequented, less appealing beaches, or at greater risk due to lack of lookouts and official concern?

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

"Grrrrrrrr!" "Aghhhhhhh!" "Errrrrrr!"

Tucked into the backend of the photo spread is a familiar face: the sand tiger who graces the cover of Shark: The Killer of the Deep! Like Baldridge, Llano avoids gory victim shots, though that Mako at the front of the spread is surely a fearsome sight.

After all the carnage, Llano gives us some views we can use with advice on handling attacks and the aftermath. Preserve severed members if given the chance. Noted!

On a final note, these "Hi-Rise" book cases look pretty nifty, but I can't find any info on 'em on the modern web! Too bad, they'd make a great showcase for all these paperbacks.

Sharks: Attacks on Man is available to read and download at archive dot org.

Tempo Books, 1975