[Thor Heyerdahl's] ability to write for the general reader and to capture the imagination of all who have hidden desires to discover lost information about exotic peoples has endeared him to a public not overly concerned with scientific facts. After all, what could be more exciting than sailing on a raft from South America to Polynesia or dangerous rope descents to secret storage caves to discover small stone sculptures unknown to all who had gone before? These sculptures are the focus of Heyerdahl's new book The Art of Easter Island. The book's title, impressive size, and extensive illustrations excite one's hope that there might be a dispassionate analysis of art from an island that has always been shrouded in mystery…. How disappointing, then, to find that the book is not an analysis of these remarkable objects. Instead, it is a presentation yet again of his evidence in support...