PZ Myers, who is a professor at the University of Minnesota and whose Pharyngula is one of the most popular science blogs around, is being sued for libel to the tune of $15 million after criticizing a book postulating an alternative theory of evolution. Stuart Pivar, the author of Lifecode, thinks Myers’s less-than glowing review of his book amounts to libel: according to blogger Teresa Nielsen Hayden he seems to take particular exception to the term “crackpot”. Myers’s own blog says “On the advice of counsel, I’m not going to say a word, yet.”

A quick search suggests that Myers is not the only person using the “c” word about Pivar at the moment. Nielsen Hayden has a good, defiantly partisan run down of what’s actually going on while Scientific American has the following comment from Myers (presumably before his advice came in): “Nothing in the review was motivated by personal malice … I still stand by my review, and now I’m a bit disturbed that someone would think criticism of a scientific hypothesis must be defended by silencing its critics.” The book seems to have had no reviews on Amazon before this; as a result of the publicity it now has five very negative ones.

Of 90 blogs weighing in on this at the time of writing, only one seems to be backing Pivar. The Disgruntled Chemist blog labels the lawsuit (which is against SEED as well as Myers) is the “worst kind of bullying”. Andrea Bottaro on The Panda’s Thumb thinks it is “the latest in frivolous lawsuit madness”. Only ‘Demolition 65’ claims to be “absolutely shivering with glee” that Myers, a long-time thorn in the side of creationists, is suffering discomfort—and even that anonymous blogger doesn’t think the suit is a very good idea.

In other blog news: a creationist in Turkey has managed to block access to a sizable chunk of the blogosphere in that country.