Mike,
About "The Bell Curve" book, I think you shoud read the comments
about the book published in Scientific American (either December 94 or
February 95 - I don't remember exactly) The author made a recollection of
the shaky basis on which the book stands especially when confronted with
the veracity of some of the key statistics in the book and its sources. I
am pretty sure you'll find those comments very interesting for the
interpretation of your reading.
Mario de la Pena, Ph.D.
Eleanor Roosevelt Institute for Cancer Research
Denver, CO