An Unhealthy Dose of Skepticism

In November 1964, the U.S. Government Printing Office released what might be the most specialized reference set ever published. At 18,000 pages, it rivaled The Oxford English Dictionary and the Encyclopedia Britannica in terms of shelf inches. But while those efforts attempted to cover the history of the English language and the sweep of human knowledge, respectively, all 26 volumes of Hearings Before the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy were devoted to six seconds, give or take.