Publisher's C++ textbook recycles generic blurb across food science, metallurgy books

Raymond Chen’s follow-up on a suspect C++ textbook turns from the cover to the back. The blurb promises “incredible insights” into “diverse topics” without ever naming a single C++ concept, reading like a book report from someone who never opened the book.

The punchline: Chen tracks down nearly identical wording on books from the same publisher, Larson and Keller, covering casting, food industry processes, nutrition and metabolism, and materials science. The same template phrases — “topics of utmost significance,” “diverse topics covered in this text address the varied branches” — appear verbatim across unrelated disciplines.

Combined with the earlier finding that the cover shows JavaScript code lifted from a 2013 Alamy stock photo, the evidence points to a low-effort content mill churning out interchangeable textbooks with swapped titles. It’s a small but pointed case study in how thinly produced reference material reaches readers under respectable-looking packaging.