Re: concluded that it was a few bad apples and a "chain of errors"
I hope you edited it better than the editor of the book I read recently where semiconductor holes were confused with positrons.
A technical book usually has many editors. The original MS was several thousand pages and unreadable by a layman. I highlighted what should be focussed on to generate a readable book; that is what should be omitted. The original MS (that I still possess) contained most of the contents of the following:
Disturbances in the blood due to driving
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(82)90026-3/abstract
Heart disease, cancer and vehicle travel
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(79)90012-4/abstract
Male, female heart disease-relationship with vehicle travel
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(79)90104-X/abstract
Cerebrovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease, and the stress of vehicle travel
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(89)90093-5/abstract
Ischaemic heart disease, and vehicle travel
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(87)90061-2/abstract
Diseases of malfunction of body mechanisms. (Heart disease, diabetes, cancer etc.) risk by occupation, and correlation, male and female, with vehicle travel
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(83)90087-7/abstract
Cancer: A statistical relationship with road accident deaths and driving
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(94)90057-4/abstract
Leukaemia, a close association with vehicle travel
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(91)90264-Y/abstract
Cancer deaths due to all causes, its relationship with vehicle travel in Australia, Japan and European countries
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(91)90263-X/abstract
The prediction of lung cancer in Australia 1939–1981
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(86)90035-6/abstract
Lung cancer, the motor vehicle and its subtle influence on body functions
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(89)90151-5/abstract
Cancer of the lymphatic system and leukaemia a correlation with vehicle accidents
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877(82)90165-7/abstract
As well, I looked at some of the data myself:
http://www.maths.utas.edu.au/DHStat/Data/CancPet.html
Here you will see that a 10% increase in the population of smokers does not result in a 10% increase in lung cancer deaths. The amount of increase depends on when it occurred in time. The increase in lung cancer deaths was readily predicted by knowing the increase in petrol consumption, as was the rate of ischaemic heart disease.
Further, the rate of these diseases where driving did not occur was zero. In the 35 years that data was available for Risdon Prison, the number of prisoners dying from these diseases was zero. New Guinea Highlanders who remain in the highlands where there are no motor cars also have a zero rate of incidence. Two years after moving to Port Moresby, the rate of these diseases is the same as the general population. This could not be attributed to dietary change; I checked. Trappist monks do not suffer from ischaemic heart disease.
The tl;dr is that you are quite wrong
Not really. I was asked to fact check a very long MS. I read all of Robinson's papers and several he referred to. I discussed some of the data with a statistician working with the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics since I was not a statistician. He confirmed that Robinson's statistical analyses were kosher. I also discussed it with a medical practitioner whose response was "But everybody already knows this". Not me obviously! Consequently, I recommended publication. I did what I was paid to do. All later editing/proofreading was either done by the publisher or someone he hired.
I do accept responsibility for the typo in "While causation is not proof of causation, lack of correlation indicates lack of causation" where clearly I meant to type "While causation is not proof of correlation". My bad.