Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion [Hardcover]

Gary Taubes (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0394584562 | ISBN-13: 978-0394584560 | Publication Date: June 15, 1993 | Edition: 1st

A science journalist brings to life one of the greatest scientific frauds of our times with the story of the two obscure researchers who claimed to have discovered a clean, no-fuss method for harnessing the energy of a hydrogen bomb. 20,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Science journalist Taubes's chronicle of the cold-fusion episode is an engrossing cautionary tale. In 1989, University of Utah chemist Stanley Pons and his British collaborator Martin Fleischman made headlines worldwide with their announcement that they had created a sustained nuclear fusion reaction at room temperature in a chemistry lab. Their simple device supposedly promised a clean, virtually inexhaustible source of energy. But Taubes ( Nobel Dreams ), who has reported on cold fusion for the New York Times , faults Pons and Fleischman for amateurish, flawed experimental techniques and for offering "virtually no data" to support their claim. Pons is now working for a Japanese company, and Japan's Ministry of Trade and Industry is heavily funding a cold-fusion research program. Taubes considers these latest developments part of an ongoing fiasco--the quasi-scientific pursuit of a nonexistent phenomenon. He steers readers smoothly through the technical details in this scientific detective story.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Cold fusion never existed. Even though its "discovery" by two University of Utah chemists--Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischman--was proclaimed with fanfare in 1989, the idea has been thoroughly discredited. As Taubes demonstrates in this well-documented account, cold fusion was "bad science" from the outset. The researchers rushed to announce their discovery to ensure primacy and, by circumventing peer review, introduced political and economic pressures into the scientific process. Taubes interviewed many of the key players in the controversy (although Pons and Fleischman refused his requests) and thus gives an insider's view of what happened--and why. Eugene Mallove's Fire from Ice ( LJ 6/1/91) also critically appraises cold fusion, but Taubes's work is more comprehensive and also less strident. This cautionary tale puts cold fusion to rest and, more important, shows how science can be mishandled. Recommended for public and academic libraries.
- Gregg Sapp, Montana State Univ. Libs., Bo z eman
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 503 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (June 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394584562
• ISBN-13: 978-0394584560
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #467,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The History of Cold Fusion -- In Depth, February 17, 2001

By 

"bhb6" (Springfield, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion (Hardcover)

This book is excellent. It describes in amazing detail the events leading up to and following the "Cold Fusion" news conference. It's the story of how two scientists fooled themselves into believing that they were onto something so big that they had to claim credit for it -- fast. And it's the story of how the least qualified researchers quickly "confirmed" Cold Fusion, and how the best qualified researchers found nothing. If you're interested in how science is done, both well and poorly, read this book.

19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars revealing, witty, July 9, 1999

By 

Nik Weaver (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion (Hardcover)

I strongly recommend this book. Taubes carries the reader through complex issues with wit and clarity. Some of his deadpan observations are hilarious. (Even though Pons and Fleischmann hadn't tried to measure neutrons, they should have known their apparatus wasn't producing enough of them to be consistent with their claims of nuclear fusion. "They weren't dead, for instance.")

Although it's primarily written in the style of fly-on-the-wall journalism, "Cold Fusion" is also a meditation on human frailties and on the differences between good and bad science. But fundamentally, it is a tragic story of people getting lost in circumstances beyond their control.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but protracted, June 5, 1998

By 

Erick N. Larson (San Ramon, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion (Hardcover)

The author does an excellent job in chronicling the saga and travail of cold fusion. The "lessons learned" are applicable to numerous technical fields, particularly where conclusions are drawn far ahead of substantiating evidence and critical peer review.