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.
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Book Description
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.
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.
- Gregg Sapp, Montana State Univ. Libs., Bo z eman
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By "bhb6"
Format: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.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Jeff Box
Format:Hardcover
I read the book a few years after it came out and have referred back to it many times since. I view it as the story of greed running amuck with hack "scientists" taking many short cuts trying to cash on in a world changing bonanza. Yet, here we are 20+ years later and I have yet to see a public cold fusion demo running so much as a single light bulb.
Tip of the hat to Mr. Taubes for laying out the story. The 18 years since publication are pretty strong evidence that his conclusions were and still are on target.
I also view it as thought provoking for investors when they see some of the energy scams on Wall Street.
Tip of the hat to Mr. Taubes for laying out the story. The 18 years since publication are pretty strong evidence that his conclusions were and still are on target.
I also view it as thought provoking for investors when they see some of the energy scams on Wall Street.
11 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
may be a collector's item
Gary Taubes should stick to nutrition books (Good Calories Bad Calories is highly recommended). This history of cold fusion started with the assumption that snake oil was being... Read more
Published 8 months ago by countryside
5.0 out of 5 stars
Likely to be a serious collector's item
Given what's been going on lately, I am definitely picking up a copy of this book. It seems likely to become a classic, although perhaps not quite in the way the author intended. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jeff
1.0 out of 5 stars
The Truth Will Set You Free - But Not In This Book
You might want to check this link for a different perspective.
[...]
Never rush to judgement. Read more
[...]
Never rush to judgement. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Wayne
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Terrible Mistake which should be retracted!
Gary should be ashamed for taking the wrong side on this issue. The bad science was on the side that attacked cold fusion to keep their research contracts alive. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Thomas R. Blakeslee
1.0 out of 5 stars
Muddled account, overly long
You won't get a memorable account of what happened around the 1989 fake "discovery" of cold fusion from this book. Read more
Published on October 7, 2010 by Helen Atkinson
1.0 out of 5 stars
Gary Taubes Has A Lot of Explaining To Do
Well, now it's 2004, eleven years after Gary Taubes eulogy to Cold Fusion, "Bad Science : The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion". Unfortunately for Mr. Read more
Published on November 7, 2004 by JohnyC
1.0 out of 5 stars
Mr. Taubes' book is seriously truncated and misleading
When the original Cold Fusion press conference was held on 3-23-89, the reaction of the physics establishment in the first world was immediate , orchestrated and highly hostile. Read more
Published on March 25, 1999 by mpirg@computerpro.com
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