Customer Reviews

Excess Heat: Why Cold Fusion Research Prevailed (2nd Edition)

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In 1989 two scientists announced that in experiments with hydrogen and metal they had measured heat in excess of what known processes could produce. They hypothesized that fusion of two hydrogen atoms to form helium was the source of the heat. The study of energy production in hydrogen-metal experiments is usually referred to as cold fusion research. Excess Heat probably will be considered the definitive history of the early years of the cold fusion controversy. The author argues convincingly that cold fusion was dismissed as a mistake by most scientific institutions before proper experimental evaluation. Research on cold fusion has continued over the last 10 years and the book shows that the observation of excess heat is now well established by normal scientific criteria. The author presents the scientific evidence, the arguments from both supporters and critics, as well as the findings of experts who visited labs involved in cold fusion research. The author also comments on the psychological factors involved in the cold fusion controversy. In addition, the book touches on evidence from several labs for the formation of nuclear reaction products, such as helium, when the excess heat is produced. Excess Heat is an important book and so interesting that I found it hard to put down.

This book is a magnum opus on this fascinating field. Together with Fire from Ice : Searching for the Truth Behind the Cold Fusion Furor by Eugene J. Mallove, this is one book you really need to read. Not only because it is highly interesting, and a great work and example of what really good scholarship means, but also because it is very readable, detailed, honest and accurate. It provides a excellent insight about the early days of cold fusion, the confusion, and the later shortsighted, stupid rejection of the entire field by scientific establishment and mainstream media. The latter can be forgiven, they have no knowledge nor interest in the truth, but the scientists are really to blame. As you can see from previous reviews posted here by exceptional great minds like Arthur C. Clarke, prof. Bockris, and others, this is no joke at all. This is pure, honest, cutting edge science. This is the frontier thinking and research that made our age of technology possible. This is the science the world is needing so badly. Mr. Baudette has done a excellent job of presenting the fact and history of this exciting field of science. For people like him, and like Mallove, Clarke, Bockris, Pons & Fleischmann, and many, many others, I personally have the deepest respect. The truth will come out, one day. Let the critics state one desperate non-argument after the other - this is stuff is for real, and it's here to stay, boys and girls! And it's going to change our world for the better - sooner than you think. I wish I could rate this book 6 stars.

Mr. Beaudette is a retired accomplished electrical engineer who dedicated his mind and free time to investigating this field for years, as I have done. This is a book I would have like to have written because he has put the strange events surrounding the birth of this science into a form that is accessible by anyone with a basic understanding of science. Without evoking the spectre of conspiracies, one can understand how normal human behavior, distorted by the intensity of media attention, mixed with the proprietary requirements of private research, protection of research grants, and other questionable motives has gotten the field into the present situation. Beaudette leaves no room for doubt about the reality of the effects, in a simple way, by focusing on the simplest evidence, reproduced by the best of laboratories. It was truly a pleasurable reading experience.

I have read this book, "Excess Heat". I simply could not lay it down until I had finished it entirely. During the process of reading it, I kept repeating to myself (and my captive wife) how excellent a job "this man" did on setting down in philosophically logical terms the convincing facts and logic of the science of cold fusion. At one point I remarked to my wife that "this man" must have taken Apologetics in college and received an "A" mark, but then I remembered that such courses might not have been offered at our Alma Mater (MIT). I was impressed with the way the heretical errors developed, flourished and were brought out in clear plain logic in the book. I want to humbly congratulate the author on such a masterful account of what has happened in this important field. I predict this book will be required reading in some of the "truly best", finest universities in the future. Historically, it will be recorded that Beaudette wrote the truth at a time when science was a bit confused and not quite willing to accept it right away. Slowly it will gain momentum, understanding and finally acceptance. Congratulations on a book that is very well written with class, authority, and no doubt, with hard work, the old fashion way: a book for all seasons.
Dr. Michael R. Staker, P.E.

As a journalist covering cold fusion, I turned again and again to this book to check or confirm facts, data, dates, chronologies, and other details and have found it to be the definitive resource in the field. Written by an engineer and vetted by scientists who participated in cold fusion research, the book is an indispensable guide to anyone interested in the history, data, issues, and future of this subject. Recommended without reservation.

I am a teacher. Several months ago I received an e-mail message from a high school student. The girl wrote; ". . . In my chemistry class, I am doing a project on Cold Fusion.. . . I was wondering if you could give me some advice or information?. . ." Beaudette's book is an excellent summary of what has been done in the field of Cold Fusion since 1989. It is a must for any teacher who is interested in the subject.

In addition to summarizing results of many interesting projects the author offers several philosophical observations about scientific methodology and protocols used in various scientific disciplines. Referring to the Cold Fusion controversy he writes: "to discard a well made observation is to violate modern protocol [scientific methodology]. If widely practiced, such a course would quickly undo science. The most interesting and perplexing observations, though accurately measured, would have to be refused by the scientific community because their cause was obscure. Does this mean that any claim of observation must be accepted as worthy of scientific study? Certainly not. It means something quite different. It means that the controversy must center about the quality of the measurements and not about the source or cause of the phenomenon. . . If conflicting data is prohibited from contention, then theories are no longer falsifible. Were it to enable such practice, science would evolve into secular theology."

Beaudette's book has many other interesting observations and quotes, together with the scientific background of major cold fusion researchers. It certainly deserves a place in libraries, especially in high schools and universities. The level is appropriate for an educated layman.

This book is not only informative to the beginnings of Cold Fusion, but the way in which the material is presented is very thorough and well written. The author has composed a book full of detail, leaving all the evidence for the reader to judge for his/herself. Overall, a very well written book that deserves to be read.

I'm half way through this book, and I just can not take it anymore: Although this book is excellently researched and chronicles the events wonderfully there is a bad feeling about this work. Let me first focus on the positives though:

Beaudette does not attempt to hide his bias, which is firstly stated in the introduction in that he feels there is something here, and that process was not followed by laughing Pons and Fleischmann out of American Scientist circles. The events are chronicled and the case of WHY what happened should not have happened is made. Further, the arguments to support the thesis that Cold Fusion as a field of research is valid is also made quite clearly (although very repetitively).

I also do not disagree with the other reviews which rate this book highly, and are recorded here on Amazon, but clearly, my feelings tend towards the more negative. To summarize the book as far as i've read it:
1) Cold Fusion was a bad name for the area/effect because "fusion" moves it into the area of physicists (who are elitist [....]) which require nuclear artifacts before accepting a measurement of heat.
2) Physicists (who are elitists [....]) sit in their ivory towers and rule American science, while in the UK, Europe and Japan they are far more open minded. Which is why the US is a horrible place to work as a scientist.
3) Chemists, who could have backed up Pons and Fleischmann are either scared of Physicists (who are mean) or are ... anyway physicists are not at all nice and even the ones interested in Cold Fusion are not nice at all.
4) Physicists are bad at admitting when they make a mistake, even if they may have only made the mistake because they accepted someone elses mistake, but since they are not very nice, it is all the physicists mistake.
5) Physicists are afraid if Cold Fusion gets off the ground it will make their efforts meaningless. In fact, even though they don't believe there is anything to cold fusion that just shows how mean they are, because they are kicking something they don't believe in, while it is down.
6) It is probably best not to be too critical in detail of physicists who are still alive, like Robert Park (who is not at all nice, and makes use of ridicule at times ... but let's focus on someone who is dead so they can't sue me).

In short: Although Pons and Fleischmann made some wrong statements it is all the physicists fault, because they are mean and want evidence. Evidence which exists (which, i'm even inclined to believe, because the documentation in the book is very supportive of this facet), but is hard to reproduce because Cold Fusion as a mechanism is not fully understood. Something that can occur in any area of science, but that's ok.

What the book does well is put Pons and Fleischmann's perspective across in very human terms, while the entire time painting them as the victim of the pressure from the research community and skeptics. It chronicles their ridicule and all the slander that was pointed at them, while the entire time painting the physicists as the evil group that is not letting them be heard. As i mentioned, Beaudette also seems to focus on dead physicists rather than the very much alive ones who have very actively spoken out against the science of Cold Fusion. Which frankly seems odd...

What the book reminds me off, in terms of style, are books by religious writers like Dave Hunt, who makes a point and then repeats it until the end of the book. The same is the case here, and although interesting bits of information are used to back this up, after reading for the fifth time that nuclear artifacts were required by physicists which Pons and Fleischmann contended might not exist because the method of heat generation is different to normal fusion like they said. Although, they claimed to have measured neutron emission (indirectly)... which turned out to be wrong ... though someone else claimed to have measured it also, which also turned out to be wrong. Or reading about how reproducing things like cloning are more difficult than reproducing cold fusion, and anyway: different areas of science have different requirements for reproducibility; it just gets old.

I can agree that there was elitism leveled at the field, and i can accept that there might be unknown variables which make things hard to reproduce experiments, but repeating that over and over again just does not make for interesting reading.

In conclusion, while the point is made, it is not made efficiently and more time is spent on making excuses or blaming others than telling the story. While it is indicated that Pons and Fleischmann could have handled things better nothing is made of their failure to raise the issues that were mishandled, and instead a conspiracy of silence is described. Overall the book is slow to read, and because of its repetitive nature it ultimately becomes boring.

I have only read it half way however, so if it picks up and changes dramatically thereafter, i am sorry to have rated it so lowly. At the end of the day, this book was a very frustrating read.

Beaudette has revisited the cold fusion controversy and teased the actual findings of Fleischmann and Pons He has also evaluated the intellectual atmosphere of the first months and years from the 1989 announcement. He did a good exposition on the difference between good and bad science for the lay audience.
He also showed the politics of big science and the poor showing of protocol for the evaluation of the cold fusion phenomenon. The phenomenom is real. It just doesn't work as hot fusion would.
The conflict of paradigms is fascinating to see played out in the world press.
The book is quite readable without complex mathematics to bog down the mind.
Highly recommend the book for moderately educated layman.
With the gas prices being what they are cold fusion deserves more than a cursory look and it does a good job delineating the various sources of xs heat
Sincerely
Doug Hulstedt