Click here to support the Daily Grail for as little as $US1 per month on Patreon

Controversial Cold Fusion Chemist Dies

British chemist Martin Fleischmann, one of the two scientists involved in the initial, controversial claim of ‘cold fusion‘ back in 1989, has passed away aged 85. Along with his partner Stanley Pons, Fleischmann claimed to have achieved a fusion reaction at room temperature in an experiment at the University of Utah – a breathtaking result that, if true, would have massive implications for future energy production.

However, after a flurry of widespread media attention, further research and replications by other scientists failed to find enough evidence for the cold fusion claim to be accepted. In the absence of support from further testing, Fleischmann and Pons’ positive results were soon turned against them, with accusations of shoddy science gaining enough momentum to eventually make ‘cold fusion’ a heretical topic in scientific circles, and turn the scientists involved into ‘poster boys’ for pseudo-science. In 2005, Fleischmann described the whole affair as “a terrible experience”. Nevertheless, some anomalous cold fusion results have continued to provoke interest in the topic, not least from the U.S. Department of Energy.

One wonders if one day, with future research into the topic, Fleischmann’s reputation may be reinstated.

Fleischmann was born in Czechoslovakia. When the Nazis occupied the country in 1938, the family fled to England. To gain legal status for the move, Fleischmann was adopted by a British bachelor.

He studied chemistry at the Imperial College in London, and became known for a strong grasp of mathematics and an imagination unusual for a chemist. He took over the chemistry department of the University of Southampton in 1967 and gave it an international reputation. He was a fellow of the Royal Society, Britain’s Academy of Sciences.

After retiring from the university, he spent a lot of time in Salt Lake City, collaborating on experiments with his friend Pons, an American. Together, they decided to revive an idea Fleischmann had years ago. He had speculated that something interesting, perhaps a nuclear reaction, could be achieved by taking advantage of the peculiar behavior of hydrogen atoms infused in palladium, a precious metal.

Source: Associated Press

Mobile menu - fractal