There have been many disputes in the history of cold fusion. They have been about theory, experimental results, and in some cases politics and personality. In my opinion, this dispute, as carried on by Larsen and Krivit, is the most absurd. It is the most pointless. I do not mean that theory is unimportant. I refer to these bizarre notions:
1. You should fight for a theory. Nope. If the theory is right, it will prove itself over time. There is no point to trying to shove it down people's throats. 2. That there is some sort of conspiracy by people who think this is a form of fusion, and some of them such as McKubre have fabricated data to support that hypothesis. I regard that as the single most idiotic notion in the history of this field, and this field has produced a cornucopia of stupid notions. 3. It matters what you call cold fusion. Correct terminology is important. It isn't! This issue is about language, not physics. I know more about language than Larsen does. If the WL theory is right, and if in the future enough people agree the technical terminology should be adjusted to reflect reality, they will change the name. The researcher quoted here has it right: http://blog.newenergytimes.com/2011/12/29/lenr-researcher-refuses-to-abandon-fusion-term/ "I feel it would be much better to allow people to use the terms they are comfortable with. Let people use dozens of terms if they like. Let history decide what term sticks after another 20 years or so. It is better to view terms and other people as how their statements can be true instead of trying to force others to use your terms and then assume others wrong. Nature does not care what we call these events." I have been reading more books about the history of electricity from 1880 to 1910, especially this one, which my daughter got me for Christmas: "Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World." Two things about this stand out in my mind: First, the terminology for light bulbs, filaments, transformers and many other things changed quite a bit in the early years. Second, while this history is inspiring and the work of genius in some ways, it is also chock full of politics, theft of intellectual property, ignorance, stupidity, hubris, jealousy, mismanagement, wasted opportunity, and all of the other problems that plague cold fusion. It makes me feel better about cold fusion. - Jed
