There is no getting through to people like the editors at Physics Today. I expect that even if everyone here were to write to them, they would reject every message.
They think of themselves as fair, objective and open minded. Perhaps they are open minded about some subjects, but not cold fusion. I regard this above all as a failure of imagination, described by Giorgio de Santillana in the book "The Origins of Scientific Thought:" The failure of imagination explains, among other things, why men became so reactionary-minded, even when they thought they were entertaining the most lofty and liberal ideals. Something like that was to occur again in the American South. When Aristotle, the great master of ethics, said that slavery is a fact of nature, and that we shall need slaves so long as the shuttle will not run in the loom by itself, he had registered one of those great mental blocks which foretell the end of a cycle. And this leads us to what is obviously crucial, the lack of an applied science. Pure science is always a hazardous and unfinished affair, stretching out its structures in perilous balance over the unknown. It does not suit men’s whims or comfort their fears. In order to be accepted by a tough-minded society, it must produce unquestionable and stunning results, as happened with Newton’s laws. Otherwise, it will be told to lay off and not disturb people’s minds unnecessarily. As Martin Fleischmann said: "People don't want progress; it makes them uncomfortable. They don't want it, and they shan't have it." "People" in this case, include the editors at Physics Today, even though they themselves would vociferously deny that.
