Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society, Master of Trinity
College and Astronomer Royal made the following comments about cold fusion:
"A conspicuous departure from traditional norms happened back in 1989
when Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, then at the University of
Utah, claimed at a press conference to have generated nuclear power
using a table-top apparatus. If credible, it would have ranked as one
of the most momentous breakthroughs since the discovery of fire.
But doubts set in. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary
evidence, and in this case the evidence proved far from robust.
Others failed to reproduce what Pons and Fleischmann claimed they'd
done. Within a year, there was a consensus that the results were
misinterpreted, though even today a few believers remain.
'Cold fusion' bypassed the normal quality controls of the scientific
profession, but it did no great harm in the long run. Indeed in any
similar episode today, exchanges via the internet would have led to a
consensus verdict even more quickly. . . ."
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/radio4/transcripts/20100601-reith.rtf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sj9lh
It is depressing, and shocking, to learn that someone of his stature
is so out of touch.
- Jed
