Re: COLD FUSION

[Bob LaMontagne <rlamont@POSTOFFICE.PROVIDENCE.EDU>]

Ludwik Kowalski wrote:

> What makes the AE area different from voodoo science?
>
> 1) Large number (several hundred) cooperating scientists
>       in about 10 countries are actively involved.
> 2) High credentials of these scientists; two Nobel laureates
>       (Teller and Schwinger) were trying to produce theories
>       of AE at one time.  Did they give up? I do not know.
> 3)  Nearly all of the AE researchers have doctorates; many
>       of them are (or were) associated with highly prestigious
>       laboratories and universities. Many of them, including
>       Fleischmann,  were recognized leaders of disciplines.
> 4) They organize one international conference each year
>       and make results of their findings known to all who are
>       interested.
> 5) Their methodology of validation is not different from
>       that practiced by so-called "mainstream" scientists.
>       They experiment, they hypothesize, they change their
>       minds, they try to construct theories, they publish.
> 6) They are not secretive; they want to be heard and be
>       criticized scientifically.
> 7) They want to have access to all mainstream journals
>       in order to benefit from the peer-review process.
> 8) They want their proposals to be fairly evaluated by
>       NSF, DOE and other granting agencies.
> 9) They are highly unhappy about the  "excommunication"
>       of the entire field caused by "heretical" mistakes made
>       by those who announced the discovery in 1989.
>
> Can somebody produce a list of arguments showing
> that claims of AE are not very different from those made
> by astrologers, quantum healers, homeopaths, perpetual
> motion merchants,  spoonbenders, or alien-abduction
> fantasists?

It occurred to me that your list describes actions very similar to those
of some modern day chiropractors. They have abandoned "subluxions" and
many of the other irreproducible concepts from early chiropractic theory
and have concentrated on lower back manipulation where they have
verifiable success (i.e., they have become Physical Therapists.) Does
this then legitimize the whole field of chiropractic, including those
practitioners who still cling to the older theories?

I agree that a name change from Cold Fusion to AE is a good step
forward. But even if AE is found to be real and based on physical law,
does it legitimize the old "Cold Fusion"? We'll never see a paper
published that will make Astrology scientific. AE might produce such a
paper - so it's probably best to stay away from the label "Voodoo" and
simply accept it as fringe science for the time being - especially since
so much of the work is open for peer review.

Bob at PC