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cold fusion



On Saturday, Nov 1, 2003, Dan MacIsaac wrote:

. . .Something will happen if many physics teachers
write that they are confused by the present situation.
We (and our students) have access to many good
papers but our establishment keeps repeating old
arguments that the entire field is "pseudo-science."
Somebody should appoint a panel of experts to
evaluate findings reported in the last ten years.

A letter to the editor of our journal, The Physics Teacher,
can be submitted via e-mail. The editor is Dr. Karl. C.
Mamola. The address is: < tpt@appstate.edu >
Ludwik Kowalski

Ludwik, I disagree. TPT is not a research physics journal, and letters
to the editor of TPT will not advance your agenda of re-opening
the issue of cold fusion. Such letters will actually alienate TPT
readers like myself to your cause. Replicable research published in
peer-reviewed physics research journals is required. Claims of
conspiracy without results further discredits your cause.

There were no replies to Dan's comment. It shows
that many of us think that Phys-L is not an appropriate
place to continue arguing about claims made by cold
fusion researchers. There are two good reasons for this:

(a) most of us are not trained in highly accurate
calorimetry, electrochemistry, sophisticated nuclear
detectors, mass spectrometry, surface chemistry, etc.,

b) it is a political issue often driven by emotions
rather than by rules of scientific methodology.

Instead of using Phys-L I responded to Dan in
item #114 on my cold fusion web site:

http://blake.montclair.edu/~kowalskil/cf/

In that item I also ask for comments to be sent to me
in private. Such comments might help me to turn the
item #114 into a compilation of interesting quotes.
Please write about your evolving attitudes toward cold
fusion. Samples of representative “voices from teachers”
are worth collecting; future historians of science might
benefit from their existence.

Next year I plan to attend the 11th International Cold
Fusion conference (in Marseilles, France) and item
#114 might become an interesting poster presentation.
I would also like to know how many people found my
cold fusion web site worth visiting. It was created for
you, and for your students. Should I continue using it
to share what I learn and think about cold fusion? I
have other priorities at this time but things are likely
to become very different after I retire next May.
Ludwik Kowalski
kowalskil@mail.montclair.edu