Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Peat ( Superstrings and the Theory of Everything ) here probes the background of the cold fusion furor that broke out early this year when chemists Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann of the University of Utah announced that they had sustained a fusion reaction of hydrogen isotopes in a test tube. If verified, their discovery promises the world a limitless supply of cheap energy. Previously, fusion was thought possible only at temperatures found in the heart of the sun. However, other scientists have been unable to confirm Pons and Fleischmann's results, casting considerable doubt on cold fusion. Peat, who remains an agnostic on whether cold fusion is real, does, however, limn what an energy-rich world might look like in this competent, readable account of a highly controversial issue in contemporary science. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
YA-- A well-written, informative book that is an excellent source for a term paper on science, the politics of science, or the relationship of science to government and society. The announcement of the achievement of ``cold fusion'' by chemists at the University of Utah in March 1989 was the source of tremendous excitement in the scientific world and the beginning of a vast and unusual controversy surrounding the ensuing attempts to verify their claim. Cold Fusion is not only a summary of these events, but also a comprehensive summary of the science of cold and hot fusion, the history of fusion research, and the political and social impact of energy technology development. The science is ably presented without dilution or oversimplication in spite of the complexity of the topic. It is objective to a fault, as Peat makes little attempt to distinguish between the validity of sources of the observations reported. The book is thorough as a source of facts on this issue up to midsummer 1989, and it also summarizes the possible separate pathways for the future of cold fusion that further research will dicate.-- Douglas Stickle, University of Texas (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Cold fusion may lead nowhere. But we may be standing on the threshold of something extraordinary."" So concludes Peat, a physicist, in his surprisingly detailed account of one of the scientific brouhahas of the century. It was only March 23, 1989, when Univ. of Utah chemists Stanley Pons and Martin Fleishmann held a press conference announcing the successful demonstration of hydrogen fusion in electrolysis apparatus that could be assembled in a kitchen. Three things happened: (1) They incurred the enmity of Brigham Young Univ. physicist Steven Jones, who had his own version of cold fusion, as well as an agreement with the pair to submit papers for publication simultaneously on March 24; (2) the whole world hated Pons and Fleishmann for staging a press conference before publishing, and (3) the whole world rushed out to try to duplicate the Pons and Fleishmann act--but to no avail. After a first flurry of confirmatory announcements, the negatives starting piling up--along with sneers, contempt, and assorted explanations for the intense heat, which Pons and Fleishmann were taking as signs that fusion had been achieved. Peat does very well at describing the personalities and the basic science involved. One infers that Jones may well have achieved a kind of cold fusion, but with so few neutrons produced that its commercial value is nil at this time. Peat does not rule out that some unknown process may have been revealed by the Pons-Fleishmann technique, but their reclusiveness and the ever-present patent lawyers have polarized the scientific community. To wind up his review, Peat dreams out loud of the potential of cheap and pint-sized energy sources--for your car, home, for third-world countries. But there are enough caveats and capitalist overtones to the development of cold fusion to perhaps dash that dream were it to become a reality. An excellent documenting of science in the age of press conferences and FAX machines. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by School Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
