Too Hot to Handle

[Patrick J. Smith]

I've just finished reading a proof copy of Frank Close's soon to
be released book `Too Hot to Handle,' subtitled `The Race for Cold
Fusion.' Publication date is January 24, 1991 in the UK, by W. H.
Allen Publishing Co., and March 15 in the USA, by Princeton University
Press. ISBN # 1-85227-206-6. Folks in the USA may wish to order the
Allen edition to obtain a copy as soon as possible.

The book begins by tracing the separate histories of the
Palmer-Jones type fusion and the Fleischmann-Pons-Hawkins type fusion.
These independent paths are traced through time until their chance
meeting, when Jones et al., and Pons et al., became aware of each
other. Close convincingly demonstrates how this accident of
fate, and the subsequent meetings and exchanges, drove the actions of
the principle characters, and led ultimately to a series of
astonishing errors of judgement. Finally, Close clearly illustrates
just how different the two groups work really was, and how
misperceptions of what each others work consisted of resulted in
perhaps the 500 most unusual days in the history of modern science.

The book is based on hundreds of interviews of the key figures in
the cold fusion story, and cuts through the mass of confusion and
misinformation to reveal the story behind the scenes: from the frantic
days of March, 1989, through the APS Baltimore meeting, the
Santa Fe meeting, the Los Angeles meeting, & etc. It provides an in
depth view of the story through the First Annual Cold Fusion
Conference, the legal action against Salomon et al., the financial
scandal involving the funding of the National Cold Fusion Institute,
and the resignation of University of Utah President Chase Peterson.
Close leaves open the possibility of anomalous heat and its
interpretation, but argues, through facts previously known by only a
very few people, that the association of heat in Fleischmann et al's
experiments with nuclear observables must be dismissed.

Among other things, Close describes the influence of the electronic
bulletin board, electronic mail, faxes, & etc., on the speed with
which information was disseminated, and, at times, how they
contributed to the general confusion. To its credit, the electronic
bulletin board is described as a good overall barometer of the
scientific communities current impression of cold fusion, and even
quotes our very own Bill Johnson :), who, it is noted, led much of the
cogent discussions on the NET.

Although Frank Close is a particle physicist associated with Oak
Ridge National Lab, the book is accessible to anyone with a very
moderate technical background. The book makes interesting reading, is
very well researched (bringing out a great many surprising and little
known facts), is humorous at times, and I highly recommend it to
anyone interested in the cold fusion saga.

-Patrick J Smith