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This book is a summary of selected experimental and theoretical research performed over the last 19 years that gives profound and unambiguous evidence for low energy nuclear reaction (LENR), historically known as cold fusion.
In 1989, the subject was announced with great fanfare, to the chagrin of many people in the science community. However, the significant claim of its discoverers, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, excess heat without harmful neutron emissions or strong gamma radiation, involving electrochemical cells using heavy water and palladium, has held strong.

In recent years, LENR, within the field of condensed matter nuclear science, has begun to attract widespread attention and is regarded as a potential alternative and renewable energy source to confront climate change and energy scarcity. The aim of the research is to collect experimental findings for LENR in order to present reasonable explanations and a conclusive theoretical and practical working model.

The goal of the field is directed toward the fabrication of LENR devices with unique commercial potential demonstrating an alternative energy source that does not produce greenhouse gases, long-lived radiation or strong prompt radiation. The idea of LENR has led to endless discussions about the kinetic impossibility of intense nuclear reactions with high coulomb barrier potential. However, recent theoretical work may soon shed light on this mystery.

Understanding this process is one of the most challenging and perhaps important issues in the scientific world. This book includes previously unpublished studies, new and controversial theories to approach LENR with access to new sources and experimental results. The book offers insight into this controversial subject and will help readers re-evaluate their perspective on LENR for a possible alternative energy source. ... Read more

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A Relatively Technical Overview of Cold Fusion
This work, loaded with graphs and equations, is a comprehensive mini-encyclopedia on LENR ("cold fusion"). A history is provided, and some theories of the modus operandi of cold fusion are included.

Different forms of this phenomenon are described, even possible biologically-mediated transmutation of elements. Milestones in cold-fusion research are tabulated (p. 30), as are frequencies of observation of particular transmutated elements (p. 180), and laboratories worldwide that engage in transmutation research (p. 182). The reality of transmutation of elements is not only supported by their anomalous occurrence, but also by the fact that their respective isotopic compositions often differ considerably from those in nature. The latter, of course, argues against contamination.
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These proceedings include results of experimental and theoretical research on the following topics: reaction dynamics, fusion-fission phenomena, neutron physics, deformed shells, nuclear spectroscopy and exotic nuclei. ... Read more

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How to achieve unlimited, safe, clean and low-cost energy by laser- or beam-driven inertial nuclear fusion has preoccupied all winners of the Edward Teller Medal since its inception in 1991. This book presents their findings, meeting discussions, and personal insights from Edward Teller himself. Expect discussion of important advances anticipated in the future such as multi-billion dollar fusion research projects (NIF), and new schemes such as the petawatt-picosecond laser–plasma interactions evoking new physics and coupling mechanisms. ... Read more

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Climatic Catastrophe Shake-up and Edward Teller
It is remarkable that the world's shake-up about the climatic catastrophe in December 2007 coincides with the 100th birthday celebration of Edward Teller. The Bali conference of the IPCC (International Panel about Climatic Change) during the week of the Nobel Prizes to Al Gore and for IPCC to its chairman Rajendra K. Pachauri on 10th of December 2007 is close to Teller's 100th birthday on 15 January 2008. Teller emphasized not long before he died in September 2003 to John Nuckolls "The future is uncertain and scientists and engineers should cooperate globally to shape the future". If nuclear power stations may be an essential component next for solving the climatic catastrophe, there is a crucial contribution by Edward Teller where a very rare documentation is just given in the "Edward Teller Lectures".
For the carbon dioxide pollution in the air one will have to recognize the priorities, e.g. that the 120 years development of the motor car is so perfect and essential not only for individual mobility but for all the whole economy, trade and supply of most needed goods. Petrol is vital to be used before alternatives may be developed and installed on a trillion dollar level in the future. Where to cut CO2 emission had to come from other sections, e.g. from extinguishing the burning of rain forests emitting 6 billion tons CO2 per year. And by gradually reducing fossil energy in the electric power stations, heating houses etc.. Windmills or solar energy generation will help but this is not generally economic. When Robert Dautray received his Edward Teller Medal, Teller mentioned how to fight the oil crisis of 1972 (page 51): "the French have a really unjustifiable advantage over everyone else: they are logical! And this logic tells them that the nuclear way is the way to go..." Indeed it needed many years until 85% of all electricity is produced nuclear now in France. The statement of Teller in 1993 is now so important after the most experienced and successful environmentalist James Lovelock against a furious crowd of media opponents is showing that it is now too late to stop the catastrophe and that a rise the of oceans by 60meters can only be postponed by using nuclear energy.
The French solution with light water fission reactors is now well established by technology and economics for general use, but Al Gore in his book "Earth in the balance" of 1993, p. 328, correctly aks for better advanced designs of nuclear fission reactors. Just for a much better solution absolutely safe and free of any misuse for nuclear weapons, Teller described his rarely documented scheme in the book (p.51) of a completely automatic thorium breeding reactor built 200 meters under ground in rocks. Any development of this kind of alternatives was prevented by the antinuclear media indoctrination and valuable time lost. New steps in energetic future developments should well be expected parallel to other options as e.g. producing solar cells by electron beam technology to avoid the usual "alchemy" criticized by Gore (see amazon.de, H. Hora "Klimakatastrophe Überwinden").
Beyond James Lovelock's appeal to promote nuclear fission reactors, he also looks to fusion energy in the future. The option to solve this problem with lasers is just the topic of the book. It contains the summary of laser driven spark ignition in John Lindl's Edward Teller Lecture or that of George Miley underlining the use of neutron lean fusion fuel as Gerold Kulcinski said in CNN on November 13, 2007: one space shuttle load of helium-three mined at the moon surface can produce all energy of the USA for half a year. The crucial contributions to this field by Michael Key, by Laurence K. Suter, Robert McCrory or Steve Hahn should be mentioned as examples of the addresses of the 21 recipients of the Edward Teller medals awarded by the American Nuclear Society before 2005. A most advanced scheme by Nuckolls and Wood (p.13) may lead to a fusion gain by using the new Petawatt-picosecond lasers for fast ignition similar to the recently discovered block ignition [Physics of Plasmas 14, 172701 (2007); Laser and Particle Beams 25, 37 (2007)]. Thefusion energy gains of 10,000 per incident laser energy even at rather low compression of the fusion fuel may lead to energy generation several times less expensive than any present energy source.
This is an exclusive view to solve the global energy problems at least by some specific aspects for next developments where Edward Teller's contributions were of incommensurable value.The "Edward Teller Lectures - Lasers and Inertial Fusion Energy" are a very competent summary mostly by the long years specialists in this field honored with the Edward Teller Medal of their scientific results gained from exploringthis most exciting field with so many unexpected new phenomena now going to be used in the biggest lasers in the world (National Ignition Facility NIF in Livermore, or LMJ in France) costing more than 3 Billion dollars each. Like the lectures on this topic by Teller himself, the awardees make understandable their specific scientific results for the experts, as well as for the broader interested reader, and for students, scientists and engineers. This is merging as a brilliant jewel of new physics into the fatefully important demands for solving the future of mankind under the shield of Edward Teller's pioneering work and inspirations.

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World energy consumption has grown dramatically over the past few decades. This growth in energy demand will be driven by large increases in both economic growth and world population coupled with rising living standards in rapidly growing countries. The last years, we routinely hear about a "renaissance" of nuclear energy. The recognition that nuclear power is vital to global energy security in the 21st century has been growing for some time.

"The more we look to the future, the more we can expect countries to be considering the potential benefits that expanding nuclear power has to offer for the global environment and for economic growth," IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in advance of a gathering of 500 nuclear power experts assembled in Moscow for the "International Conference on Fifty Years of Nuclear Power - the Next Fifty Years".

But such a renaissance is not a single-valued and sure thing. Legitimate four unresolved questions remain about high relative costs; perceived adverse safety, environmental, and health effects; potential security risks stemming from proliferation; and unresolved challenges in long-term management of nuclear wastes. Failure to answer these questions adequately could imperil the nuclear revival so many have proclaimed is night. This proceeding examines the status and future of nuclear power because of a belief that this technology is an important option for the regional and the world countries to meet the future energy needs without emitting carbon dioxide and other atmospheric pollutants. The objectives, addressed to government, industry, and academic leaders, discusses the interrelated technical, economic, environmental and political challenges facing a significant increase in the global nuclear power utilization over the next half century and what might be done to overcome those challenges.

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The book abounds with fascinating anecdotes about fusion's rocky path: the spurious claim by Argentine dictator Juan Peron in 1951 that his country had built a working fusion reactor, the rush by the United States to drop secrecy and publicize its fusion work as a propaganda offensive after the Russian success with Sputnik; the fortune Penthouse magazine publisher Bob Guccione sank into an unconventional fusion device, the skepticism that met an assertion by two University of Utah chemists in 1989 that they had created "cold fusion" in a bottle.Aimed at a general audience, the book describes the scientific basis of controlled fusion--the fusing of atomic nuclei, under conditions hotter than the sun, to release energy. Using personal recollections of scientists involved, it traces the history of this little-known international race that began during the Cold War in secret laboratories in the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union, and evolved into an astonishingly open collaboration between East and West. ... Read more

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CONTENTS: Foreward; Preface 1. A Brief History of the Laser Thermonuclear Fusion Research 2. Global Environment-Energy Issues 3. Laser Thermonuclear Fusion Research. General Issues
Part I Parametric Plasma Turbulence Effects in the Fast Ignition Laser Thermonuclear Fusion Research
Part II Parametric Plasma Turbulence: Generation of Suprathermal Electrons, Fast Ions, and Laser Radiation Harmonics
Part III Colossal Magnetic Fields, (B>10MG), in Fast Ignition Thermonuclear Fusion Pellets; Electron Heat Transport Inhibition; Fusion Pellet Compression and Heating. ... Read more

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An investigative report prepared for the general readerto explain how the most extraordinary claim made in the basic sciencesduring the twentieth century was mistakenly dismissed through errorsof scientific protocol. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

A great account of what may be science's greatest blunder
I'm half way through this book, and I just can not take it anymore: Although this book is excellently researched and chronicles the events wonderfully there is a bad feeling about this work. Let me first focus on the positives though:

Beaudette does not attempt to hide his bias, which is firstly stated in the introduction in that he feels there is something here, and that process was not followed by laughing Pons and Fleischmann out of American Scientist circles. The events are chronicled and the case of WHY what happened should not have happened is made. Further, the arguments to support the thesis that Cold Fusion as a field of research is valid is also made quite clearly (although very repetitively).

I also do not disagree with the other reviews which rate this book highly, and are recorded here on Amazon, but clearly, my feelings tend towards the more negative. To summarize the book as far as i've read it:
1) Cold Fusion was a bad name for the area/effect because "fusion" moves it into the area of physicists (who are elitist [....]) which require nuclear artifacts before accepting a measurement of heat.
2) Physicists (who are elitists [....]) sit in their ivory towers and rule American science, while in the UK, Europe and Japan they are far more open minded. Which is why the US is a horrible place to work as a scientist.
3) Chemists, who could have backed up Pons and Fleischmann are either scared of Physicists (who are mean) or are ... anyway physicists are not at all nice and even the ones interested in Cold Fusion are not nice at all.
4) Physicists are bad at admitting when they make a mistake, even if they may have only made the mistake because they accepted someone elses mistake, but since they are not very nice, it is all the physicists mistake.
5) Physicists are afraid if Cold Fusion gets off the ground it will make their efforts meaningless. In fact, even though they don't believe there is anything to cold fusion that just shows how mean they are, because they are kicking something they don't believe in, while it is down.
6) It is probably best not to be too critical in detail of physicists who are still alive, like Robert Park (who is not at all nice, and makes use of ridicule at times ... but let's focus on someone who is dead so they can't sue me).

In short: Although Pons and Fleischmann made some wrong statements it is all the physicists fault, because they are mean and want evidence. Evidence which exists (which, i'm even inclined to believe, because the documentation in the book is very supportive of this facet), but is hard to reproduce because Cold Fusion as a mechanism is not fully understood. Something that can occur in any area of science, but that's ok.

What the book does well is put Pons and Fleischmann's perspective across in very human terms, while the entire time painting them as the victim of the pressure from the research community and skeptics. It chronicles their ridicule and all the slander that was pointed at them, while the entire time painting the physicists as the evil group that is not letting them be heard. As i mentioned, Beaudette also seems to focus on dead physicists rather than the very much alive ones who have very actively spoken out against the science of Cold Fusion. Which frankly seems odd...

What the book reminds me off, in terms of style, are books by religious writers like Dave Hunt, who makes a point and then repeats it until the end of the book. The same is the case here, and although interesting bits of information are used to back this up, after reading for the fifth time that nuclear artifacts were required by physicists which Pons and Fleischmann contended might not exist because the method of heat generation is different to normal fusion like they said. Although, they claimed to have measured neutron emission (indirectly)... which turned out to be wrong ... though someone else claimed to have measured it also, which also turned out to be wrong. Or reading about how reproducing things like cloning are more difficult than reproducing cold fusion, and anyway: different areas of science have different requirements for reproducibility; it just gets old.

I can agree that there was elitism leveled at the field, and i can accept that there might be unknown variables which make things hard to reproduce experiments, but repeating that over and over again just does not make for interesting reading.

In conclusion, while the point is made, it is not made efficiently and more time is spent on making excuses or blaming others than telling the story. While it is indicated that Pons and Fleischmann could have handled things better nothing is made of their failure to raise the issues that were mishandled, and instead a conspiracy of silence is described. Overall the book is slow to read, and because of its repetitive nature it ultimately becomes boring.

I have only read it half way however, so if it picks up and changes dramatically thereafter, i am sorry to have rated it so lowly. At the end of the day, this book was a very frustrating read.

cold fusion revisited in the cold light of day
Beaudette has revisited the cold fusion controversy and teased the actual findings of Fleischmannand Pons He has also evaluated the intellectual atmosphere of the first months and years from the 1989 announcement. He did a good exposition on the difference between good and bad science for the lay audience.
He also showed the politics of big science and the poor showing of protocol for the evaluation of the cold fusion phenomenon. The phenomenom is real. It just doesn't work as hot fusion would.
The conflict of paradigms is fascinating to see played out in the world press.
The book is quite readable without complex mathematics to bog down the mind.
Highly recommend the book for moderately educated layman.
With the gas prices being what they are cold fusion deserves more than a cursory look and it does a good job delineating the various sources of xs heat
Sincerely
Doug Hulstedt

A must for a teacher
I am a teacher. Several months ago I received an e-mail message from a high school student. The girl wrote; ". . . In my chemistry class, I am doing a project on Cold Fusion.. . . I was wondering if you could give me some advice or information?. . ." Beaudette's book is an excellent summary of what has been done in the field of Cold Fusion since 1989. It is a must for any teacher who is interested in the subject.

In addition to summarizing results of many interesting projects the author offers several philosophical observations about scientific methodology and protocols used in various scientific disciplines. Referring to the Cold Fusion controversy he writes: "to discard a well made observation is to violate modern protocol [scientific methodology]. If widely practiced, such a course would quickly undo science. The most interesting and perplexing observations, though accurately measured, would have to be refused by the scientific community because their cause was obscure. Does this mean that any claim of observation must be accepted as worthy of scientific study? Certainly not. It means something quite different. It means that the controversy must center about the quality of the measurements and not about the source or cause of the phenomenon. . .If conflicting data is prohibited from contention, then theories are no longer falsifible. Were it to enable such practice, science would evolve into secular theology."

Beaudette's book has many other interesting observations and quotes, together with the scientific background of major cold fusion researchers. It certainly deserves a place in libraries, especially in high schools and universities. The level is appropriate for an educated layman.

the definitive reference
As a journalist covering cold fusion, I turned again and again to this book to check or confirm facts, data, dates, chronologies, and other details and have found it to be the definitive resource in the field.Written by an engineer and vetted by scientists who participated in cold fusion research, the book is an indispensable guide to anyone interested in the history, data, issues, and future of this subject.Recommended without reservation.

Truth in Science:Future University Required Reading
I have read this book, "Excess Heat".I simply could not lay it down until I had finished it entirely.During the process of reading it, I kept repeating to myself (and my captive wife) how excellent a job "this man" did on setting down in philosophically logical terms the convincing facts and logic of the science of cold fusion.At one point I remarked to my wife that "this man" must have taken Apologetics in college and received an "A" mark, but then I remembered that such courses might not have been offered at our Alma Mater (MIT).I was impressed with the way the heretical errors developed, flourished and were brought out in clear plain logic in the book.I want to humbly congratulate the author on such a masterful account of what has happened in this important field.I predict this book will be required reading in some of the "truly best", finest universities in the future.Historically, it will be recorded that Beaudette wrote the truth at a time when science was a bit confused and not quite willing to accept it right away.Slowly it will gain momentum, understanding and finally acceptance.Congratulations on a book that is very well written with class, authority, and no doubt, with hard work, the old fashion way:a book for all seasons.
Dr. Michael R. Staker, P.E. ... Read more

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In this proceedings volume, the following topics are discussed: systems and design; blanket and first wall technology of fission and fusion reactors; fission and fusion materials; radiation damage analysis; calculation codes; databases. ... Read more

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It is the first application to nuclear physics from energy-density functional method, for which Professor Walter Kohn received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The book presents a comprehensive extension of the Bohr-Wheeler theory with the present knowledge of nuclear density distribution function.

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The energy that can, in principle, be obtained from the fusion of hydrogen nuclei to form helium is enormous; the hydrogen (actually deuterium) in seawater would provide an energy many orders of magnitude greater than that in all fossil fuels combined. Unfortunately, harnessing fusion for commercial power production has proven elusive. One approach is based on trying to scale down thermonuclear explosions to a sufficiently small size that can be routinely used in a power plant. In such a process the inertia of the fuel itself provides the confinement necessary to maintain the thermonuclear reaction for long enough that more energy is produced than was needed to start the reaction: hence the name, "Inertial- Confinement Fusion". This book analyzes the progress that has been made in indirect-drive inertial-confinement fusion, in which energy is delivered to the fuel in two steps: first high-intensity lasers are used to generate x-rays, then these are focused on a target to heat it to ignition. Much of the material in this book was previously classified by DOE. Intended as a reference guide to researchers, the book also contains sufficient background and introductory material that it can serve as an introduction to the field for graduate students and researchers new to the field. Lindl is the 1993 recipient of the Edward Teller Medal in in Inertial Fusion and of the 1994 DOE E.O. Lawrence Award. ... Read more

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A must read in terms of future of energy R&D, space travel.
John Lindl's "Inertial Confinement Fusion" is a must read for those interested in the future of energy R&D, space travel and science for the 21st century. ICF (inertial confinement fusion) was first demonstrated in the early 1950s with the development of the hydrogen bomb. The nuclear fusion of hydrogen to form helium is the primary source of the energy which lights the stars. One gallon of sea water contains enough heavy hydrogen (deuterium) to generate the equivalent energy of 300 gallons of gasoline--and only costs a few cents to extract.Beginning in the 1950s and accelerating with the invention of the laser, scientists working at national laboratories, like Los Alamos and Livermore, and elsewhere, began to pursue the harnessing of ICF on a scale one million times smaller than that of thermonuclear weapons. On this scale, the fusion energy output can be readily harnessed like the "explosion" of gasoline in the internal combustion engine.! ! As Dr. Lindl details, the scientific feasibility of accomplishing this scale down of H-bombs was demonstrated in the mid-1980s with halite/centurion underground tests. And within acouple of years a laser which can achieve the same physical conditions will have been constructed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California--the National Ignition Facility (NIF).But, until the publication of this work, most of the science underlying this approach to harnessing fusion was classified "top secret." And in fact many of the references in Dr. Lindl's book are still classified top secret. For the first time, Dr. Lindl reveals the actual history of ICF and the science involved. That is, Dr. Lindl details how the concept of "indirect drive" was developed and applied to laser pellet fusion. Instead of lasers directly driving the implosion of fusion fuel pellets to the densities and temperatures found in the center of stars, the laser energy! !is first transformed into X-rays and the X-rays are trappe! d within a chamber, called a hohlraum. The trapped X-rays are then utilized to implode the fusion fuel pellet. Dr. Lindl details for the first time the research effort which has been carried out over the last four decades to accomplish this approach to harnessing the virtually unlimined energy potentials of nuclear fusion. ... Read more