Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold FusionRandom House, 1993 - 503 pages At 1:00 P.M., on March 23, 1989, two obscure scientists at the University of Utah announced that they had discovered salvation in a test tube - cold nuclear fusion. The technology promised sale, cheap, limitless energy, and the press played it as the scientific breakthrough of the century. It would become instead a fiasco of epidemic proportions, an unforgettable morality tale in the scientific method: what happens when reason is perverted by hope and greed. Gary Taubes's Bad Science is the vivid, dramatic, and definitive story of the astonishing quest for cold fusion, from its premature birth in a Utah turf war to its lingering and surreal death in a laboratory in College Station, Texas. It is the story of good scientists and bad, of heroes and charlatans, and of a race in which thousands of researchers spent tens of millions of dollars to prove or disprove the existence of a canard. Drawing from interviews with over 260 scientists, administrators, and journalists, Taubes dissects the cold fusion episode with wit and clarity, tracing the untold inside story of scientific research gone awry and academic politics out of control: from the devout physicist and his Department of Energy funding agent who set the wheels of the fiasco in motion, to the University of Utah president whose sole dream was to turn his institution into an intellectual powerhouse. Taubes unveils the darker side of science, where politics, ambition, and misguided obsession can corrupt its ethics and its purpose. Bad Science is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how science functions and what can happen when the scientific method is jettisoned in the pursuit of wealth and glory. As a story ofmorality, philosophy, and pathology, it is destined to become a classic of science journalism. |
Contents
A Collective Derangement of Minds | 107 |
The Tail of the Distribution | 301 |
Epilogue | 425 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
Alamos announcement appeared Appleby asked atoms Bard believed Bockris Bockris's called calorimetry Caltech Chase Peterson chemistry chemists claimed cold fusion cold fusion cells cold fusion research collaboration confirmed Czirr Department of Energy Deseret deuterium electrochemical electrochemist electrodes electrolyte EPRI excess heat explained Fleisch funding Gajewski gamma ray Garwin Gaudreau going graduate student Hagelstein Harwell heavy water helium Huggins Hugo Rossi hydrogen Jim Brophy John Bockris Jones's Journal Kainthla knew Koonin laboratory later Lawson light water look Martin Fleischmann meeting muon-catalyzed fusion Nate Lewis NCFI neutron detector nuclear fusion Packham palladium Palmer panel paper patent Petrasso physicists piezonuclear fusion polywater Pons and Fleischmann Pons-Fleischmann Pons's press conference proposal Rafelski reaction reported Salamon Salt Lake City scientific scientists seemed spectrum Stan Pons Steve Jones suggested talk temperature Texas A&M thing Triggs tritium University of Utah Velev wanted week Wolf wrote