Cold Fusion Versus LENR: Competing Ideologies
By Steven B. Krivit
[This article is Copyleft 2011 New Energy Times. Permission is granted to reproduce this article as long as the article, this notice and the publication information are included in their entirety and no changes are made to this article.]
Introduction
Science does not happen by itself; it is a human activity driven by personalities. Competing ideologies in the low-energy nuclear reaction research field in recent years have led to disturbing events. This report will provide insights into those events and the activities of one person in particular, Michael Melich, who trained as a theoretical physicist and who has recently taken a more active role in the field.
This report will show that the LENR field does not comprise individuals united behind a single philosophy or goal. The concept of a unified community that is asserted by many of the field’s political leaders is a myth.
The fundamental underlying issue is the ideology of D-D “cold fusion” versus LENR, which does not presume or assert the mechanism of or belief in fusion. This report summarizes the actions of a few people in the field who, for perhaps a variety of reasons, have taken extreme measures to promote their D-D “cold fusion” hypothesis, at the expense of a more rapid and widespread recognition of the reality of LENR. Biases and differing ideologies are normal and expected in science; so is integrity.
Dieter Britz, a longtime observer of the “cold fusion” controversy, wrote, “Real scientists can tolerate differences of opinions.”
The LENR field does indeed contain many real scientists, and the actions of the few people who believe in the D-D “cold fusion” ideology discussed here are not representative of the field.
