Cold Fusion for Dummies

The field and the name “Cold Fusion” started in 1989 when chemists Stanley Pons of the University of Utah and Martin Fleischmann of the University of Southampton reported the production of excess heat in an electrolytic cell that they concluded could only be produced by a nuclear process. [1, 2] This claim was based on an extraordinary amount of energy being produced. Over the years, additional claims for unexpected nuclear reactions have been reported based on energy and nuclear product production. These results were and continue to be replicated by some laboratories, but not by others. Consequently, the reality of the claims is frequently rejected and remains a subject of controversy. [3] A few people even take the extreme position that this is an example of pseudoscience.[4] Accurate histories of the controversy can be found in two recent books on the subject. [5, 6]