Cold Fusion: History SB Krivit, New Energy Times, San Rafael, CA, USA & 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Introduction Research on low-energy nuclear reactions (LENRs) orig- inated as the result of an electrolysis experiment that used the elements palladium (a heavy metal) and deu- terium (an isotope of hydrogen). The first modern ex- periment was performed by Martin Fleischmann and B. Stanley Pons at the University of Utah in early 1985. Fritz Paneth and Kurt Peters of the University of Berlin preceded Fleischmann and Pons with a similar experiment in 1926. Fleischmann and Pons used an electrochemical method of generating nuclear ener gy, in the form of heat, in a way previously unrecognized by nuclear physicists. The two electrochemists announced their work at a press conference on 23 March 1989. They said that they had attained a ‘sustained nuclear fusion reaction’. The media identified the discovery as ‘cold fusion’. This event initiated a new field of science. It did not belong exclusively to chemistry, physics, or any other scientific discipline. As the field approaches its third decade, much has been learned, but certain significant facts remain unknown. However, this limitation is not unexpected, considering the novelty and scope of the subject matter. History The Discoverers of ‘Cold Fusion’ Fleischmann is widely regarded as one of the world’s top electrochemists. Although he is best known for the codiscovery of ‘cold fusion’, he was first a leader in many aspects of electrochemistry, the science behind battery research. He was born on 29 March 1927 in Czecho- slovakia. He and his family were caught up in the Nazi occupation of wester n Czechoslovakia in 1938 but man- aged to escape to England. Fleischmann studied at the University of London’s Imperial College, focusing on platinum and hydrogen, and he earned his doctorate in chemistry there. At 40, Fleischmann was offered a position as chair of the elec- trochemistry department at the University of South- ampton. He built up the depar tment and earned it a world-class reputation. He was the recipient of numerous awards during this time. From 1970 to 1972, he held the prestigious post of president of the International Society of Electrochemists. In 1979, he was awarded the medal for electrochemistry and thermodynamics by the Royal Society of London. In 1983, he retired from South- ampton. Two years later in 1985, he was awarded the Palladium Medal by the US Electrochemical Society, and he received the highest honor for an English scientist, fellowship in the Royal Society. Fleischmann has continued to be active in the LENR research field, although his opportunities for academic research have been severely constrained as a result of the disparagement of the field. He and his wife, Sheila Fleischmann, live in England (Figure 1). Pons grew up in the small town of Valdese, North Carolina. His interest in chemistry began in childhood and became the driving force in his life. As an adult, he spent some time working in his family’s textile business as well as pursuing academic paths. In 1976, he entered the graduate program at the Univer sity of Southampton. Pons met Fleischmann on his arrival in England, al- though he studied within the research group of Professor Alan Bewick. After Pons was awarded his doctorate de- gree, he held several academic posts before joining the University of Utah in 1983, where he became head of the chemistry department in 1988. Pons has remained distant from the field since the mid-1990s and has had virtually no public contact with scientists in the field or with the media since then. He left the United States with his family shortly after the 1989 episode and now lives in France with his wife, Sheila Pons (Figure 2). Prehistory In 1922, Gerald L. Wendt and Clarence E. Irion reported the disintegration of tungsten into helium using chem- istry. On April 22 of that year, Sir Ernest Rutherford, in Science, effectively discredited the Wendt-Irion claim by citing theoretical improbabilities as well as a related re- port of ano ther phenomenon which failed to evolve he- lium. Although Rutherford’s response was not a direct refutation, he insinuated that the Wendt-Irion claims were artifactual. Four years later, in 1926, Paneth and Peters experi- mented with hydrogen in palladium. Their paper was published in Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft, Naturwissenschaften, and Nature. The experiment was re- ported by Nature as a transmutation of hydrogen gas into helium, based on the use of finely divided palladium. A week after the Paneth and Peters announcement, Nature wrote of the uncomfortable allusion in their work to medieval alchemists and their efforts to transmute lead 271 . Cold Fusion: History SB Krivit, New Energy Times, San Rafael, CA, USA & 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights. the subject matter. History The Discoverers of Cold Fusion’ Fleischmann is widely regarded as one of the world’s top electrochemists. Although he is best known for the codiscovery of cold fusion’,. they had attained a ‘sustained nuclear fusion reaction’. The media identified the discovery as cold fusion’. This event initiated a new field of science. It did not belong exclusively to chemistry,