I feel I should say a few words about Scott. I did not know him well. But everyone knew him to some extent because you couldn't miss him. He was noisy. In your face. Exuberant! At conferences you could hear him from the hallway, commenting, arguing and laughing. He was always interesting to talk to. Always bubbling over with ideas, and not just narrowly focused on physics, but also about music, art, children and much else. He was always helpful and kind. He would argue like the dickens but he never held a grudge. He looked for the best in people. He even had nice things to say about Robert Park. He brought much needed enthusiasm and fun to the field, and also to "Infinite Energy" as editor.
The reason I hesitate to talk about him, and the reason it is a little awkward, is that in his private life he had the worst kind of bad luck and problems galore. He was afflicted like Job. He fought personal demons such as alcoholism and that horrible disease. I do not feel it is appropriate to discuss such problems in public. It is an invasion of privacy when someone is alive. Now that he is dead I think, on the contrary, telling people how much he suffered honors his memory. The thing is, he remained upbeat about the science and he made important contributions right to the end. Look at his last paper, written shortly before he died, about the Rossi reactor: http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/ChubbSRtherossikw.pdf There is no hint of his own person distress. No foreshadowing of the despair he must have felt. Working and contributing right to the last weeks of life is hard for anyone, but for someone who has been struggling for years, it is a testament to the true spirit of science and free inquiry. I do not know enough about theory to judge whether his theoretical contributions have any merit, or whether they will last. But he made other important contributions editing, educating and promoting the field. We shall miss his energy and good cheer. Scott was devoutly religious, which is a little unusual for a scientist. I hope his faith made it easier for him to bear his troubles and his last illness. - Jed
