Its not clear that he owes everything to Fleischmann & Pons. If they had not published, he might well have developed his theory from his original motivation, which was high temperature superconductivity. Given fractional Rydberg states its clear that their pusuit would be a new source of energy. While it is certainly no fault of Fleischmann & Pons, it may even be the case that Mills would have marketed an energy technology years earlier if they had not published and triggered hysterical opposition from the "authorities".
Stolper's book on Mills <http://www.amazon.com/Genius-Inventor-controversy-historical-contemporary/dp/1419643045> has passages such as that concerning high-temperature superconductivity on p105: "Mills began the sustained work on his reformulation of quantum theory in the fall of 1988, when he became interested in high-temperature superconductivity. He wondered whether it would be possible at room temperature. He soon found that he couldn't get a grip on the problem with standard quantum mechanics... In Anderson's opinion, superconductivity needed an entirely new theory. Mils carried that opinion to its logical extreme, which was further than any other investigator of superconductivity cared to go: develop a new quantum theory, not just a new theory of superconductivity" On Mon, Dec 29, 2014 at 12:07 PM, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> wrote: > Sigh . . . I had forgotten what a jerk Mills can be. > > He owes everything to Fleischmann & Pons -- as do we all. If they had not > published, he never would have thought to do his first experiments. > > - Jed > >
