Getting a few letters in Physics Today is Major Victory by the
standards of cold fusion. You could say we should celebrate. Or you
could say this shows how far we have to go. It is hard to know
whether to be happy or chagrined. After 21 years, two lousy letters
is all we get?!?
Maybe it is a straw in the wind. Or the first trickle of water coming
out of a damn that is about to burst. I was watching the PBS
documentary "Eyes on the Prize" the other day, about the 1960s civil
rights movement. It struck me that the great victories people
achieved back then often seem trivial in retrospect. The right to
ride Greyhound buses or eat at a Woolworth's counter does not count
for much. It does not seem like something you would risk dying for.
The food was lousy at Woolworth's. What people needed was better
schools and equal opportunity jobs. However, it was apparent to
everyone that integrating lunch counters was the first step. It was
more than symbolically important; it established a precedent, and
generated forward motion. You might compare it to capturing the first
machine gun nest in the invasion of Normandy. There were thousands
more machine guns to go, but the first and each one following was
important, and not a symbolic victory.
Still, I doubt that at this pace of progress we will live long enough
to see significant progress in cold fusion. I disagree with
Westenhaus. The opposition has won the cold fusion war. So far they
have won nearly every important battle for funding, recognition and
in the mass media. The "60 Minutes" program did not have much impact.
- Jed
