Abd ul-Rahman Lomax <a...@lomaxdesign.com> wrote: Lindley is the second dumbest person associated with cold fusion. The late >> Nate Hoffman was the stupidest, in my opinion. >> > > Yeah, Jed, we discussed the late Nate when we first started corresponding. > I very much disagree with you about Mr. Hoffman.
Yeah, well, I'll stick to my review of his book. He devoted chapter 3 of the book to the hypothesis that Ontario Hydro sold used CANDU moderator water to the public. First, that is preposterous. Second, he never bothered to check with Ontario Hydro. I did check with them, and as I expected, and they told me used moderator water is 100 million times too radioactive to sell to the public. They were astounded that he said this, and that EPRI and the ANS let him publish it. > Hoffman's basic approach was sound, given the time and context, and his > book, A Dialogue on Chemically Induced Nuclear Effects, definitely leaves > the cold fusion story open; it was issued before the heat/helium thing had > become confirmed. That is incorrect. It was confirmed long before he wrote the book. SRI threatened to file suit against the publisher of this book, because it is so full of lies and outrageous distortions. That is why the publisher inserted a slip of paper with a correction, which said: "ADDENDUM Comments were made in this text that the work performed by SRI INTERNATIONAL was difficult to examine in detail because that lab was reticent to share experimental details of a potentially profitable field of research. This experimental secrecy was partially lifted by the following Report to EPRI: McKubre, M. C. H., et al., 'Development of Advanced Concepts for Nuclear Processes in Deuterated Metals,' TR-104195, Research Project 3170-01, Final Report, August 1994." That is one of the few technically accurate non-trivial statements in the book. The part about secrecy is a lie, needless to say. And although there were hundreds of other non-secret reports of excess heat, Hoffman did not mention a single one of them in the book. Hoffman was paid ~$120,000 to write that book. It is a piece of trash. It is propaganda written by people opposed to cold fusion. Hoffman and his editor Schneider are so biased, and the book is so distorted, I consider it a pack of lies. I will grant that apart from statements about moderator water it does not have as many technical errors as the books by Taubes or Close. By the way, Hoffman was sincere about the moderator water. I am sure Schneider and the other editors know this is crazy nonsense, along with much else in the book. They work at EPRI and the ANS; obviously they know something about nuclear reactors. They let this go hoping to dupe the readers. They let Hoffman make a fool of himself. Hoffman himself was sincere. I spoke with him about this and other issues in the book. He was one of the stupidest individuals I have ever encountered. He had a great deal of technical knowledge but not a lick of common sense. It never occurred to him to call Ontario Hydro, and even after I told him what they said, he maintained that they *might* be selling moderator water. Morrison was also incredibly stupid. He was sincere when he said that if palladium exhibits nuclear effects, it stands to reason that heavy water ice might also. I was there when said that. The audience let out a collective gasp. It wasn't because they were awed by his brilliance. - Jed
