Rep. Rohrabacher on Cold Fusion
This is to express my objections to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s attack (“Turkey Today, Genius Tomorrow?” Editorial Page, June 17) on the scientific community for its alleged unfair treatment of B. Stanley Pons and Milton Fleischmann and their claim to have created cold fusion. Scientists paid the cold fusion claim the highest form of respect--they interrupted their own planned research and spent a great amount of time, energy and money trying to corroborate the Pons and Fleischmann results. The main criticism of Pons and Fleischmann is valid. They fell far short of well-established standards for openness in presenting their results. They never communicated their experimental details and refused to release samples of their Palladium anode for independent analysis.
The history of science contains clear examples of how they should have acted. One was supplied by Freidrich Wohler in 1828 when he synthesized an organic substance (urea) from inorganic matter. At the time, his claim was just as controversial as cold fusion is now. Wohler won over his critics by traveling to other laboratories and performing hands-on demonstrations of the synthesis.
Rather than attacking science for being a closed system with a vested interest in the theoretical status quo or using guilt by association with his “they also laughed at . . .” recitations, Rohrabacher should concentrate on the role of the University of Utah administration in encouraging the withholding of information.
It is important that he, as a member of the House of Representative’s Science, Space and Technology Committee, understands that science produced by administrators, rather than working scientists, is inherently suspect. If he could draw the proper conclusion from the cold fusion affair, he could deal with a much more serious and immediate threat to science--the “pork barrel” lobbying for federal support by administrative corrupters of science such as John Silber, president of Boston University.
HENRY I. ABRASH
Professor of Chemistry
Cal State Northridge
