On July 10, I wrote and posted a letter to the New Energy Times Web site about Brian Josephson: “My Experience With a Nobel Prize Winner." |
My Experience With a Nobel Prize Winner
by Steven B. Krivit
July 10, 2008
When Brian Josephson, 1973 Nobel Prize winner in physics and a man known as the "pioneer of the paranormal," asked me for advice in December 2005 about buying stock in D2Fusion, Russ George's now-defunct company, I urged caution.
The conversation was triggered by an Oct. 31, 2005, press release from D2Fusion which a New Energy Times reader brought to my attention on Dec. 14, 2005.
I was surprised to see that Josephson's name was being used to promote D2Fusion and that Josephson had invited George to Cambridge University to give a lecture. George was undoubtedly an eloquent and entertaining speaker, but he didn't have much in the way of current research in his name. This was one of the reasons why the press release, "Solar Begins Engineering Solid-State Fusion Thermal Energy Modules," seemed dubious to me.
In October, the company's representatives reported at a science conference in Japan a mere 1/4 Watt of energy, and they showed little evidence that they had a foundation on which to begin engineering.
I forwarded the press release to Josephson right away and got a reply from him the next day.
"I've been aware of this for some time," Josephson wrote. "I might invest a little in shares in Solar but am unclear how to go about it."
"Privately," I replied to Josephson, "I am wondering what gives you the confidence that this would be a wise investment?"
Josephson's private response tipped me off to a problem. I recognized that George was misrepresenting Roger Stringham's work as his own; however, I refrained from sharing this with Josephson, I merely told him I was skeptical and that I would do some research.
Josephson volunteered the following information in response to my comment.
"According to Russ George," Josephson wrote in an e-mail a few days later, "they should be marketing 1kW fusion powered heaters in a few months' time. He was talking in terms of technical problems being addressed, e.g. getting rid of the heat quickly enough to prevent adverse effects due to overheating."
I didn't know at the time that Josephson had become or would soon become an official adviser to D2Fusion's parent company, Solar Energy Ltd. (OTCBB: SLRE).
One thing I did know: Though D2Fusion had signs of excess heat from its low-energy nuclear reactions, the company's published science was orders of magnitude less than what was stated in its sales pitch.
Since December 2005, New Energy Times published the following related news articles:
A Close Look at Russ George's D2Fusion Inc, May 10, 2006
From the Editor (New Energy Times), July 10, 2006
Editorial: All That Glitters: Is Solar Done With D2Fusion? March 16, 2007
The Wizard of Half Moon Bay: A New Energy Times Special Report on Planktos and D2Fusion, Sept. 10, 2007
When the dust cleared, George's associates Tom Passell and Tom Benson wrote angry e-mails in the Condensed Matter Nuclear Science researchers' e-mail list on his behalf, yet they failed to identify a single error of fact. In addition, New Energy Times received not a single letter on the matter from Passell, Benson or George.
After D2Fusion and George had nothing to say in their own defense, Josephson continued to assert that the demise of D2Fusion was the fault of New Energy Times.
On March 25, Josephson posted the following comment to the CMNS list: "(i) the key issue involved certain pressures being put on D2Fusion to allow videoing of commercially sensitive work, refusal of which was followed by a highly critical article in New Energy Times - make of that what you will."
Josephson's comment about videotaping, presumably told to him by George, is false and without merit. In my two phone interviews with George, on Dec. 20 and 21, 2005, I asked direct and relevant questions about his research, company, claims and projections.
Nothing George said gave me any confidence that his company had anything more than 1/4 Watt of heat energy, which is nothing to write home about. If there was nothing to see, there was nothing to videotape.
In the same message, Josephson blamed the critical but factual articles in New Energy Times for D2Fusion's funding problems and eventual demise: "(ii) the outcome of this criticism was funding problems with important developmental work directed towards the practical application of LENR."
Finally, Josephson's third point implied that George and D2Fusion's hype and exaggeration should be considered acceptable and, in fact, recognized by the CMNS community as a requirement to get science funding: " (iii) the misrepresentations of future prospects [by and of D2Fusion] claimed in the New Energy Times article can helpfully be viewed against the background of the fact that, even in academia (it is said by many people), a degree of hype and/or misrepresentation is necessary to stand any chance of a grant application being successful."
A member of the CMNS community, Michael McKubre, director of energy research at SRI International, disagreed with the Nobel Prize winner.
"The criticism from our most distinguished member is both inaccurate and unfair," McKubre wrote. "Steven merely reported on the situation, and full opportunity was given for rebuttal. I happen to agree with Steven's assessment of both D2Fusion (as an "unwilling insider," because some of my ideas were being used to sell the D2Fusion concept) and Planktos (as an informed and concerned outsider). ... If journalists in this country in general were as free and accurate as Steven Krivit and New Energy Times, I doubt the U.S. would be in the sad place worldwide that it presently is."
Even as of June 2008, Josephson was blaming New Energy Times for George's and D2Fusion's numerous problems. This time, Ed Storms, author of the 2007 book "The Science of Low Energy Nuclear Reaction," set the record straight in an e-mail to Josephson and several members of the CMNS community.
"Russ went down in flames for reasons having to do with Russ himself," Storms wrote.
New Energy Times supports the excellent and legitimate work that is performed in this field. We, too, disagree with Josephson's suggestion that "a degree of hype and/or misrepresentation is necessary." Old-fashioned as it may seem, we believe in truth in reporting, for scientists and for journalists.
We also believe that, in general, the CMNS field produces outstanding work by individuals and companies with integrity and honesty. This field has no need or place for charlatans or reckless promotion.
A few weeks ago, another incident with Josephson surfaced.
I had obtained an exclusive copy of a video of a live demonstration of a LENR experiment performed in Japan on May 22. For reasons which are unclear to me, Josephson lobbied me to release the video immediately. My plan, as I told him, was to release it as part of a news package published in the July 10 issue of New Energy Times.
Josephson made multiple coercive attempts to get me to accede to his demand. I was never clear about the reason for his urgency, why the release, 28 days later, in our next scheduled publication, was such a problem for him.
Josephson used one tactic after another to get me to release the video sooner and, when they didn't work, to try to get a copy of it himself.
Among his attempts were the following:
I blame myself for allowing these conflicts with Josephson to fester for as long as they have. I blame myself for giving Josephson reason to believe that his coercive tactics starting in January 2006 about D2Fusion were acceptable or likely to succeed.
Much of the failure on my part stems from my early attempts to shield Josephson from what I anticipated would be public embarrassment over his association with D2Fusion.
I also wanted to shield the CMNS community from any embarrassment from the exposure of this Nobel Prize winner who has publicly endorsed and supported the field. But I see now that this was never a workable idea.
These experiences have taught me that I should report important facts timely, particularly facts regarding people who interfere with the journalistic process, who abuse their authority and prestige, regardless of the momentary discomfort it may bring to me and others.