Fleischmann, Martin

In March 1989, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons reported their discovery of cold nuclear fusion. They announced that during electrolysis of a solution of hthium hydroxide in heavy water (DjO) with a cathode made of massive palladium, nuclear transformations of deuterium at room temperature can be recorded. This announcement, which promised humankind a new and readily available energy source, was seized upon immediately by the mass media in many countries. Over the following years, research was undertaken worldwide on an unprecedented scale in an effort to verify this finding. 

Martin Fleischmann, too, is relevant. He got his Ph.D. in a small group near to my group in which Conway worked. However, he joined us in various activities, particularly the discussions. He became well known internationally not only because of his contributions to physical electrochemistry, but also because in 1989 he resuscitated an idea, - which had been introduced by the French and Japanese in the 1960 s, - that nuclear reactions could be carried out in solutions in the cold. 

Bathon, J.M., Martin, R.W., Fleischmann, R.M., et al. (2001) A comparison of etanercept and methotrexate in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. New England Journal of Medicine. 343,1586-1593. 

Dr. Rolison is a member of the American Chemical Society, AAAS, the International Zeolite Association, the Materials Research Society, and the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry (SEAC). She wrote Ultramicroelectrodes, the first textbook in this very active research area of electrochemistry, with Martin Fleischmann, Stanley Pons, and Peter Schmidt. She and Henry White guest-edited an issue of Langmuir devoted to the electrochemistry of nanostructured materials (February 1999). Dr. Rolison was a member of the Advisory Board for Analytical Chemistry and is a current member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Langmuir. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the SEAC and has served since 1997 as editor of the society s newsletter, SEAC Communications. 

The scientific world was stunned in March of 1989 when two electrochemists, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, reported that they had obtained evidence for the occurrence of nuclear fusion at room temperatures. During the electrolysis of heavy water (deuterium oxide), it appeared that the fusion of deuterons was made possible by the presence of palladium electrodes used in the reaction. If such an observation could have been confirmed by other scientists, it would have been truly revolutionary. It would have meant that energy could be obtained from fusion reactions at moderate temperatures. 

Genovese MC, Bathon JM, Martin RW, Fleischmann RM, Tesser JR, Schiff MH et al (2002) Etanercept versus methotrexate in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis two-year radiographic and clinical outcomes. Arthritis Rheum 46 1443-1450... 

On March 23, 1989, the University of Utah held a press conference that shook the energy world. Electrochemists Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announced reproducible cold fusion 10% more energy released than supplied. They passed an electric current through palladium and platinum wires in a container of heavy water and lithium sulfate. Cold fusion is nuclear fusion at ambient temperature. When the two hydrogen atoms in a water molecule are replaced with deuterium (called heavy hydrogen because it has one proton and one neutron), it is called heavy water. 

In 1989, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann startled the scientific community with their claims that they could achieve fusion under ordinary experimental conditions (so-called cold fusion). One of the nuclear reactions they claimed to have achieved is as follows. Calculate Q (or the amount of energy) that is produced by this reaction. 

A group of electrochemists whose lives were enhanced by their contacts with Martin Fleischmann have joined together to produce this book it is intended to celebrate the legacy that he has left to modern electrochemistry. Martin was an outstanding scientist with a great vision that allowed him to initiate a number of fields of activity. His detailed grasp... 

Developments in Electrochemistry Science Inspired by Martin Fleischmann, First Edition. Edited by Derek Fletcher, Zhong-Qun Tian and David E. Williams. 

Another abiding memory of Martin Fleischmann is the ending of a BBC documentary on Cold Fusion. He appears purchasing cream cakes from a patisserie in the South of France with the accompaniment of Edith Piaf singing Je ne regrette rien ... 

Mathematical modeling of the electrocrystallization processes and its applications has long been a subject dear to Martin Fleischmann. Indeed, both his earliest papers (e.g.. Refs [1,2]) and his last two publications [3,4] dealt with this topic. 

Finally, it is appropriate to refer to the last two publications of Martin Fleischmann [3,4], which incidentally happened to be on the subject of nucleation. In these papers, he sought to establish an approach to nucleation based on quantum electrodynamics, and built on an earlier conference presentation by the late Preparata [32], Whilst this is an exciting development, it remains to be seen whether others will seek to build on these investigations. 

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