Jerry E. Bishop, an intrepid science reporter for the Wall Street Journal, reported frequently on developments in the field of cold fusion research starting one day prior to its announcement in Utah. His reports came more often and were generally longer than those of most major newspapers, and he was not always writing as a skeptic as were other science reporters.

He was selected in March 1990 by the American Institute of Physics (AIP) as the winner of their annual science writing award for the year 1989. The announcement by the AIP, a professional umbrella group that includes the American Physical Society (APS,) that their annual award for excellence in science writing would be given to Bishop greatly annoyed the skeptics.

I immediately contacted Professor Peter W. Trower, a physicist and one of the judges for the AIP award. In addition, I contacted the Office of Public Affairs of the APS. I was upset and particularly interested in learning about the criteria that were applied in making the Award. ... On March 20, 1990, Dr. Robert L. Park, Executive Director of the Office of Public Affairs of the APS wrote a letter to the Manager of AIP declining his invitation to attend the luncheon honoring Bishop for the AIP Science Writing Award. In addition, several other officers of the APS boycotted the ceremony (I declined my invitation to attend).

It is my pleasure to present to Jerry Bishop of the Wall Street Journal the AIP Science Writing Award for the best writing on Physics for the general reader by a journalist in 1989.

Jerry Bishop is a transplanted Texan who has been a distinguished science writer and reporter for several decades. His work has been recognized by numerous prizes in the past—by the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, the National Association of Science Writers, and the AAAS. This year he won the American Chemical Society’s Grady-Stack Lifetime Achievement Award. And this is his second AIP award. He won our science writing prize also in 1972.

His award this time is presented for his 1989 series on cold fusion in the Wall Street Journal. Jerry Bishop broke that story, with a one-day jump ahead of the now famous press conference held by Pons and Fleischmann at the University of Utah last March. During the weeks immediately following that announcement, he reported frequently on the claims emanating from Utah and from various other laboratories. The articles were well written, often under deadline pressures, and they conveyed to the general reader what nuclear fusion is about and what some of the cold fusion advocates were claiming. Beginning in May, it became increasingly clear that the Utah claims were without substance. Jerry continued to write on the subject and covered both sides of the controversy, although in the opinion of many (including, I must admit, my own opinion), he did not give as balanced a coverage as we would have liked, nor draw attention to the fact that the Utah researchers were violating accepted codes of scientific conduct.

I mention this concern because, as Jerry himself knows, and as many people in this room know, this particular award has become controversial. There are some, including the excellent panel of judges, who think that the clarity of his writing, and his consistent attention to an important and newsworthy topic, justify the award.

There are others who greatly regret that he did not use his reportorial and writing skills to make clear to his readers—at least after May 1989—that there is no credible evidence for the claims of cold fusion. So I have to express the hope, Jerry, that you will not abandon the subject yet. It needs to be brought to closure, so that general readers understand what nearly every scientist now understands—that cold fusion as a practical power source is an illusion.

I am sorry for the roundabout route to this award presentation, but I could not let the disagreements that it has generated pass without notice. Whatever one thinks of this particular series, one must recognize Jerry Bishop as one of the finest science writers in America, with a long list of accomplishments. It is therefore my pleasure, Jerry, to present you with this award—consisting of a check for $3,000, a certificate, and a handsome chair guaranteed to encourage creative effort.