Cold Fusion: Modern History of Inquisition and Alchemy, by Roberto Germano
Reviewed by Dieter Britz

A slim volume, roughly contemporary with that of Basile, this one takes a partisan stance, as the title suggests. The word "alchemy" is not used in derision, referring to transmutation claims. The style is jocular with breezy titles to the sections. There is a foreword by Preparata. The history of the field is outlined, without undue emphasis of Italian work. There is a generally uncritical acceptance of cold fusion claims, including, it seems, the more than controversial claims of biological fusion by Kervran. Fractofusion is described but strangely, without mentioning the Russians who claimed to observe it first (1986, Klyuev et al).