I started writing about low-energy nuclear reactions (LENRs) after attending the 10th International Conference on Cold Fusion in August 2003 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a former computer network engineer, I knew very little about the science behind LENRs at the time. In Cambridge, I met more than 100 researchers from around the world and realized that they were observing real phenomena, albeit poorly understood at that time. They were convinced that they were dealing with a "cold fusion" process. At that point, I wasn't familiar enough with the research to question their interpretation of the experimental results.
When I first learned about the Widom-Larsen theory of LENRs in 2006, the large body of experimental results began to make much more sense. The underlying reactions clearly had nothing to do with room-temperature fusion. Instead, the experimental data provided strong evidence for processes that were neither fusion nor fission, but rather a new, third type of nuclear phenomena, LENRs. By 2008, I realized the crucial distinction between the erroneous idea of "cold fusion" and LENRs. I knew then I had to begin writing my next book.
Steven B. Krivit