James Mahaffey Cold Fusion Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Mahaffey, James A.
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Medicine and Science
label: Donor
content: Georgia Tech Research Institute
label: Names
content: Georgia Institute of Technology
label: Names
content: Fleischmann, Martin
label: Names
content: Pons, Stanley
topic: label: Topic
content: Science -- History
label: Topic
content: Nuclear reactions
label: Topic
content: Research
label: Topic
content: Chemistry
label: Topic
content: Low-energy nuclear reactions
label: Topic
content: Electrochemistry
label: Topic
content: Cold fusion
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by the Georgia Institute of Technology and James A. Mahaffey, 2016.
creator: label: Creator
content: Mahaffey, James A.
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Medicine and Science
label: Donor
content: Georgia Tech Research Institute
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Physicist at Georgia Tech Research Institute. He, and others at GTRI made efforts to replicate results reported by two scientists, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, in which they asserted they'd discovered a way to achieve nuclear fusion at room temperature (so-called "cold fusion.") Despite their high hopes at the beginning of the project, Mahaffey and his team soon concluded that they were unable to achieve cold fusion.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Cubic foot (1 box)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1989 - 1992
container: label: Container
content: Box 1
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Transferred to the Archives Center by the Division of Medicine and Science in 2016. Gifts of two separate donors, James Mahaffey and the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1393
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Patents
label: Type
content: Reports
label: Type
content: Audio cassettes
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Type
content: Letters (correspondence)
label: Type
content: Laboratory notes
label: Type
content: Abstracts
label: Type
content: Videocassettes
label: Type
content: Articles
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is unarranged.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Patents -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Reports -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Audio cassettes -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Slides (photographs) -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.
label: Genre/Form
content: Laboratory notes -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Abstracts -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Videocassettes -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Articles -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection contains archival materials relating to the subject of cold fusion, and experiments conducted to corroborate the supposed discovery of the phenomenon. The collection includes Mahaffey's heavily illustrated laboratory notebook, dating from the beginning of the experiment on April 8, 1989 through April 20, 1989, documenting the experiment's research plan, budget, ingredients and instruments used, the time line and Mahaffey's and his fellow scientists' observations; and a report, April 30, 1989, on the results of Georgia Tech Research Institute's experiments. These two items were donated by GTRI. Additional items, donated by Mahaffey include: letters and emails to Mahaffey, photographs and slides used in a lecture, copies of papers given and bibliographies on the subject, abstracts of accounts of cold fusion research presented at a Santa Fe workshop, audio recordings of the same conference, a patent, articles, and video recordings of press coverage.