We are pleased to publish select papers of the Fourth International Conference of Cold Fusion, Lahaina, Maui, December 6-9, 1993, in this special issue of Transactions of Fusion Technology. We hope this collection of some of the foremost papers on international efforts in cold fusion research will provide valuable input to future progress in this fascinating research field.
This issue is dedicated to the memory and work of Professor Julian Schwinger. His death came as a shock to everyone in the community and will be a loss to us all, but his dedication to gaining an understanding of the phenomena observed in cold fusion experiments remains an inspiration.
A number of persons contributed to the success of this issue. The conference organizers, Dr. Thomas O. Passell (Electric Power Research Institute) and Dr. Michael McKubre (SRI), were instrumental in planning the issue and receiving the manuscripts. Celia Elliott, Editorial Assistant for Fusion Technology, was responsible for the final review of the manuscripts and the organization of the issue. Her dedication was the driving force that pulled the issue together when various problems arose. She was strongly supported by the American Nuclear Society technical publications staff. Finally the splendid cooperation of the authors was a vital factor behind the quality of the issue. The collection of papers and review process consumed more time than originally expected. Consequently, authors were asked to make final corrections and prepare camera-ready copy on an extremely tight timescale. Their willingness to make way for this task is greatly appreciated by all concerned.