Steven E. Jones

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Steven Earl Jones is an American physicist notable for his hypothesis that the destruction of the World Trade Center was a controlled explosive demolition, which is central to many 9/11 conspiracy theories.[1][2] Prior to this, he was known mainly for his work on cold fusion, which differed significantly from the more controversial cold fusion experiments of Pons and Fleischmann.[3] Jones announced his retirement from Brigham Young University on October 20, 2006 amid controversy about his controlled demolition research.[4]

Contents

[edit] Education

Jones earned his bachelor's degree in physics, magna cum laude, from Brigham Young University in 1973, and his Ph.D. in physics from Vanderbilt University in 1978. Jones conducted his Ph.D. research at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (from 1974 to 1977), and post-doctoral research at Cornell University and the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility.[5]

[edit] Research interests and background

Jones conducted research at the Idaho National Laboratory, in Arco, Idaho, from 1979 to 1985, where he was a senior engineering specialist. He was the principal investigator for experimental Muon-catalyzed fusion from 1982 to 1991 for the U.S. Department of Energy, Division of Advanced Energy Projects. From 1990 to 1993, Jones researched fusion in condensed matter physics and deuterium, for the U.S. Department of Energy and for the Electric Power Research Institute.

Jones has also been a collaborator in several experiments, including experiments at TRIUMF (Vancouver, British Columbia), The National High Energy Laboratory, KEK (Tsukuba, Japan), and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory at Oxford University.

Jones specializes in Metal-catalyzed fusion, Archaeometry and Solar energy.[6][7]

[edit] Cold fusion

In the mid-1980s, Jones and other BYU scientists worked on what he then referred to as Cold Nuclear Fusion in a Scientific American article, but is today known as muon-catalyzed fusion to avoid confusion. Muon-catalyzed fusion was a field of some interest in the 1980s, but its low energy output appears to be unavoidable and the field has since fallen from interest.

Around 1985 Jones then became interested in the anomalous production of helium-3 found in the gasses escaping from volcanoes. He hypothesized that the high pressures in the Earth's interior might make fusion more likely, and began a series of experiments on what he referred to as piezofusion, or high-pressure fusion. His experiments initially used a diamond anvil to create high pressures, but he later moved on to an apparatus similar to the one also used by Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann. In order to characterize the reactions, Jones designed and built a neutron counter able to accurately measure the tiny numbers of neutrons being produced in his experiments. The counter suggested a small amount of fusion was going on. Jones said the result suggested at least the possibility of fusion, though the process was unlikely to be useful as an energy source.

Pons and Fleischmann (P&F) started their work around the same time. Their work was brought to Jones' attention when they applied for research funding from the Department of Energy and they passed their proposal along to Jones for peer review. Realizing their work was very similar, Jones and P&F agreed to release their papers to Nature on the same day, March 24, 1987. However, P&F announced their results at a press event the day before. Jones faxed his paper to Nature.[8]

A New York Times article says that while peer reviewers were quite critical of Pons and Fleishchmann's research they did not apply such criticism to Jones' much more modest, theoretically supported findings. Although critics insisted that his results likely stemmed from experimental error,[9] most of the reviewing physicists indicated that he was a careful scientist. Other research and experiments confirmed his findings.[10]

[edit] WTC collapse controversy

At a department seminar held on September 22, 2005, Jones presented the substance of the paper that would become "Why Indeed did the WTC Buildings Collapse?".[11] His hypothesis is that on September 11, 2001 the World Trade Center towers and Seven World Trade Center collapsed as a result of controlled demolition, not the impact of the airplanes that hit them or the fires that followed. The paper does not claim to prove this hypothesis, but calls for further scientific investigation to test it along with the release of all relevant data by the government. Shortly after the seminar Jones made the paper available on the website of the physics department of Brigham Young University. It would eventually be published in a book of essays critical of the official version of the September 11, 2001 attacks, 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out, edited by David Ray Griffin and Peter Dale Scott.[12]

Jones has been interviewed by mainstream news sources and has made a number of public appearances, including the 9/11 + The Neo-Con Agenda Symposium, which was held in Los Angeles on June 24-25, 2006.[13] While Jones has urged caution in drawing conclusions,[14] his public comments have suggested a considerable degree of certainty about both the controlled demolition of the World Trade Center and the culpability of agents working within the U.S. government.[15] In an article published on September 5, 2006, Jones told The Guardian that the attacks were an "inside job".[16] His name is often mentioned in reporting about 9/11 conspiracy theories.[17]

The paper has been the center of controversy both for its content and its claims to scientific rigour. Engineers have dismissed the controlled demolition hypothesis with reference to the consensus that has formed in the engineering community about the collapses.[18][19] Jones's early critics included members of BYU's engineering faculty[20] and shortly after he made his views public, the BYU College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the faculty of structural engineering issued statements in which they distanced themselves from Jones' research. They noted that Jones' "hypotheses and interpretations of evidence were being questioned by scholars and practitioners", and expressed doubts about whether they had been "submitted to relevant scientific venues that would ensure rigorous technical peer review."[21]

While Jones has always maintained that the paper was peer-reviewed prior to publication, doubts about this remain. On Thursday, September 7, 2006, Jones removed his paper from BYU's website at the request of administrators and was placed on paid leave.[22] The university cited its concern about the "increasingly speculative and accusatory nature" of Jones's work and the fact it had "not been published in appropriate scientific venues" as reasons for putting him under review.[23][24] The review was supposed to be three-tiered, with the school's administration, the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the Physics Department involved.[25] This action has drawn fresh criticism from the American Association of University Professors and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Both organizations are long time critics of BYU's record on academic freedom.[26]

[edit] Scholars for 9/11 Truth

Jones was a founding member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth and has served as co-chair, with James H. Fetzer, since its inception. Since mid-November of 2006, he and Fetzer have been engaged in an open dispute about the direction the organization should take. Fetzer has claimed that Jones wants to suppress alternative theories about 9/11, including the destruction of the WTC by mini-nukes and high-energy weapons, and so-called "no-plane" theories.[27] Jones has examined the mini-nukes hypothesis experimentally and rejected it,[28] and has questioned whether theories about high-energy weapons are testable.[29] This disagreement continues an earlier dispute with former mechanical engineering professor Judy Wood, who claimed Jones is not examining all the evidence and hindering attempts by others to do so.[30] Part of the dispute is about the Scholars' website, which Fetzer seems to control. On November 25, he announced that he was temporarily removing Jones from his position as co-chair.[31] On Dec 5, 2006, Fetzer announced that Jones had resigned as a member of ST911.[32]

[edit] Early Retirement from BYU

Jones and Brigham Young University finalized a retirement package on October 20, 2006, six weeks after the school had placed him on paid leave to review his statements and research into the World Trade Center. "I am electing to retire so that I can spend more time speaking and conducting research of my own choosing," Jones said in a statement released by the university. Jones' retirement is effective January 1, 2007.[4]

[edit] Affiliations

Jones had been co-chair of Scholars for 9/11 Truth up until Dec 5, 2006. Following a dispute with fellow co-chair James Fetzer over the direction the organization was taking[33], Jones resigned his membership.

Jones is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Jones has been described as "a devout Mormon and, until recently, a faithful supporter of George W. Bush."[18]

[edit] Recognition and awards

  • 1968, David O. McKay Scholarship at BYU; National Merit Scholar[34]
  • 1973-1978 Tuition Scholarship and Research Fellowship at Vanderbilt University
  • 1989 Outstanding Young Scholar Award (BYU); Best of What's New for 1989 (Popular Science); Creativity Prize (Japanese Creativity Society)
  • 1990 BYU Young Scholar Award; Annual Lecturer, BYU Chapter of Sigma Xi

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pope, Justin. "9/11 Conspiracy Theorists Thriving", ABC News > U.S., ABCNews Internet Ventures, 2006-08-06. Retrieved on 2006-08-21.
  2. ^ "9/11 Conspiracy Theorist to Leave Brigham Young", AP/Washington Post, October 22, 2006.
  3. ^ Frequently Asked Questions About The Field of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions. A Subset of Condensed Matter Nuclear Science. New Energy Times. Retrieved on 2006-07-27.
  4. ^ a b Walch, Tad. "BYU professor in dispute over 9/11 will retire", Deseret Morning News, 2006-10-21.
  5. ^ Brigham Young University: Steven E. Jones's CV
  6. ^ Steven E. Jones' biography at BYU. Retrieved on 2006-08-03.
  7. ^ The Solar Funnel Cooker.
  8. ^ Jones’s manuscript on history of cold fusion at BYU, Ludwik Kowalski, March 5, 2004
  9. ^ Browne, Malcolm W. (1989). Physicists Debunk Claim Of a New Kind of Fusion. Science. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-07-14.
  10. ^ Czerski, K. and Huke, A. and Biller, A. and Heide, P. and Hoeft, M. and Ruprecht, G. (2001). Enhancement of the electron screening effect for d+ d fusion reactions in metallic environments 449-455, Volume 54, number 4. Europhysics Letters. “...the observed enhancement of the electron screening in metal targets can, in tendency, explain the small neutron production rates observed in the cold-fusion experiment of Jones [reference 1989 Nature paper].”
  11. ^ Jones, Steven E. "Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse?" in Griffin, David Ray and Peter Dale Scott, eds. 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out. Olive Branch Press, 2006. A version of the paper has also been published online in the Journal of 9/11 Studies, vol 3.[1]
  12. ^ Griffin, David Ray and Peter Dale Scott, eds. 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out. Olive Branch Press, 2006.
  13. ^ "9/11 + The Neo-Con Agenda" Press Release
  14. ^ Jones, Steven E. (July 18, 2006). Answers to Objections and Questions (pdf). Retrieved on 2006-08-05.
  15. ^ "Fury as academics claim 9/11 was 'inside job'", London Daily Mail, 2006-09-06. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
  16. ^ "Who really blew up the twin towers?", The Guardian, September 5, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
  17. ^ 2 U.S. Reports Seek to Counter Conspiracy Theories About 9/11. New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
  18. ^ a b Gravois, John (June 23, 2006). Professors of Paranoia? Academics give a scholarly stamp to 9/11 conspiracy theories. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved on 2006-07-27.
  19. ^ Bazant, Zdenek P. and Mathieu Verdure. "Mechanics of Progressive Collapse: Learning from World Trade Center and Building Demolitions" in Journal of Engineering Mechanics ASCE, in press. PDF[2]
  20. ^ Refuting 9/11 Conspiracy Theory. Letter to the Editor (April 9, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-07-27.
  21. ^ McIlvain, Ryan (December 5, 2005). Censor rumors quelled. Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
  22. ^ Walch, Tad. "Controversy dogs Y.'s Jones", Deseretnews, September 9, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-09-09.
  23. ^
  24. ^
  25. ^ McFarland, Sheena (September 8, 2006). BYU prof on paid leave for 9/11 theory. The Salt Lake Tribune.
  26. ^ http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645200780,00.html
  27. ^ Fetzer, Jim. "Open Letter to Steven Jones"[3].
  28. ^ Jones, Steven. "Testing the Hypothesis that Mini-Nukes Were Used on the WTC Towers" .[4]
  29. ^ Jones, Steven. "My Response to 'An Open Letter'".[5]
  30. ^ Wood, Judy and Morgan Reynolds. "Why Indeed did the WTC Buildings Disintegrate?"[6]
  31. ^ http://www.scholarsfor911truth.org/ScholarsAnniversary.html
  32. ^ Announced on the Scholars website, accessed Dec. 5, 2006.[7]
  33. ^ Fetzer, James H. "Scholars: on its first anniversary". [8]
  34. ^ Brigham Young University: Steven E. Jones's CV

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Links covering Professor Jones' 9/11 research

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