16 Facts About Martin Fleischmann

Martin Fleischmann FRS was a British chemist who worked in electrochemistry.

Martin Fleischmann's father was a wealthy lawyer and his mother the daughter of a high-ranking Austrian civil officer.

Martin Fleischmann's father died of the complications of injuries received in a Nazi prison, after which Fleischmann lived for a period with his mother in a leased cottage in Rustington, Sussex.

Martin Fleischmann's PhD was awarded in 1951, under the supervision of Professor Herrington, for his thesis on the diffusion of electrogenerated hydrogen through palladium foils.

Martin Fleischmann met Sheila, his future wife, as a student and remained married to her for 62 years.

Martin Fleischmann went on to teach at King's College, Durham University, which in 1963 became the newly established University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

In 1967, Martin Fleischmann became Professor of Electrochemistry at the University of Southampton, occupying the Faraday Chair of Chemistry.

Martin Fleischmann retired from teaching in 1983 and was given an honorary professorship at Southampton University.

Martin Fleischmann confided to Stanley Pons that he might have found what he believed to be a way to create nuclear fusion at room temperatures.

Martin Fleischmann wanted to publish it first in an obscure journal, and had already spoken with a team that was doing similar work in a different university for a joint publication.

In 1992, Martin Fleischmann moved to France with Pons to continue their work at the IMRA laboratory, but in 1995 he retired and returned to England.

Martin Fleischmann co-authored further papers with researchers from the US Navy and Italian national laboratories, on the subject of cold fusion.

Martin Fleischmann died at home in Tisbury, Wiltshire on 3 August 2012, of natural causes.

Martin Fleischmann had suffered from Parkinson's disease, diabetes and heart disease.

Martin Fleischmann was survived by his son and two daughters.

Martin Fleischmann produced over 272 scientific papers and book chapters on the field of electrochemistry.