17. „Über die Verwandlung von Wasserstoff in Helium“ (“Chapter 17. ‘On the Transformation of Hydrogen into Helium’” by Christoph Maulbetsch, German language).

<jats:p>This chapter reconstructs Paneth and Kurt Peters’s 1926 Berlin attempt to produce helium from hydrogen on palladium at room temperature. The spectacular interpretation quickly proved untenable: the helium detected was not the product of nuclear fusion but came from the apparatus and materials, especially asbestos and glass.</jats:p> <jats:p>The episode is presented as a revealing case in the history of experimental misinterpretation. Drawing on contemporary criticism and Allan Franklin’s criteria for good experiments, the chapter identifies methodological weaknesses, insufficiently excluded sources of error, problematic helium analysis, and theoretical objections to hydrogen-helium transmutation. At the same time, Paneth’s project emerges as an expression of his interest in transmutations, his confidence in micro gas analysis, and his wish to secure a fundamental role for chemistry in the study of matter.</jats:p>