Brett Holverstott

The End of Fire

Hydrino Energy and the Future of Physics

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“A scientific page-turner that you can’t put down. Never thought I would say that about a book about physics.”

Chris Henry · reader, 2016 edition
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The premise

A new, clean energy source is about to change our world.

Charles Darwin remarked that next to language, the discovery of fire was the greatest ever made by man. For 200 years, the burning of fossil fuels has powered our civilization. Over the next decade, we will transition into a new era.

The End of Fire documents 35 years of scientific research and engineering by Randell Mills and Brilliant Light Power, who have pioneered a new form of hydrogen chemistry. The result is the SunCell – is a light source as hot as the sun, and carbon-free power. This book is the story and incredible science behind the discovery of the “hydrino” atom, and the light it sheds on our universe.

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Revised and Expanded Edition by Brett Holverstott. Illustrations by Matt Schmidt. Softcover and Kindle.

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Topics in the Book

Key subjects from the book, with links to relevant podcast episodes.

Randell Mills

“Mills had the work ethic of a farmer, the inventiveness of Edison, and the brain of Einstein; he was an engineer-scholar, a modern man, a quintessential American mind.”

After earning a Medical Degree from Harvard and studying physics at MIT, Mills began to invent. His ideas were innovative, often spanning problems in mathematics, physics, chemistry and medicine. His proposal for a low-dose cancer therapy earned him an article in Nature. When his professor at MIT solved an 80-year-old problem in the physics of light, Mills was inspired to look at the atom in a new way. The idea would go on to take over his life and career, leading to a new Unified Theory of physics.

Read more about this topic in Chapters 1 and 2

Early Atomic Theory

“Goedecke speculated that one could hypothesize a theory of nature in which all stable particles are merely nonradiating charge-current distributions.”

From the discovery of the electron until about 1915, scientists sought a model of the atom that leveraged the known laws of physics, such as electrodynamics and mechanics. In 1925, physicists turned away from the premise that we could understand the interior of the atom and developed a new theory of quantum mechanics. Yet, over the course of the 20th century, physicists continued to explore classical models of the electron. Their progress resulted in a new understanding of how particles emit light. It paved the way for Mills’s new theory.

Profane Science

Read more about this topic in Chapters 3 and 4

Atomic and Molecular Physics

“It validated my view that nature is, at its root, simple and knowable; an incredible, beautiful geometric order on all scales, what Einstein once called the ‘perfect structure.’”

After solving the hydrogen atom, Mills began to unravel the architecture of nature, solving the structure of increasingly complex atoms and molecules. Where quantum mechanics had shown fuzzy blobs, Mills’s theory revealed these to be classical extended surfaces – spheres and ellipsoidal shells. For the first time in history, atoms and molecules could be seen for what they were – accurately, and to scale.

Profane Science

Read more about this topic in Chapters 4 and 8

Experimental Confirmation of the Hydrino

“The vocal critics of Mills claimed the hydrino could not exist because scientists already knew everything there is to know about hydrogen. But they didn’t.”

Does the hydrino state of hydrogen exist? Follow the trail of three decades of published experimental work, from early water-based electrolysis cells to beautiful plasma cells that produce heat, unique light signatures, unusual plasma behavior, and new samples for analysis. The evidence is clear: hydrino is real; it can be found in nature; and it can be made in the laboratory. Follow the efforts of numerous physicists who confirmed Mills’s results, putting their reputations on the line, while facing fierce opposition by the scientific community in the face of a paradigm-shifting change.

Profane Science

Read more about this topic in Chapters 7, 9, 10, and 12

The Engineering of the SunCell

“Days after the test in which Mills had ‘pushed power into the ludicrous zone’ the engineers at Columbia Tech said: ‘We don’t get excited when we see things melting’ but here was an engineering challenge they could solve.”

In 2014, there was a breakthrough: hydrino reactions became explosive. New partners with serious firepower jumped into the fray. The subsequent series of reactor prototypes demonstrated the difficulty harnessing a reaction 200 times more potent than fossil fuels, in which the plasma was as hot as the surface of the Sun. In 2021 a boiler showed the technology was almost ready for market. But then Mills pivoted to a universal, light emitting cell – the SunCell – that could generate power by illuminating solar panels. He called it “a gift from Nature.”

Profane Science

View Prototype Reactor Videos →
Read more about this topic in Chapters 10 and 11

Solar Physics

“The Sun is a source of warmth and light, powered by the hydrino reaction all along, shining down on us as clear as day, waiting for mankind to understand.”

The Sun is full of unsolved mysteries: the excessive heating of the Corona, explosive events that emit high-energy light, an imbalance in observed neutrinos from the core, and new evidence like solar “sparkles.” It is time for a massive revision to our understanding of the sun, and the role the hydrino reaction plays in up to 60% of the Sun’s radiated power.

Profane Science

Read more about this topic in Chapter 11

Dark Matter

“Whip up a universe, start with a lot of hydrogen, add a pinch of helium, and shake for a few billion years. You will end up with a lot of hydrino on your hands.”

Ignored by astrophysicists for decades, the missing matter in the universe is a big problem looking for a big explanation. It is now joined by other mysteries: unexplained extreme ultraviolet emission lines, and unexplained diffuse interstellar bands (DIBS) - absorption lines from every direction we look in space. We know 90% of the visible universe is hydrogen – what if the missing 80% was also hydrogen? Molecular hydrino gas offers a solution to a constellation of mysteries.

Profane Science

Read more about this topic in Chapter 12

The Quantum Quagmire

“So far it has not been possible to find any model that can explain the nature of these objects.”

— Humphrey Marris

New theoretical models often offer a radical interpretation of fact. Mills’s model allows us to rethink quantum double-slit and entanglement experiments. Quantum mechanics is also challenged by a little-discussed experiment in which free electrons form bubbles in liquid helium. The historic experiment clearly demonstrates the failure of quantum mechanics and confirms Mills’s model.

Read more about this topic in Chapters 6 and 14

Space Propulsion

“Although Mills’s theory offers exciting new possibilities, it takes some of the science fiction out of the science of interstellar travel.”

In 1996, NASA approved a grant to test hydrino plasma for rocket propulsion. The results were favorable, but preliminary. Now, Mills’s physics offers new exciting possibilities: a “space drive” that cheats on Newton’s Third Law. Learn why Mills’s theory closes the door on wormholes and warp drives.

Profane Science

Read more about this topic in Chapters 7 and 17

Black Holes

“We now have good evidence for black holes. Where did Einstein go wrong?”

At the center of black holes (the “singularity”) Einstein’s theory breaks down. But Mills’s theory gives us new insight into what is happening. It also gives us a new story of the fate of these behemoths, while explaining the origin of gamma ray bursts (GRB’s), gravitational waves, and fast-moving black hole jets.

Profane Science

Read more about this topic in Chapters 15 and 17

A New Cosmology

“Stellar fusion, the most abundant physical process in nature, provides an explanation for why the universe is expanding.”

Mills’s Unified Theory offers a stunning prediction — the universe expands and contracts, with no Big Bang. See how Mills predicted “Dark Energy” – the force behind why the universe is accelerating in its outward expansion, 3 years before its discovery in 1998, and how Mills introduces a new conservation law in physics – that of spacetime.

Profane Science

Read more about this topic in Chapters 16 and 17

The Philosophy of Science

“Truth reveals itself to the open mind.”

Mills’s theories overturn a century of thinking in quantum mechanics, and the scientific community has largely dismissed and ignored his discoveries. Thomas Kuhn calls such moments of scientific change “paradigm shifts.” How did they get it wrong, and where do we go from here?

Profane Science

The Hydrogen Revolution

Read more about this topic in Chapters 9 and 18

Podcasts and Resources

Profane Science cover

Profane Science

Profane Science is a reader-supported series of podcasts derived from topics in The End of Fire. Subscribe, or listen for free. Available on Substack or Spotify.

Listen to the Chapter 1 audiobook →

Podcast Profane Science Subscribe
The Hydrogen Revolution logo

The Hydrogen Revolution

The Hydrogen Revolution is a Substack following Brilliant Light Power and the SunCell, with news on testing and demonstrations, interviews, commentary on Mills’s theory, and The Hydrino Hypothesis article series.

Read the review of The End of Fire →

The Hydrogen Revolution Subscribe

What readers say

Reviews of this edition and of the 2016 book, Randell Mills and the Search for Hydrino Energy, run strongly positive. Readers come back to the same points: the physics is difficult, the telling is clear, and the story is hard to put down. On Goodreads the first edition averages 4.56. Public Amazon reviews of the 2025 edition are five stars.

“Brett somehow manages to make a truly unbelievable story quite believable indeed… This is the definitive account of the greatest scientific story ever told, with beautiful prose and elegant illustrations. Bottom line: read this book!”
Alex Combs · The Hydrogen Revolution, May 2025 Read the full review ↗
“This book is exceptionally well-written. Holverstott takes extremely difficult concepts and makes them understandable even to the layman. The science is welded together with interesting stories.”
Chris Henry · Goodreads, 2017 2016 edition
“A very well written history of Randell Mills’s decade-long journey and how it could change our lives. One of the most interesting books I have read in many years.”
Pamela S. Gray · Goodreads, 2018 2016 edition
“An excellent review and update of the latest SunCell developments, the technology, and Dr. Randell Mills’ atomic theory. Absolutely stunning!”
Dan Evans · Amazon, May 2025 5 stars
“An amazing story and explanation of the new groundbreaking SunCell, and of the classical physics that made it possible.”
Jeff Bain · Amazon, April 2025 5 stars
“A very well-written book. To this educated layman, Holverstott makes a compelling case for Mills’s theory of hydrino energy.”
Howard · Amazon, April 2025 5 stars
“A monumental effort… at once a science history treatise and a business mystery story… that doesn’t shortchange the intense complexity of the scientific material.”
Kert Davies, Climate Investigations Center foreword

Readers of the 2016 edition on Amazon also called it highly informative, written with little math, and “mandatory reading for all young scientists.” Sources: Amazon, 2025 · Amazon, 2016 · Goodreads.

Brett Holverstott, author of The End of Fire

The author

Brett Holverstott

Brett studied philosophy, physics, and chemistry at Reed College. He worked with Mills from 2004–2009, doing scientific visualizations and mathematical support. In 2016 he published Randell Mills and the Search for Hydrino Energy; the second edition released in 2025 as The End of Fire. He hosts Profane Science, a reader-supported podcast. He also holds a Masters in Architecture and is a practicing architect in Seattle with the Figure Ground Collective. His next book is about the art world; learn more via Profane Art.

Profane Science Figure Ground Collective

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