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Nuclear Physics

Melvyn Bragg discusses the controversial 20th century scientific breakthrough and development of nuclear physics, which harnesses the enigmatic qualities of the atom鈥檚 core to create nuclear power.

Melvyn Bragg examines one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century, and certainly the most controversial; the development of nuclear physics. Harnessing the enigmatic qualities of the atom鈥檚 tiny core brought us nuclear power and gave us The Bomb, a breakthrough with such far-reaching consequences that it moved the physicist Albert Einstein to say, 鈥淗ad I known, I should have become a watch maker鈥.How can such outlandish power be released from such infinitesimal amounts of matter and what does the science of the nucleus tell us about how our universe is built? Nuclear technology provokes strong emotional and political reactions, but what are the plain facts behind its development as a science? With Jim Al-Khalili, Senior Lecturer in Physics at the University of Surrey; Christine Sutton, Particle Physicist and Lecturer in Physics at St Catherine鈥檚 College Oxford; John Gribbin, Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex.

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45 minutes

Last on

Thu 10 Jan 2002 21:30

Broadcasts

  • Thu 10 Jan 2002 09:02
  • Thu 10 Jan 2002 21:30

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