NBA History of Science Seminar

Graham Farmelo, "Churchill, his nuclear physicists and the bomb."

Churchill was the first politician who could reasonably be described as a nuclear visionary.

Graham Farmelo, Churchill College, Cambridge, England

In several widely-read articles, he foresaw the nuclear age over a decade before it arrived, and was the first national leader to agree to develop nuclear weapons, later first produced by the U.S., with help from the UK and Canada.

Later, Churchill became the first British leader to have nuclear weapons at his disposal and to oversee the delivery of civil nuclear power.

In this talk, I shall look at his little-known role in the early stages of the nuclear age, and will concentrate on his relationships with leading nuclear scientists, including Niels Bohr.

The talk is arranged in collaboration with the Niels Bohr International Academy (NBIA).