What they didn’t tell you in Oppenheimer

2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima. The movie, Oppenheimer, gives the impression that this bomb was largely an American creation, made possible by the inspired leadership of Robert Oppenheimer. But this is not accurate. Indeed, the bomb would not have been built without crucial pioneering work in the early years of WW2, here in Britain. Sadly, our early scientific lead was squandered by administrators failing to understand the engineering challenges of building a fission bomb.

Professor Tim Palmer CBE FRS is a Royal Society Research Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford, who will discuss the British contribution to the bomb, how we failed to capitalise on our early lead and why we are still paying the price for this administrative incompetence today.

Sponsored by Englefield Charitable Trust