Join us in welcoming Gareth Williams, in conversation with Nicholas Witchell to celebrate the release of 'The Impossible Bomb'; the remarkable story of the forgotten British scientists who enabled the Manhattan Project to create the atomic bomb.Atomic weaponry is widely understood as a story of American scientific achievement—but scientists working in Britain played a vital role in its development. Including Nobel Prize winners and Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, these scientists have long since been forgotten. But without their expertise, Robert Oppenheimer’s research at Los Alamos would never have succeeded.Gareth Williams unearths the true story of the top-secret British atomic programme, codenamed “Tube Alloys,” established in 1940. These pioneering scientists struggled to convince sceptics in Britain and the USA that an atomic “super-bomb” capable of destroying entire cities was feasible, and could be built in time to influence the outcome of the Second World War. Williams shows how the British atomic programme, despite the often disruptive involvement of political leaders such as Winston Churchill, was vital to the success of the Manhattan Project.The Impossible Bomb sheds new light on how humanity’s deadliest weapons came to exist and the massive destruction they wrought.
Gareth Williams is emeritus professor and former dean of medicine at the University of Bristol. He is the author of over 200 medical papers and 20 books, including Angel of Death: The Story of Smallpox and Unravelling the Double Helix.
Nicholas Witchell was the BBC's Royal Correspondent & News Broadcaster for over 40 years and Founder of the British Normandy Memorial Trust. Since he first started working with the BBC in 1976, Nicholas has been at the forefront of British current affairs, making him an authoritative expert on 20th and 21st century events. From Princess Diana's funeral to Margaret Thatcher's election campaign, this incredibly engaging speaker offers insight unlike any other.
