The image shows part of the full image that shows the atomic cloud rising over Nagasaki, Japan. By Charles Levy.
Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Overseas Operations Branch. New York Office. News and Features Bureau. (12/17/1942 - 09/15/1945)
In 1941, ten days after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, the British government approved a plan to develop an atomic bomb. Code-named ‘Tube Alloys’ the project brought together leading atomic physicists from across occupied Europe, as well as German refugees, who were tasked with mastering the technology of nuclear energy production and designing an atomic weapon.
At that time, Jesus College was one of the last few Oxford colleges to maintain a scientific laboratory onsite (now the undergraduate Meyricke Library), and so, hidden away from public view, it provided the ideal location for some of the clandestine research to take place.
Join Professorial Fellow Tim Palmer as he tells the story of the Tube Alloys project, and Jesus College’s involvement. Navigating political turbulence, wartime espionage and transatlantic cooperation, it’s a lesser-known tale of scientific endeavour in Britain’s darkest hours that has resonance to the present day.
Includes audience Q&A and book-signing for Tim’s new book The Primacy of Doubt (OUP 2022)
About Professor Tim Palmer
Professor Tim Palmer is a Royal Society Research Professor in Climate Physics at the University of Oxford, and a Professorial Fellow of Jesus College Oxford. He pioneered the development of probabilistic ensemble forecasting techniques for weather and climate prediction.
His most recent book, The Primacy of Doubt' (OUP 2022), explains how the science of uncertainty can help predict and understand our chaotic world.