A lesson in physics, espionage and history

Last night, the Oxford Physicist Frank Close spoke at a Prospect event about his new book, Half Life, which tells the story of Bruno Pontecorvo, the atomic physicist and supposed spy. An extract from the book and a recording of the event can be found here on our website. Close addressed a small, high-powered group (especially appropriate for nuclear physics) that included Pauline Neville Jones, the former Chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee and Jonathan Evans, the former Director General of MI5.

In his inimitably fluent manner, Close talked the crowd through the story of Pontecorvo’s rise to prominence, his work in the Allied nuclear research effort during the war and then, in 1950, his sudden defection to the USSR.

Perhaps the highlight of the book is the fleeting appearance of a familiar and terrible figure, whose shadow is cast unmistakably across this story and who may have been responsible for Pontecorvo’s decision to defect. I will not tell you who it is. If you want to know, here is the recording. Listen, and you will hear the gasps and the somewhat bitter laughter when the name is finally revealed.

For anyone with an interest in physics, espionage, or deeply-researched history, I strongly recommend that you take the time and give it a listen.

—Also present: Matin Durrani, Editor, Physics World; Philip Ball, author; Kati Whitaker, BBC documentary maker; George Eaton, Political Editor, New Statesman; Andrea Taroni, Chief Editor, Nature Physics; and Piers Benn, philosopher.