Didsbury SciBar: Manchester and the Atom Bomb

If any one city is to blame for the most destructive weapon ever unleashed on humanity, it’s Manchester. In 1803, a local maths teacher, John Dalton, devised atomic theory in a house in the city. Just over a hundred years later, in 1917, Ernest Rutherford, split the atom in a lab in the city. He couldn’t see what the purpose of this was, but 28 years later the world found out: the atom bomb. In this talk, Ed Glinert, Arts Society lecturer, cruise ship speaker, author of the groundbreaking “Manchester: The Biography”, relates one of science’s most remarkable stories. The story of how a maths teacher playing around with gases in Manchester in 1803 led to the most murderous weapon the world has ever seen, thankfully not used since 1945, is one of the most fascinating in history. Also check out other in Manchester, Arts events in Manchester, Literary Art events in Manchester.