Scott here with another episode of the History and Plug podcast.

The story of the atomic age began decades before Robert Oppenheimer watched a mushroom

cloud form over the New Mexico desert at the Trinity nuclear test in mid-1945.

It begins in 1895, with Henry Becket's accidental discovery of radioactivity, setting

in motion a series of remarkable discoveries.

By the early 20th century, a brewing group of scientists, including Ernest Rutherford, Leo Seelard,

Enrico Fermi, and others were pushing the boundaries of knowledge, trying to answer fundamental

questions about the source of energy that had two million

times the energy density of oil. What was this mysterious radiation? Could it provide an infinite

energy source, where a basketball of it was equal to an oil field, and could it be webinized?

Today's guest is nuclear physicist Frank Close, author of Destroyer of Worlds, The Deep History of the Nuclear Age.

We look at the decades leading up to the development of the atomic bomb in the period afterwards,

from the initial curiosity about radioactivity to the creation of the hydrogen bomb,

a weapon of almost unimaginable destructive potential, capable of eradicating life on Earth.

This is an account of scientific discoveries that unlock the atom's power,

the ethical dilemmas faced by scientists,

and the horrifying realization that this newfound energy could lead to humanity's undoing.

Hope we enjoyed this discussion with Frank Close.

And one more thing before we get started with this episode,

a quick break for a word from our sponsors.

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