From the Cold War to the present day

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2019

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For more than 100 years chemical weapons have terrorised, maimed and killed soldiers and civilians alike. As a chemist, the part his profession has played in the development of these weapons has long concerned Andrea Sella, professor of chemistry at University College London. In this programme he examines the motivation of chemists like Dr Fritz Haber, who first encouraged the German military to deploy chlorine gas in World War One for the sake of “The Fatherland” and of Dr Gerhard Schrader, who, in his hunt for an effective pesticide, accidentally discovered a new class of lethal nerve agents for Nazi Germany. From chlorine, phosgene and the mustard gases, to tabun, sarin, soman, VX and the novichok agents used to target former Soviet agent Sergei Skipal in England, Andrea weaves archive with interviews with key figures in the ongoing campaign to control and ban the use of such weapons and he asks how science educators can prepare young chemists for the moral hazard posed by this particular class of weapon. (Photo: Mock up of Novichok agent (A-234), Credit: WoodyAlec/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Doleepa, and I'm at your service.
0:04.7	Join me as I serve up personal conversations
0:07.1	with my sensational guests.
0:08.9	Do a leap, interviews, Tim Cook.
0:11.2	Technology doesn't want to be good or bad.
0:15.0	It's in the hands of the Creator.
0:16.7	It's not every day that I have the CEO of the world's biggest company in my living room.
0:20.6	If you're looking at your phone more than you're looking in someone's eyes, you're
0:24.7	doing the wrong thing.
0:25.9	Julie, at your service.
0:27.8	Listen to all episodes on BBC Sales.
0:31.2	Hi, I'm Linda, and I'm Mercy.
0:32.8	They don't even sound right.
0:34.8	Before you get to the podcast you've actually chosen to download,
0:37.8	we're here to tell you about our new podcast, Parent Land.
0:41.2	It's a podcast for anyone interested in raising children.
0:44.3	The idea is that listeners email in their questions and we use scientific evidence and
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0:57.2	parent land wherever you find your podcasts. A former Russian spy is understood to be in a critical condition in hospital in Wiltshire
	...

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