A hidden story of science, politics and war
On Sunday 4 April 1926, Winston Churchill – Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK government – wrote an essay about quantum theory, at that time a hot topic in physics. He promptly sent it to an Oxford professor of physics to check that his (Churchill’s) understanding was correct (it was). Seven years later, Churchill chaired a discussion about the great nuclear discoveries recently made by Rutherford’s group at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. Churchill was also a prolific writer about the implications of modern science for society and warfare, writing regular science columns for the News of the World, read by millions in the UK.
Churchill was much more interested in fundamental physics than most historians seem to realise, though they all appreciate his recognition of the importance of applying modern science and technology to warfare. He repeatedly warned in the 1930s that the nuclear age was imminent. Early in WWII, physicists in Britain showed that the Bomb could almost certainly be built. Partly because he – as prime minister – paid relatively little attention to the speculative weapon, the initiative soon passed to the US, which had the vast resources essential to realise the venture quickly. British scientists played only a minor role in it. Churchill dismissed warnings from the Danish physicist Niels Bohr that Anglo-American nuclear policy would lead to an arms race. After Churchill returned to power in 1951, he became the first British leader to have nuclear weapons, and also commissioned the H-bomb. Appalled by the prospect of thermonuclear war, he ended his political career as a pioneer of détente.