Hiroshima*, Nagasaki, Chernobyl - names that make the blood run cold, but 130 years ago radioactivity was completely unknown. My goodness, how things have moved on since then, and yet it all started so innocently. This illustrated talk looks at the scientists who pioneered discovery, how the medieval silver mines of Bohemia had yielded a revelation that scared the free world when war with Nazi Germany broke out and how this was later exploited by the USSR during the Cold War era. Oddly, until he recently realised it, objects in the speaker’s parents’ bedroom had unknowingly contained a link to this story of radioactivity. Might something in your home do so as well? Length of talk 45 to 50 minutes, but can be adapted to suit.

*Did you know Hiroshima translates from Japanese as “Broad Island”? It doesn’t seem to sound so chilling like that does it?