The neutron - its controversial jubilee

In this lecture, given to mark the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the neutron, the author discusses from a personal angle, applications of the neutron in technology, which are considered by some to be controversial. Advances in physics made in the 1930's leading, in 1939, to the elucidation of the extraordinary phenomenon of fission, are surveyed and the subsequent work on chain reactions leading to the atomic bomb is discussed. Problems arising in nuclear power generation, safety, possible accidents and public attitudes are considered. (U.K.)