Doctor Atomic: what is really behind the development of science?

26th Feb 2009; 18:00

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As composer John Adams' latest opera, Doctor Atomic, opens at ENO for the first time in the UK, we will convene a panel of expert commentators to ask: what really drives scientific development?

Despite great progress and even greater possibilities for the future, many people feel uneasy about the potentially destructive applications of certain scientific advances.

Throughout history, money, power and politics have all played crucial roles in significant scientific development.  So is it realistic to expect that science can ever be neutral? How do we introduce greater clarity into public debates about science and ethics? Can literature and the dramatic arts make the human dimension of science more vivid in the public imagination? Would greater understanding of this human dimension help us understand the complex pressures operating upon scientists on the cusp of ground-breaking research?

Speakers to include: John Adams, composer; Penny Woolcock, director, Doctor Atomic; Professor Lewis Wolpert, scientist, author and broadcaster; Jim Baggott, science writer and Alom Shaha, teacher, science communicator and filmmaker.

Chair: Matthew Taylor, chief executive, RSA.

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Doctor Atomic is a major new co-production between ENO and the Metropolitan Opera, New York which opens on 25 February for 9 performances. This powerful new opera focuses on the creation of the atomic bomb and the moral dilemmas of scientist Robert Oppenheimer. Find out more and book tickets online

'The must-see opera of 2009' The Times

English National Opera would like to offer RSA event attendees a complimentary drink and programme if you book a ticket worth £39 or more for the UK premiere of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic *. To claim your vouchers* (one voucher for each per ticket booked) please book your tickets by 24th February by calling the ENO box office on 0871 472 0800 and quote ‘doctor/RSA’.


_{* Tickets must be booked by Tues 24 Feb. Offer available for all performances 25 Feb – 20 Mar 09 with tickets worth £39 or more. Tickets are priced £16 - £87. One complimentary drink voucher and programme voucher per ticket. Entitles the bearer to a glass of house wine, a beer or a soft drink and can be presented at any bar in the London Coliseum excluding the Bollinger Bar. The programme voucher can be redeemed at any programme point. Vouchers cannot be transferred, reprinted or exchanged. Limited availability; not available online; retrospectively or in conjunction with any other offer; at the management's discretion.}

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