Tom Blundell
Kirsty Young's castaway is scientist Tom Blundell.
Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the leading scientist Professor Sir Tom Blundell. His specialism is in molecular biology, which involves studying the tiniest building blocks of life under a microscope, in the hope of finding treatments for diseases such as cancer and diabetes. It is a hugely visual kind of science, and this, he says, is no coincidence - he loves science first and foremost for its beauty.
He regularly seeks this beauty beyond the laboratory too; in art, in music and in travelling all over the world. One very special trip was to Africa for his wedding, after which he was somewhat surprised at being asked to pay for his Zimbabwean bride - a fellow academic - in cows. As a working class student at Oxford in the 1960s, he developed a fascination with politics, and at one point this activism threatened to overwhelm his life completely. When forced to choose between science and politics, he says he realised that politics was simply too hard. In recent years, he has finally been able to combine the two, by chairing numerous government science committees, and making key recommendations on issues as diverse as mad cow disease and climate change.
[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]
Favourite track: Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting by Charles Mingus
Book: Lessons in Ndebele by J. Pelling
Luxury: A combined heat and power micro-unit.
Last on
Music Played
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Gilberto Gil
Refavela
- Electracustico.
- WEA.
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Chris Barber's Jazzband
New St Louis Blues
Artist: Ottilie Patterson
- Echoes of Harlem.
- Castle.
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Castaway's Favourite
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Charles Mingus
Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting
- Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy - Jazz Festival - Antibes 1960.
- Giants of Jazz.
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Billie Holiday
Strange Fruit
- Lady Sings the Blues Vol 4.
- Verve.
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Veenai Jayanthi
Sakhi Prana
- Shankaram.
- Music Today.
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Vincenzo Bellini
Qual cor tradisti (from Norma)
Soloist: Jane Eaglen Orchestra: The Orchestra and Chorus of Maggio Musicale of Florence Conductor: Riccardo Muti
- Bellini: Norma.
- EMI.
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Hugh Masekela
Send Me
- Time.
- Chissa Records.
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Giuseppe Verdi
Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate (Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) (from Nabucco)
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Deutschen Oper Berlin Conductor: Giuseppe Sinopoli
- Opern-chore:Mozart/Weber/Beethoven/Wagner/Verdi.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
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Book Choice
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Lessons in Ndebele - J. Pelling
Luxury Choice
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A combined heat and power micro-unit
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Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Kirsty Young |
| Interviewed Guest | Tom Blundell |
Broadcasts
- Sun 3 Jun 2007 11:15Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
- Fri 8 Jun 2007 09:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
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