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David King

Sue Lawley's castaway is Chief Scientific Adviser Sir David King.

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser Prof Sir David King. He's had a testing four and a half years in the job - his tenure has coincided with an epidemic of foot and mouth disease, as well as a series of ongoing public health controversies played out in the media, such as the safety of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) and concerns over genetically-modified crops.

He was born in South Africa and brought up in a middle-class suburb of Johannesburg. As a teenager he was taken by his school to visit a township to see how black South Africans lived. He says it was an eye-opening experience and, while he pursued his scientific studies, he also took a stance against the political regime and wrote letters denouncing apartheid. His activism brought him to the attention of South Africa's secret police - he was questioned and left with little option but to leave the country. He came to Britain and continued his studies here. He pursued an academic career - he was made the 1920 Professor of Physical Chemistry at Cambridge University in 1988, a post he still holds, and has recently been confirmed for a second term as the Government's chief scientist.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Don't Know Why by Norah Jones
Book: Wild Reckoning, An Anthology Provoked by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring by John Burnside
Luxury: Bunch of canvases with oils and brushes

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 27 May 2005 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Miriam Makeba

    Hapo Zamani

    • Welela.
    • Philips.

  • Paul Simon

    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔless

    Artist: Ladysmith Black Mambazo

    • Graceland.
    • Warner.

  • BΓ©la BartΓ³k

    Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta - 2nd movement

    Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt

    • Bartok: Orchestral Works.
    • RCA.

  • The Beatles

    Yesterday

    • The Beatles.1962-1966.
    • Apple.

  • Bob Dylan

    Just Like a Woman

    • Blonde on Blonde.
    • Columbia.

  • John Coltrane

    Resolution

    • A Love Supreme.
    • Impulse.

  • Tom Waits

    Table Top Joe

    • Alice.
    • Anti.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Norah Jones

      Don't Know Why

      • Come Away with Me.
      • Parlophone.

  • Book Choice

    • Wild Reckoning, An Anthology Provoked by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring - John Burnside

  • Luxury Choice

    • Bunch of canvases with oils and brushes

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest David King

Broadcasts

  • Sun 22 May 2005 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 27 May 2005 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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