The Physicist Who Released Fusion Before the Nuclear Age

Marcus Oliphant helped open the nuclear age through experiments that discovered tritium, helium-3 and energy released by fusion. Born in Adelaide in 1901, he studied at the University of Adelaide before joining Ernest Rutherford’s Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge. He later led physics at Birmingham, contributed to microwave radar and urged American leaders to accelerate the atomic program. This documentary follows his return to Australia, scientific institution-building and later advocacy for peace.

Oliphant's career connects several defining technologies of the twentieth century: nuclear fusion, particle accelerators, radar and atomic weapons. His laboratory work revealed energy inside light nuclei, while wartime engineering helped make airborne radar practical. Yet he later became an outspoken critic of nuclear armament and a builder of Australian science. This documentary explores the tension between discovery, military urgency and the responsibility scientists carry for the uses of their work.