ſapp

Chemists as Politicians

Explore more:

Donate Join us

Chemists as Politicians

Date

16 October 2026

Subject areas

General Interest

Location

London, UK

Chemists as Politicians Main Image
Search all events

This meeting will look at the career of chemists who became politicians (mainly in the UK), both in the past and more recently. The speakers will discuss the influence of their chemical training (and in some cases their chemical research) on their political thinking and their actions as politicians. They range from Henry Enfield Roscoe and Chaim Weizmann to Margaret Thatcher and Julian Huppert.

10:00 Coffee and tea

Session One (chair: Mary Archer)

10.30 Welcome from John Nicholson, Chair of the Historical Group

10.35 Peter Reed, “Lyon Playfair: Chemist, MP, Minister and Polymathic Reformer”

11.05 Peter Morris, “Henry Roscoe: The Campaigning Chemist”

11.35 Richard Toye, “Stafford Cripps: The Chemistry of Politics”

12.05 Jon Agar, “Margaret Thatcher, Scientist”

12.35 Lunch (not provided)

Session Two (chair: tbc)

2.00 Brian Iddon, “Chemistry and Politics: An Unlikely Mixture”

2.30 Julian Huppert, “Are Politicians and Chemists Miscible?”

3.00 Tea and coffee

Session Three (chair: tbc)

3.40 Tony Travis, “Chaim Weizmann: From Science Fiction to Birth of a Nation”

4.00 Viscount Stansgate, “Parliament and Science”

4.40 Closing remarks by Peter Morris

4.50 Meeting ends

Event details

This meeting is open to everyone, including the general public, and is free of charge. If you wish to attend, please send an email giving your details (and requirements if any) to the ſapp Historical Group Secretary, Mike Leggett, at [email protected] by 8 October 2026.

Deadlines

Burlington House

Library, Burlington House, ſapp, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BA, UK

Allow cookies to view content.

Mike Leggett

ſapp Historical Group

Search all events