Available online
Description
'Diamonds, Rust and a handful of Sand' is an 8 part radio series about the historical development of electronics in the 20th Century, told in the words of the pioneers, including many specially rec...orded interviews with the early workers in the field. According to one historian, the development of Radar was equivalent to trebling the size of the RAF for the vital days of the Battle of Britain. Philip Ashby presents a short radio history of those days, following the development of the first experimental sets by Watson-Watts' team of pioneers to the invention of the cavity magnetron in Birmingham. The programme includes a specially recorded interview with Professor Robert Hanbury-Brown, one of the first workers with the Watson-Watt team in 1936; an eye-witness account of a Chain Home station in action by Ernie Putley, a radar researcher; plus readings by Garard Green and Melinda Walker, based on war diaries and scientific papers, and archive recordings of Sir Robert Watson-Watt.
'Diamonds, Rust and a handful of Sand' is an 8 part radio series about the historical development of electronics in the 20th Century, told in the words of the pioneers, including many specially rec...orded interviews with the early workers in the field. According to one historian, the development of Radar was equivalent to trebling the size of the RAF for the vital days of the Battle of Britain. Philip Ashby presents a short radio history of those days, following the development of the first experimental sets by Watson-Watts' team of pioneers to the invention of the cavity magnetron in Birmingham. The programme includes a specially recorded interview with Professor Robert Hanbury-Brown, one of the first workers with the Watson-Watt team in 1936; an eye-witness account of a Chain Home station in action by Ernie Putley, a radar researcher; plus readings by Garard Green and Melinda Walker, based on war diaries and scientific papers, and archive recordings of Sir Robert Watson-Watt.
| Series: | Diamonds, rust and a handful of sand; Series 1 |
|---|---|
| Episode | 3 |
| First transmission date: | 1995-02-19 |
| Published: | 1995 |
| Rights Statement: | Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: | This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OUDA web pages. |
| Duration: | 00:29:37 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Philip Ashby |
| Contributors: | R. Hanbury (Robert Hanbury) Brown; Ernie Putley |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Battle of Britain; Birmingham; Cavity magnetron; RAF; Scientific papers; War diaries; Watson-Watts |
| Master spool number: | 94YT0270 |
| Production number: | T005_03 |
| Available to public: | no |
