Bernal and the social function of science.

A Vega Science Masterclass by Chris Freeman, the founder and first director of the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex. The programme takes the form of a presentation and discussion on Bernal, the father of the protein crystallography techniques which enabled the double helix structure of DNA to be unravelled. Bernal's major impact on scientific research in the post-war industrialised economies through his 1939 treatise 'The Social Function of Science' is discussed. The presentation and ensuing debate also probe the complex political pressures to which Bernal was subject during the period 1930-60.