大象传媒

What was it in September of 1959 that caused an Austrian scientist to rush out from his lab and buy children's modelling clay?

Austrian born Dr Max Perutz had made one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the 20th century. For the first time, he could see what a molecule of haemoglobin looked like in 3D. Using lectures and programmes from the 大象传媒 archive, Josephine McDermott tells the story of how his fellow Cambridge University students in the UK thought he was 鈥渕ad鈥� to try and map a molecule made of 10,000 atoms, and the 鈥渁ppalling task鈥� which took 22 years to complete.

It was an achievement that earned him and his colleague John Kendrew the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1962. It has since contributed to the study of blood diseases like sickle cell anaemia and Huntington's disease.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the 鈥業ndian Titanic鈥� and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy鈥檚 Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and G枚rel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they鈥檝e had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America鈥檚 occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Dr Max Perutz in 1962. Credit: AP)