Episode 15 – Peter Rees QC and Maarten Wilbers

Peter Rees QC and Maarten Wilbers

Peter Rees QC chats to Maarten Wilbers, Deputy Legal Counsel at CERN, about the establishment of CERN out of the ashes of the Second World War, its unique challenges as an intergovernmental organisation straddling the Swiss/French border, how we all came to have free use of the world wide web thanks to CERN, and what CERN is now doing in the search for the fundamental building blocks of matter. Maarten also explains how CERN is helping in the fight against COVID-19, including the development of a cheap, easy to operate ventilator for use in developing nations and discusses the forthcoming construction of a new science centre at CERN which will be open to the public and which has been designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano. Recorded on the 1st July 2020.