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This year's Reith Lecturer is American theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer. Professor of Physics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, he has been described as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project while Director of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory between 1943–45. In his Reith lectures entitled 'Science and the Common Understanding', he examines the impact of quantum and atomic theory on society.

In his fifth lecture entitled 'Uncommon Sense', Professor Oppenheimer discusses how physicists identified the two dissimilar states for the electron. He explores how sometimes looking at scientific problems from an 'uncommon' perspective can lead to the correct scientific theory.