Weiss lecture. Radiation chemistry: basic, strategic or tactical science?

The work of Weiss in the 1930s, particularly with Haber, has only recently been recognized to have implications in biology and medicine. Similarly, research in radiation chemistry and the application of the pulse radiolysis technique, for example, have implications far beyond traditional radiation chemistry. Some examples of such research are discussed against a background of categorization into 'basic', 'strategic' or 'tactical' science, rather than 'pure' and 'applied'. Examples discussed include redox properties of free radicals, which are now on a firm quantitative basis, and the identification and characterization of nitro radicals as intermediates in drug metabolism. Radical reactions often take place in multicomponent systems, and the techniques of radiation chemistry can be used to probe, for example, events occurring at interfaces in micelles. Industrial processes involving radiation are attracting investment, particularly in Japan. Radiation chemistry deserves further support to exploit its full potential, but much research using radiation chemical techniques often appears, probably more appropriately, under different labels.