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Robert Oppenheimer

(Redirected from J. Robert Oppenheimer)

J. Robert Oppenheimer (April 22, 1904 - February 18, 1967) was a Jewish-American physicist and the scientific director of the Manhattan Project, the World War II effort to develop nuclear weapons, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Known colloquially as "the father of the atomic bomb," Oppenheimer lamented their killing power after they were used to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, he was an adviser to the newly-created Atomic Energy Commission and used that position to lobby for international control of atomic energy and to avert the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. Following an FBI investigation during the Red Scare, he had his security clearance stripped for alleged past Communist sympathies. Though stripped of his political influence, Oppenheimer continued to lecture, write, and work on physics. A decade later President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded him the Enrico Fermi Award as a gesture of rehabilitation.

Contents

1 Early life

2 The Manhattan Project

3 Postwar activities

4 Notes

4.1 On Oppenheimer's first initial

5 External links

6 Further reading

7 See also

Early life

Oppenheimer was born in New York in 1904 to Julius (a wealthy textile-importer who had immigrated to the USA from Germany in 1888) and Ella Friedman Oppenheimer (an artist). He studied at the Ethical Culture Society school where, in addition to mathematics and science, he was exposed to a variety of subjects ranging from Greek to French literature. He entered Harvard one year late due to an attack of colitis. During the interim period he went with a former English teacher to New Mexico to recuperate, where he fell in love with horseback riding and the mountains and plateaus of the American southwest. He returned reinvigorated and made up for the delay by graduating in just three years with a major in chemistry. One of the most brilliant men of the twentieth century, he studied science and the humanities with equal ease and insight.

While at Harvard he was introduced to experimental physics during a course on thermodynamics taught by Percy Bridgman. However, while undertaking postgraduate work at Ernest Rutherford's famed Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, he came to realize that his forte was theoretical, not experimental physics, as he was quite clumsy in the laboratory working under J.J. Thomson. In 1926 he pursued this interest by studying under Max Born at the University of Goettingen, one of the top centers for theoretical physics in Europe, and obtained his PhD at the age of 22.

He had a true feel for languages and could study a new one in a period of just one or two months. He was deeply interested in Sanskrit and Indian philosophies. During the period spent at Goettingen, Oppenheimer published many important contributions to the then newly-developed quantum theory. In September 1927, he returned to Harvard as a National Research Council Fellow and in early 1928 he studied at the California Institute of Technology. Here he received numerous invitations for teaching positions, and eventually opted to accept an assistant professorship in physics at the University of California, Berkeley as, in his words, "it was a desert", and yet paradoxically also a fertile place of opportunity. He maintained a joint appointment with Caltech, where he spent every spring term, in order to avoid potential isolation. Before his Berkeley professorship began, however, he was diagnosed with a mild case of tuberculosis, and with his brother Frank, spent some weeks at a ranch, "Perro Caliente," in New Mexico, which he leased and eventually purchased outright. Recovered, he returned to Berkeley to inspire a whole generation of physicists who idolized him for his intellectual virtuosity and amazingly versatile interests. While at Berkeley he also worked closely with (and became good friends with) Ernest O. Lawrence and his cyclotron pioneers. He is credited with creating the American school of theoretical physics.

Recognized in even his profession--theoretical physics--as a man of unusual brilliance, Oppenheimer was also troubled throughout his life. He professed to experiencing periods of depression so profound that only hard work was a "palliative." His biggest weakness (as described by his friends) was his tendency to self-destruct. He was a chain smoker for most of his life. He was irregular in habits, often neglecting to eat if he was deep in concentration. A tall man, he weighed scarely a hundred pounds for all his adult life. Some of his colleagues speculated that this self-destructive streak was the reason a man as genius as he did not "solve all the problems of scientific importance." He was also famous for his eccentricity. He kept himself far removed from the world; apparently, he did not learn of the infamous stock market crash of 1929 until several years after the fact. Strangely enough, he often seemed quite insecure about his own mental powers. He developed numerous affectations, seemingly in an attempt to convince those around him--or possibly himself--of his self-worth; for example, he adopted the mysterious letter at the beginning of his name. He was said to be mesmerizing, hypnotic in private interaction but often frigid in more public settings. Interestingly, many of his students and colleagues adopted "Oppie's" affectations--from his way of walking to talking and beyond--wherever they had prolonged contact with him.

Oppenheimer did important research in astrophysics, nuclear physics, and spectroscopy. Even in the in the immensely abstruse topics he was expert in, his papers were considered difficult to understand. He was very fond of using elegant, if extremely complex, mathematical techniques to demonstrate physical principles. In 1936 he became involved with Jean Tatlock, who sparked his interest in politics. Like many young intellectuals in the 1930s he became a supporter of Communist ideas, and having much more money than most professors (he inherited over $300,000 after his father's death in 1937, a massive sum at the time) was able to bankroll many left-wing efforts. In November 1940 he married Katherine Puening Harrison, a radical Berkeley student, and by May 1941 they had produced their first child, Peter.

The Manhattan Project

When World War II started, Oppenheimer eagerly became involved in the on-going war effort to develop an atomic bomb which was already taking up much of the activities of Lawrence's Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley. He threw himself into the task with full vigor. Much to Lawrence's frustration and the surprise of many, the Manhattan Project head General Leslie Groves appointed Oppenheimer as the scientific director, despite knowing of his past security complications.

Scouting for a site to create a new secret laboratory to be in charge of the scientific work behind the bomb, Oppenheimer was again drawn to New Mexico, not far from his ranch. On a flat mesa near the city of Santa Fe, Los Alamos was formed as a rag-tag collection of barracks and mud. There Oppenheimer collected a group of the most brilliant physicists of his day, which included Enrico Fermi, Hans Bethe, Richard Feynman, Edward Teller, Robert R. Wilson and Victor Weisskopf. He succeeded superbly as director and kept all the details of the project, from chemistry to engineering, in his mind.

His wife gave birth to their second child, Katherine (called Toni), in 1944 while at the lab. The joint work of the scientists at Los Alamos resulted in the first nuclear explosion at Alamogordo on July 16, 1945. Witnessing the explosion, he later said, recalled to Oppenheimer a verse from the Bhagavad Gita: "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."

Though the initial impetus for the development of the bomb -- a perceived arms race with Nazi Germany -- had long since been shown unnecessary (when the German program was discovered to be still-born by the Manhattan Project's ALSOS investigation), Oppenheimer and the great majority of his scientists pressed on. To some physicists though, including Edward Teller and Leo Szilard, actually using the weapon they were developing on a civilian area would be, in their minds, a great moral travesty. A petition was circulated at the labs in Los Alamos and Oak Ridge, pleading that direct use of the bomb against civilians would be immoral and unnecessary. Oppenheimer opposed the petition and warned Szilard and Teller not to impede the continuation of the project.

When it came time to discuss about whether and how to use the now-tested weapon, the scientist-administrators were divided. Ernest O. Lawrence initially favored not using the weapon on a live target, arguing that a demonstration of the weapon would be enough to convince the Japanese government of the futility of their war. Oppenheimer and many of the military advisors strongly disagreed with such an assessment, and Oppenheimer personally felt that if it were announced ahead of time where such a demonstration might be, that the enemy might move American POWs, or other human shields, into the region.

It is unknown how much input the scientists actually had in deciding how to use the weapon they had created. Regardless, on August 6, 1945, the Little Boy uranium bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, the Fat Man plutonium bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed outright in the attacks, and many more would die from injuries over time (see Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

The pride which Oppenheimer had felt after the successful Trinity test was quickly replaced with a sense of guilt and horror, though he never in later years ever said that he regretted making the weapon.

Postwar activities

Overnight Oppenheimer became a national spokesman for science, and an emblem of a new type technocratic power. Nuclear physics became a powerful force as all governments of the world began to realize the strategic and political power which came with nuclear weapons and their horrific implications.

After the Atomic Energy Commission was created in 1946 as a civilian agency in control of nuclear research and weapons issues, Oppenheimer was immediately appointed as the Chairman of its General Advisory Committee (GAC). From this position he was able to give policy advice on a number of nuclear-related issues, including project funding, laboratory construction, and even international policy -- though the GAC's advice was not always implemented.

Oppenheimer eventually took over Einstein's position at the Institute for Advanced Study.

In 1947, he accepted the directorship of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton Township, New Jersey, and would later hold Albert Einstein's old position of senior professor of theoretical physics.

While still Chairman of the GAC, Oppenheimer lobbied vigorously for international arms control, funding for basic science, and attempted to influence policy away from a heated arms race. When the issue was raised of whether a Manhattan Project-style crash program to develop an atomic weapon based on nuclear fusion -- the hydrogen bomb -- should be pursued, Oppenheimer initially recommended against it. Partly he was motivated by ethical concerns: such a weapon could only be used strategically against civilian targets and would result in millions of deaths if ever implemented. Partly, though, it was practical: at the time, there was no design of such a weapon which seemed promising. He was eventually overridden by President Harry Truman, who announced a crash program after the Soviet Union tested their first atomic bomb in 1949.

In his role as a political advisor, Oppenheimer made numerous enemies. The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover had been following his activities since before the war, when he had numerous Communist sympathies as a young, radical professor, and was more than willing to furnish incriminating evidence about past Communist ties to those who thought it would be best if Oppenheimer was not guiding public policy, such as Lewis Strauss.

In 1953, Oppenheimer was accused of being a security risk and had his security clearance suspended by President Eisenhower. This led to a much publicized public hearing, and despite support from dozens of fellow scientists and colleagues, his security clearance was withdrawn. Edward Teller, with whom Oppenheimer had at one time disagreed on whether the more powerful hydrogen bomb should be developed, testified against Oppenheimer at the hearing, an act which led to much outrage by the scientific community. During his hearing, Oppenheimer testified willingly on the left-wing behavior of many of his scientific colleagues. It has been speculated by historians (in particular Richard Polenberg) that had Oppenheimer not had his clearing stripped at the hearing (it would have expired in a matter of days anyhow), he would be remembered as someone who had "named names", pointing his finger at former friends in a desperate attempt to save his own reputation. As it happened, though, Oppenheimer was seen by most of the scientific community as a martyr to McCarthyism, an electic liberal who was unjustly attacked by warmongering enemies, symbolic of the shift of scientific creativity from the realm academic university and into the firm grip of the military.

Stripped of his political power, Oppenheimer continued to lecture, write, and work on physics. He toured Europe, and even Japan, giving talks about the history of science, the role of science in society, and the nature of the universe. In 1963, at the urging of many of Oppenheimer's political friends who had recently ascended to power, President John F. Kennedy awarded Oppenheimer the Enrico Fermi Award as a gesture of political rehabilitation. A little over a week after Kennedy's assassination, his successor, President Lyndon Johnson, presented Oppenheimer with the award, officially "for contributions to theoretical physics as a teacher and originator of ideas, and for leadership of the Los Alamos Laboratory and the atomic energy program during critical years." It was, however, only symbolic in its effects, as Oppenheimer still lacked the vital security clearance and could have no effect on official policy.

In his final years, Oppenheimer continued his work at the Institute for Advanced Study, and worked to bring together intellectuals from a variety of disciplines who he felt to be at the height of their powers to solve the most pertinent questions of the current age. But he largely felt that the effort had failed to make any serious progress on actual policy.

He died of throat cancer in 1967. His ashes were spread over the Virgin Islands, a summer retreat of his family.

Notes

On Oppenheimer's first initial

The meaning of the "J" in J. Robert Oppenheimer has been the source of confusion among many. Historians Alice Kimball Smith and Charles Weiner sum it up best, in their volume Robert Oppenheimer: Letters and recollections (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1980), on page 1: "Whether the 'J' in Robert's name stood for Julius or, as Robert himself once said, 'for nothing' may never be fully resolved. His brother Frank surmises that the 'J' was symbolic, a gesture in the direction of naming the eldest son after the father but at the same time a signal that his parents did not want Robert to be a 'junior.'" In Peter Goodchild's J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer of Worlds (Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 1981), it is said that Robert's father, Julius, added the empty initial to give Robert's name additional distinction, but the Goodchild's book has no footnotes so the source of this assertion is unclear. Robert's claim that the J. stood "for nothing" is taken from an autobiographical interview conducted by Thomas S. Kuhn on November 18, 1963, which currently resides in the Archive for the History of Quantum Physics . When investigating Oppenheimer in the 1930s and 1940s, the FBI itself was befuddled by the "J," deciding erroneously that it probably stood for Julius or, strangely, Jerome.

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