The father of the atomic bomb

"Science is not everything, but science is very beautiful." J. Robert Oppenheimer

Robert Oppenheimer, often called "the father of the atomic bomb", was born in New York City on April 22, 1904. He grew up in a comfortable Manhattan apartment with one younger brother, Frank, who also became a physicist in later life.

Their father, Julius, was a German immigrant who made his fortune in the family textile importing business. His mother, Ella Friedman, was a painter whose family had lived in New York for generations.

Robert received an excellent education in the elementary grades and high school at the Ethical Culture School of New York. He graduated in 1921 at the top of his class. Besides Mathematics and Science, he studied Latin, Greek. French and German. He was recognized as having a special flair for languages.

He began studies at Harvard, where he excelled in Physics and Chemistry. He continued to study languages and developed an interest in the classics and Oriental philosophy which would continue throughout his life. He graduated summa cum laude in 1925.

In 1927, Oppenheimer received a PhD in Quantum Physics from the University of Gottingen in Germany. There, he met and worked with some of the most brilliant physicists of the day. With Max Born, he was engaged in exploring the structure of molecules.

In 1929, he accepted teaching jobs from both Caltech and the University of California. He divided his time between Berkeley and Pasedena and attracted a following of brilliant young Physics students.

When his father, Julius, died in 1937, Robert became a wealthy man. He had a romantic affair with Jean Tatlock, a graduate student from Stamford University in the 1930s, but married Kitty Harrison in 1940, and the couple subsequently had 2 children, Peter and Katherine.

Because he was usually absorbed in his studies and the theoretical world of Physics, Oppenheimer did not pay much attention to the politics of the times. However, he did take a strong stand against the fascism when it arose in the 1930s.

In 1939, the U.S. Government learned that the Nazis had split the atom, and were preparing to make extremely powerful weapons with their new knowledge. President Roosevelt established the Manhattan Project and appointed Robert Oppenheimer as its director.

Oppenheimer set up a research station at Los Alamos, New Mexico. He brought in the best minds in Physics to work on the creation of the first atom bomb. At the station he managed more than 3,000 people and also grappled withtheoretical and mechanical problems that arose.

On July 16, 1945, Oppenheimer witnessed the first explosion of an atomic bomb at a site dubbed "Trinity" in the New Mexico desert.

"We knew the world would not be the same", he observed. He went on to reflect further, "I remembered the line from Hindu scripture.."Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Later that month, two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The horrific events resulted in the surrender of Japan on August 10, 1945.

After the war, Oppenheimer chaired the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. In 1949, he strongly opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, because he was now fully aware of the dangers of radioactivity caused by nuclear explosions. However, he was overruled by President Harry Truman.

In 1953, Oppenheimer became a victim of McCarthyism. He was accused of being closely associated with Communists in the 1930s. A security hearing found that, while he was not guilty of treason, he could no longer be trusted with military secrets. He lost his position with the Atomic Energy Commission.

In 1963, he was forgiven for his former far-left leanings and was awarded the Enrico Fermi medal by President Lyndon B. Johnson. This award honors scientists of international stature for their lifetime achievements in the development, use, or production of energy.

In his later years, Oppenheimer thought and wrote much about the concepts of ethics and morality. He attempted to address the dilemma facing scientists when the dictates of their own conscience and the apparent security of their country or the decisions of their leaders are in conflict. His conclusions, if indeed he came to any, are unknown.

Robert Oppenheimer died of throat cancer in 1967.