American Prometheus: The Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture OPPENHEIMER Paperback – May 1, 2006

American PrometheusThe Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert OppenheimerThis book, in essence, is about one man’s struggle to define morality and his corollary effort to define responsibilities related to love of country. As such, it is timeless. The struggle between what we can do and what we ought to do continues 78 years since the detonation of atomic bombs over Japanese cities.Robert Oppenheimer’s life is extraordinary. It is also very human story — although with a level of brilliance, contradictory inspiration, and naiveté that surpasses ordinary mortals. This detailed and well-researched biography by authors Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin compels us to consider our own professional, political, and moral standards and contradictions.Oppenheimer in the 1930s was not so much ignorant of politics as indifferent, the authors tell us. As was the case with many who questioned capitalism during the Great Depression, he had many friends who were committed to the Communist Party and leftist ideology, including those who were formal members of the party and those who were sympathetic to many of its ideas. But Oppenheimer never himself became a propagandist for Communist ideas.Later, when Oppenheimer assumed responsibility for the Manhattan Project and was aware of the importance of secrecy, he didn’t cut off socializing with those who were “fellow travelers” or more, but simply insured that he revealed nothing about the project itself. On several occasions he was lackadaisical, failing to report at least one attempt to get him to convey technical secrets to a longstanding friend who he knew to be a Communist. Later interrogated by FBI agent Boris Pash about being approached, he not only refused to name that person but unaccountably suggested two fictitious incidents had occurred. This casual response, taking place without a lawyer, came to haunt him.What Oppenheimer didn’t realize was the extent to which he had been targeted by J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI because of his relationships with those on the left. The authors also explain that formal membership in the Communist Party was usually secret and one’s degree of party commitment was ill-defined. Thus as Hoover’s agents interviewed party members, many assumed that Oppenheimer was “one of us” and stated this belief to the FBI. Many of the FBI’s files contained unverified hearsay. Additional “evidence” against Oppenheimer was collected in illegal wiretaps that the FBI hid from Oppenheimer, his attorneys and shared only with those who would ultimately judge whether he was a security risk.At the end of the war Oppenheimer misjudged Lewis Strauss, who was appointed head of the Atomic Energy Commission. He held Strauss is open contempt and thereby guaranteed that Strauss became an enemy and would dedicate himself to Oppenheimer’s persecution and ultimate loss of a security clearance.The book makes a case that Oppenheimer was man brilliant in many ways, but even more extraordinary as an individual who could rise to new occasions. Thus, this theoretical physicist who never managed a bureaucracy became a practical and charismatic leader who led hundreds of top scientists and thousands of others to develop the atomic bomb.Once having successfully tested the device, Oppenheimer and his fellow scientists had no say in how the bomb would be employed — although they certainly were aware that it could be used against civilian targets. So the actually consequences of their work came as a shock and in Oppenheimer’s case, apparent depression.Immediately after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer drafted a report arguing that 1) It will be impossible for the United States to have a monopoly on bomb technology, 2) No military countermeasures will prevent effective delivery of atomic weapons, and 3) Devices will become bigger and more lethal. Thus there was a critical need to find a way to make future wars impossible.Together with physicist Isidor Rabi, he proposed that the U.S. relinquish control over the bomb and the use of nuclear energy to an international body. If a nation pursued the bomb they would be banned from the peaceful use of atomic energy such as in power plants. Oppenheimer was appointed to a Board of Consultants chaired by Dean Acheson and with General Leslie Groves and other prominent men among the membership. In March, 1946 they produced a report, largely written by Oppenheimer, that called for an international agency that would have sovereignty over uranium mines, nuclear power plants, and laboratories.Oppenheimer also opposed the development of the hydrogen or “Super” bomb, which put him in conflict with Edward Teller, Strauss, and much of the military — particularly the Air Force.Whether the surrender of control over nuclear weapons was ever realistic, events soon scuttled the idea due to the Soviet Union’s control of Eastern Europe and its own development of an atomic bomb.By this time, Oppenheimer realized that the idea of international control would not take place and again shifted his position, accepting that the United States had to defend its own sovereignty against others who possessed nuclear weapons. But in effect he had always been a patriot, arguing as he saw it for what was in U.S. national interest as well as essential to mankind.Bird and Sherwin have written a wonderful book about a complex man and complex problems that we have made little progress in resolving since Oppenheimer’s time. The man was unfairly judged in his time. His warnings are pertinent today.

This is not a quick read for sure. The book is so big it’s hard to hold, so probably better to read it on the Kindle. I got it from the library, and it was falling apart to such an extent that when I returned it, it really needed to be re-glued before they could give it to another reader. That being said, I found Oppenheimer a very interesting person. You really couldn’t get that much of a handle on who he was in the movie, compared to reading the book.Definitely worth the effort and very well done, including his relationship with his wife and children, which is always an interesting part of any book. It certainly helps to know the history of our country during those years. My granddaughter, age 18, went to see it, and I wanted to make sure she knew about the house un-American activities committee and what was going on at that time in our country. My husband, a newspaper journalist in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, back in the day, interviewed Oppenheimer for his newspaper. He mentioned to me that he thought Oppenheimer was haunted by his connection to the bomb, and that made me all the more interested in seeing the film. He was a man who did everything he could to stop the proliferation of the H bomb. He never could’ve dreamed the way things would go. After reading this, I decided that I could no longer defend Harry Truman for the bombing of Nagasaki, especially when one finds out that the Japanese were so close to surrendering. How can you ignore a nation with so many innocent people at risk? I thought Truman was smarter and more sensitive than he turns out to be, according to these authors. All in all, an interesting read and well worth your time.

I purchased this book in anticipation of the Christopher Nolan movie about Oppenheimer coming out in the summer of 2023. It offers amazing insight into Oppenheimer's childhood, schooling, and adult life both during and after the development of the bomb. I found the book very tedious on topics that I would not relate directly to Oppenheimer. Essentially every person he interacted with during his life is scrutinized in minute detail. At a paperback length in excess of 700 pages, this scrutiny is just too much and in my opinion really waters down the overall story. The details of how Oppenheimer's mind works and how he matures from a shy physics phenom to a lady's man is all very interesting. His relationships with other famous physicists of his day are also enlightening and fascinating. You simply can't fault the writers for their in-depth research and level of detail. That being said, this book is in need of serious editing. It would be perfect around 400 pages, but 700 pages that often go into day-by-day detail of mundane events in and around Oppenheimer are just too much to handle. If you are a scientist or politician, or historian of 1950's era anti-Communist activities, you might like some of the minutia. For a casual science fan and lover of history, I found it to be excessive. Kudo's to the writers for their ability to dive into Oppenheimer's life on every level, shame on the editors for not cleaning up the final product. I'd say buy it and feel free to skip pages that bore you, the overall book is an amazing accomplishment, just too long in the tooth for the average reader.

An amazing book. It links Oppenheimer’s life with the times he lived through in an amazingly detailed, and extremely readible biography. Great history!!!