A second vote for "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird! Great follow-on read for "Making of the Atomic Bomb". I read them back-to-back, and it really makes you wonder whether we'll ever have another historical era of as much interest as WWII.
The Eccentric Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer (2019)
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Re: The Eccentric Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer (2019)
#12The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Rhodes is often mentioned as a great science book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16884.The_Making_of_the_...
Recently saw it on Steven Weinberg’s list:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/03/steven-weinber...
Re: The Eccentric Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer (2019)
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
That great discoveries are so often made independently by multiple people when their time has come suggests that if the theory is right, Great Men are a dime a dozen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_discovery
I often wonder if the same applies to business. Maybe Jobs, Gates or Bezos didn't make such an outsized contribution but maybe they were able to concentrate on themselves what other people would have done too. Maybe just a little later or differently. Makes me wonder about Einstein. Were other people working on relativity too?
Plenty of people were working on the issues that relativity sought to resolve but I've never heard of any simultaneous discovery of relativity. Many of the other stuff Einstein worked on had multiple "discoveries", I remember reading some about Brownian motion before.
Re: The Eccentric Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer (2019)
#14The biography that this is based on, "American Prometheus", is fantastic. A fast, smart read.
Oppenheimer obviously also appears in Richard Rhodes' utterly superb "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", though he only becomes a main character in the sequel, "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb", which is also great.
Oppenheimer was a highly skilled physicist, but Rhodes attributes his ability to lead the Manhattan Project to his gifts as a "synthesizer" of ideas and knowledge from many people and disparate branches of science. In my opinion he really came into his own, though, after the bomb, when he started formulating the US' atomic energy strategy, essentially inserting himself -- a scientist, not a statesman -- into the political elite by sheer force of will and charisma. Rhodes tells of Oppenheimer completely dominating meetings in early efforts that resulted in the formation of the Atomic Energy Commission (which became the US Department of Energy), essentially writing national policy recommendations on his own.
Oppenheimer realized the dangers of nuclear proliferation and detente early on, and wanted the world to own atomic energy as a force for good. He wanted an international organization (what became the IAEA) to control atomic energy and not let the US and UK have a monopoly on it. Oppenheimer also recommended against developing the hydrogen bomb, which he thought would dangerously escalate the destructive power of nuclear arms. This opposition ultimately led to Oppeheimer's trial that cost him his security clearance.
But it was his extensive writings on what the future of atomic energy could be that I think set him apart in this years. He was prescient about nuclear arms race and tried to steer the US and the world towards peaceful use of atomic energy. If his policies had been implemented we may have been in a different place today.
Re: The Eccentric Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer (2019)
#15Highly recommend the film “Fat Man and Little Boy”. A little melodramatic but an interesting view of Oppenheimer played by Dwight Shultz (Murdock from The A-Team.)
I found that movie pretty disappointing. So much great historical material, a great screenwriter (Bruce Robinson), and yet such a lackluster movie. Both Shultz and Paul Newman are completely miscast.
The only good part of the film is the subplot about the John Cusack character (loosely based on Harry Daghlian), which is a pretty good re-enactment of the actual incident. That scene (which is on YouTube) is worth watching on its own.
For a much more accurate portrayal of Oppenheimer, check out the BBC miniseries "Oppenheimer" from 1980. In terms of TV, it's positively premodern -- more like a filmed play than a real production. But Sam Waterston is much more true to Oppenheimer's character.
Re: The Eccentric Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer (2019)
#16Highly recommend the film “Fat Man and Little Boy”. A little melodramatic but an interesting view of Oppenheimer played by Dwight Shultz (Murdock from The A-Team.)
"Day After Trinity" is also a fantastic documentary in this area! It spends a lot of time on Oppenheimer's character and has interviews with a bunch of his former colleagues.
Re: The Eccentric Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer (2019)
#17The biography that this is based on, "American Prometheus", is fantastic. A fast, smart read. Oppenheimer obviously also appears in Richard Rhodes' utterly superb "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", though he only becomes a main character in the sequel, "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb", which is also great. Oppenheimer was a highly skilled physicist, but Rhodes attributes his ability to lead the Manhattan Pro…
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Re: The Eccentric Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer (2019)
#18I remember this being on PBS as a kid during the cold war. Terrified me. https://youtu.be/lb13ynu3Iac
Re: The Eccentric Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer (2019)
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
That great discoveries are so often made independently by multiple people when their time has come suggests that if the theory is right, Great Men are a dime a dozen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_discovery
I often wonder if the same applies to business. Maybe Jobs, Gates or Bezos didn't make such an outsized contribution but maybe they were able to concentrate on themselves what other people would have done too. Maybe just a little later or differently. Makes me wonder about Einstein. Were other people working on relativity too?
Absolutely yes on the Einstein question. Check out Bohr, Lorentz and Poincare to start.
Re: The Eccentric Father of the Atomic Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer (2019)
#20The biography that this is based on, "American Prometheus", is fantastic. A fast, smart read. Oppenheimer obviously also appears in Richard Rhodes' utterly superb "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", though he only becomes a main character in the sequel, "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb", which is also great. Oppenheimer was a highly skilled physicist, but Rhodes attributes his ability to lead the Manhattan Pro…
Kai Bird is an incredibly good biographer. He just released one of Aldrich Ames, noted CIA / KGB double agent.