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Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

theatlantic.com

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Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

#41

Post by hgsgm »

superkuh wrote: post #21
mcpackieh wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> childhoods 20 year olds shouldn't be considered culpable for attempted murder now? Madness. This is an important biographical detail not only because attempted murder is always relevant, but also because it is relevant to his involvement in an idea to poison Germany's food supply with radioactive strontium. Edit for correction: it happened in 1926, he was 22 years old.

Yes. The person whom the alleged noxious apple was left for was his tutor. Children have tutors. Adults far more rarely.

You can't rewrite history just because you don't know what a word means. A tutor is a teacher at a university.

Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

#42

Post by joebob42 »

mistrial9 wrote: post #15
sklargh wrote: post #6

I recommend Rhodes’ “Making of” and Dark Sun with American Prometheus and the Los Alamos Primer for people seeking a thorough initial introduction to the Manhattan Project and little bit of postscript. Indulging myself a bit here. Essentially all elements of modern society have at least a tangential relationship with Los Alamos. The symmetry between a nuclear detonation and what happened intellectually and culturally…

that's very grandiose and all, but this story is true. During the Fukishima aftermath here in the USA, a series of talks was called at UC Berkeley with the public invited. One of the talks was given by an actual nuclear weapons designer, who rarely stands in public for obvious reasons. A large, confident bearded man, he "commanded" the podium with ever more tales, speaking like that paragraph above.. Someone challeng…

Can someone explain the punchline here? I'm probably just slow but I can't put it together.

Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

#43

Post by hgsgm »

mcpackieh wrote: post #17
superkuh wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am actually re-reading it right now (started 6 months ago). No, it doesn't cover that ~1924 event. But it's an excellent book. Ignoring it because it doesn't go into all the people's childhoods seems like an over-reaction. Just to be clear, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" is about the lead up to and the making of the atomic bomb. It is not about Oppenheimer though it does go into great detail about all the major pl…

> childhoods 20 year olds shouldn't be considered culpable for attempted murder now? Madness. This is an important biographical detail not only because attempted murder is always relevant, but also because it is relevant to his involvement in an idea to poison Germany's food supply with radioactive strontium. Edit for correction: it happened in 1926, he was 22 years old.

There's no proof that there was an attempted murder, just hearsay that Oppenheimer said he put noxious chemicals in his tutor's apple.

Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

#44

Post by c_apocalypticae »

mjfl wrote: post #36
opwieurposiu wrote: post #5

The thing that struck me from this book (or maybe it was in "Dark Sun") was how much the soviets were spying. We were giving them detailed plans for chemical factories, tire factories, engines, alloys, anything you can think of. They did not trust us so they would spy on all this stuff anyway. They would fill up a C-47 Skytrains(lend-lease) with stolen documents and fly them out to Moscow through Alaska. I have to gi…

The Soviets can thank folks like Oppenheimer for it.

[flagged]

Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

#45

Post by michael_nielsen »

mcpackieh wrote: post #9

Does anybody know if this book (or the movie) covers Oppenheimers attempt to murder his teacher with a cyanide laced apple? I don't care to invest time in a biography that whitewashes the man.

It's not a biography of Oppenheimer, it's a history of the making of the atomic bomb. Unsurprisingly, the parts of the book that deal with Oppenheimer - only a fraction of the book - are concerned with his involvement in the making of the atomic bomb. It does not mention the apple incident.

By contrast, the biography the movie is based on treats the apple incident at some length.

Both books are superb, in my opinion, and deserve their Pulitzers.

Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

#46

Post by sklargh »

joebob42 wrote: post #42
mistrial9 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's very grandiose and all, but this story is true. During the Fukishima aftermath here in the USA, a series of talks was called at UC Berkeley with the public invited. One of the talks was given by an actual nuclear weapons designer, who rarely stands in public for obvious reasons. A large, confident bearded man, he "commanded" the podium with ever more tales, speaking like that paragraph above.. Someone challeng…

Can someone explain the punchline here? I'm probably just slow but I can't put it together.

I suspect the point is that we're trapped with the knowledge. You can't opt out of nuclear weapons.

Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

#47

Post by [deleted] »

groby_b wrote: post #34
philipkglass wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb is deservedly regarded as a classic, but Dark Sun doesn't live up to the same standard [1]. For people interested in the technical history of the H-bomb, Anne Fitzpatrick's PhD thesis Igniting the Light Elements: The Los Alamos Thermonuclear Weapon Project, 1942-1952 is as good a single-document source as I've ever read: https://www.osti.gov/biblio/10596 [1] Some reasons for the…

Same feeling. "Dark Sun" feels very much like the grinding of an axe. But yes, "Making Of" is an absolute classic. Not just if you care about the field, but if you care about good science writing at all.

[deleted]

Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

#48

Post by Jhsto »

superkuh wrote: post #21
mcpackieh wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> childhoods 20 year olds shouldn't be considered culpable for attempted murder now? Madness. This is an important biographical detail not only because attempted murder is always relevant, but also because it is relevant to his involvement in an idea to poison Germany's food supply with radioactive strontium. Edit for correction: it happened in 1926, he was 22 years old.

Yes. The person whom the alleged noxious apple was left for was his tutor. Children have tutors. Adults far more rarely.

In Oxbridge tutors are usually either PhD students or post-docs. You're an undergrad if you have a strong opinion about yours, since for them the ratio of tutor per student is quite low (usually 1:3).

Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

#49

Post by firesteelrain »

joebob42 wrote: post #42
mistrial9 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's very grandiose and all, but this story is true. During the Fukishima aftermath here in the USA, a series of talks was called at UC Berkeley with the public invited. One of the talks was given by an actual nuclear weapons designer, who rarely stands in public for obvious reasons. A large, confident bearded man, he "commanded" the podium with ever more tales, speaking like that paragraph above.. Someone challeng…

Can someone explain the punchline here? I'm probably just slow but I can't put it together.

Me neither

Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

#50

Post by deanc »

masfuerte wrote: post #18
mcpackieh wrote: post #9

Does anybody know if this book (or the movie) covers Oppenheimers attempt to murder his teacher with a cyanide laced apple? I don't care to invest time in a biography that whitewashes the man.

The Times review says this attempted murder is Oppenheimer's first significant act in the film.

(Spoiler)

Having seen the movie. I can confirm. It’s a relatively insignificant addition to the film though.

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