Member Discussion for “American Prometheus” — January 2024

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    Calvin.Siler

    It seems to me that Bird and Sherwin wrote a book to fit a premise: that Oppenheimer"s life was a tragedy. Having read other biographies and histories, that seems like one of several possible perspectives one could adopt towards the material.

    I think you can often tell a biographer's perspective on their subject by which era of the person's life they seem to have the most affection for. For Bird and Sherwin, the Berkley professor days seem to be the Edenic "golden days" from which Oppie fell when he accepted directorship of the gadget project. Chic radicalism was replaced by selling out to the Man(hatten). The attack by rightist red scaremongers makes him a victim not only of people less chic than himself, but also karmically of his own hubris.

    The book could have used like 10% more "triumph " and 10% less tragedy in my opinion.

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    1. MLE

      I do think parts of Oppenheimer's life were tragic, but that'd apply to every human.

      He was a brilliant man that was better at ideas than execution. Thus the lack of Nobel Prize compared to pretty much every scientist he worked with in his younger career.

      Perhaps it's my bias, but I like that his dabbling with communism dried up with WWII as he put his priority to being an American supporting America. Country before party, and also political views maturing, and all that.

      As a Berkeley grad, it's fun reading about the scientists whose names now grace the buildings where I used to attend lectures. Before I read this book, I didn't know that Oppenheimer was based out of LeConte Hall, which houses the campus' largest lecture hall. I just discovered that the university is renaming the hall because of controversial views of the LeContes, sigh.

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    Nancybrink

    Thanks for the motivation to read this! But it’s made me realize that I don’t know as much as I thought I did about the science behind it. Any good book recommendations on the physics of the bomb or nuclear science in general?

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      Calvin.Siler

      I would highly recommend Richard Rhodes The Making of the Atomic Bomb. It starts with the discovery of radiation and the atom in the 1890 and carefully explains all of the scientific breakthroughs that led to the Manhattan project. Rhodes description of the Trinity test actually made me cry it was so beautiful. (It is an epic doorstopper, however).

      It also does a good job of depicting the cultural background of many of the scientists, Reading about Leo Szillard's obsession with H.G. Wells made me think of Jonah's Liberal Facism. Many scientists really did view themselves as philosopher kings of Things to Come.

      Rhodes does have an anti-Hiroshima bias, but it's not overbearing to those who are otherwise persuaded.

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    Jim NC

    Growing up with a father who was a biochemist, this book had both interesting historical aspects as well as interesting personal reflections. My dad and his brother & sister all attended UC Berkeley just before WWII, my dad & his brother both majoring in chemistry - the chemistry building was just down the hill from the physics department where Lawrence & Oppenheimer lectured. My uncle went on to help in the Manhattan Project while my dad was an aerial photographer in WWII in the Pacific theater. The interactions (or lack of) between Oppenheimer & Kitty & their kids was interesting to read & connected to some of my own childhood memories - though much different.
    I had been engaged by the movie before reading, and I'm glad I filled in more details (and corrected issues) from the movie - like the portrait of Kitty in the movie versus the historical biographical book.
    One really interesting angle for me is the connection of the current populist contempt for experts in parts of the Republican Party in the 2020's and the McCarthy era willingness to categorically judge "experts" for the broader connections they may have maintained and broader set of views they have explored. Some parts of human nature don't change - even though we pretend they have.

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      Calvin.Siler

      I did think that it was interesting that the film portrays Kitty as the rock of their relationship, where as in reality she seems to have been more of a loose cannon. The feud with the neighbors on St. John's is kind of tragicomedic.

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  4. Z&D

    I watched the movie the day it came out. Prior to the movie, I obsessed over the details of the Trinity project and began reading the book. Bird and Sherwin wrote a compelling and even-handed biography of JRO. As a millennial, I was really enamored by being brought into the zeitgeist of the 1930s-50s.

    The tragedy of Oppenheimer does not end with the public shaming and his naivety in the security clearance hearings. I was struck by the familial tragedy. His and Kitty's children, Peter and Katherine, I think received little from their parents that allowed for stable relationships and purpose.

    Oppenheimer was truly an incredible scientist and administrator. A galvanizing figure and authority in the public and scientific community who helped define America as a nuclear superpower. While I am inspired by the ability for the engineers and scientists to create and finish the atomic bomb project such an incredible pace, I am ultimately saddened and hold pity for him

    On another note, I recently found Kai Bird's treatment of the Carter presidency which I thoroughly enjoyed. I would heartily recommend it. Carter was and continues to be an inspiring figure.

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