American Prometheus: The Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture OPPENHEIMERTHE INSPIRATION FOR THE ACADEMY AWARDŽ-WINNING MAJOR MOTION PICTURE OPPENHEIMER • "A riveting account of one of history’s most essential and paradoxical figures.”—Christopher Nolan #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • The definitive biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress. A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century In this magisterial, acclaimed biography twenty-five years in the making, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin capture Oppenheimer’s life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War. This is biography and history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative. “A masterful account of Oppenheimer’s rise and fall, set in the context of the turbulent decades of America’s own transformation. It is a tour de force.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review “A work of voluminous scholarship and lucid insight, unifying its multifaceted portrait with a keen grasp of Oppenheimer’s essential nature.... It succeeds in deeply fathoming his most damaging, self-contradictory behavior.” —The New York Times |
Contents
| 3 | |
| 9 | |
His Separate Prison | 29 |
Oppie | 80 |
The Nim Nim Boys | 94 |
PART | 109 |
Frank Clipped It Out and Sent It In | 128 |
More and More Surely | 143 |
Those Poor Little People | 313 |
People Could Destroy New York | 336 |
Oppie Had a Rash and Is Now Immune | 351 |
An Intellectual Hotel | 369 |
He Couldnt Understand Why He Did It | 391 |
He Never Let On What His Opinion Was | 416 |
Dark Words About Oppie | 431 |
Scientist X | 454 |
We Were Pulling the New Deal to the Left | 166 |
The Coordinator of Rapid Rupture | 179 |
The Chevalier Affair | 195 |
Hed Become Very Patriotic | 205 |
Too Much Secrecy | 223 |
Oppenheimer Is Telling the Truth | 236 |
Suicide Motive Unknown | 249 |
Would You Like to Adopt Her? | 255 |
Bohr Was God and Oppie Was His Prophet | 268 |
The Impact of the Gadget on Civilization | 277 |
Now Were All SonsofBitches | 290 |
The Beast in the Jungle | 462 |
PART FIVE | 485 |
A Manifestation of Hysteria | 523 |
A Black Mark on the Escutcheon of Our Country | 538 |
It Was Really Like a NeverNeverLand | 566 |
It Should Have Been Done the Day After Trinity | 574 |
Theres Only One Robert | 589 |
Notes | 601 |
| 685 | |
| 700 | |
Other editions - View all
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer Kai Bird,Martin J. Sherwin No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
Alamos Alice Smith American asked atomic bomb Atomic Energy atomic weapons Berkeley Bethe Bohm Bohr brother Chevalier Committee Communist Party Conant David David Lilienthal Day After Trinity Edward Teller Einstein Eltenton Ernest Lawrence Ethical Culture felt Fergusson folder Francis Fergusson Frank Oppenheimer Goodchild Groves Hans Bethe heimer Herken Hobson Hoover Ibid interview by Alice interview by Sherwin Jean Jean Tatlock John JRO FBI file JRO hearing JRO Papers Kennan Kitty knew Lansdale later Lawrence letter Lewis Strauss Lilienthal Lomanitz Los Alamos Nelson never Oppen Oppenheimer's Oppie Oppie's Pash Peters Phil Morrison physicist physics political president Princeton quantum Rabi recalled Robb Robert Oppenheimer Robert Serber scientists seemed Serber Sherr Smith and Weiner Soviet story Strauss Papers talk Tatlock Teller things thought tion told Tolman Truman wanted Washington Weinberg Weisskopf Wilson wrote young