The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer: And the Birth of the Modern Arms RaceOn April 12, 1954, the nation was astonished to learn that scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer faced charges of violating national security. Why had the charismatic leader of the Manhattan Project— the man who led the team that developed the atomic bomb that ended World War II—been cast into overnight disgrace? In this riveting narrative, bestselling author Priscilla J. McMillan draws on newly declassified U.S. government documents and materials from Russia, as well as in-depth interviews, to present the truth about the downfall of America’s most famous scientist. McMillan re-creates the fraught years from 1949 to 1955 when Oppenheimer and a group of liberal scientists tried to head off the cabal of hard-line air force officials, anti-Communist politicians, and rival scientists—including Edward Teller—who were trying to seize control of U.S. policy and build ever more deadly nuclear weapons. The conspiracy to discredit Oppenheimer, occurring at the height of the McCarthy era and sanctioned by a misinformed President Eisenhower, was a watershed in the cold war, poisoning American politics for decades and creating dangers that haunt us today. |
Contents
David Lilienthals Vacation | 17 |
The Halloween Meeting | 34 |
The Secret Debate | 48 |
Copyright | |
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Acheson Air Force Alamos Alvarez April asked atomic bomb Atomic Energy attorney Bates Berkeley Bethe Blair Borden Bradbury called Carson Mark chairman Charles Chevalier clearance commissioners committee Communist Conant December decision defense diary Edward Teller Eisenhower February Fermi Finletter fission Françoise Ulam Garrison Gordon Dean Gordon Gray Griggs H-bomb Hans Bethe hearing heimer Hoover hydrogen bomb I. I. Rabi IMJRO interview with author JCAE John Joseph Volpe JRO/FBI July June Kitty laboratory LANL later Lawrence letter Lewis Strauss Lilienthal Los Alamos Manley March McMahon meeting memo Murphy Murphy's Murray NARA Neumann Norris Bradbury November October Oppen Oppenheimer's Oppie Oppie's Papers penheimer physicist Pitzer president president's Princeton Robb Robert Oppenheimer Russians scientists secret Shepley Smyth Souers Soviet Stanislaw Ulam Stern with Green Super telephone thermonuclear tion told Truman Ulam's Volpe Washington wrote York Zuckert