American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
by Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
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Book Summary Information
Author: Kai Bird, Martin J. SherwinEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-04-05
ISBN: 0375412026
Number of pages: 736
Publisher: Knopf
Book Reviews of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Book Review: "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."
Summary: 5 Stars
To help their readers understand the life and career of Robert Oppenheimer, Bird and Sherwin provide about as much information as most people can absorb and digest. Of greatest interest to me is what they have to say in response to questions such as these:
1. What were the dominant influences and defining moments during Oppenheimer's youth and adolescence? What later proved to be the significance of each?
2. Why do Bird and Sherwin characterize him as the "American Prometheus"?
3. What do they consider to be the nature and extent of his triumph and tragedy"? What specific evidence do they offer in support of their assertions?
4. Of all of Oppenheimer's personal as well as professional relationships, which did he consider to be most important? Why?
5. Which did he consider to be most difficult and disruptive? Why?
6. With regard to the Manhattan Project, what were the greatest challenges which Oppenheimer faced when he began his involvement with it?
7. Over time, how did he respond to each? With what result(s)?
8. During preparations to produce the bombs eventually dropped on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki in August of 1945, to what extent (if any) did Oppenheimer's own thoughts and feelings about the use of nuclear weapons? Why?
9. Do Bird and Sherwin agree with Ward Evans (the dissenting member of the Atomic Energy Commission's hearing board, that denying Oppenheimer his security clearance was "a black mark on the escutcheon of our country"? If so, why? If not, why not?
10. Finally, what enduring lessons can be learned from Oppenheimer's personal life and professional career?
To their great credit, Bird and Sherwin anchor their responses to these and other questions within a frame-of-reference for each response based on rigorous and extensive research. It is noteworthy that their "Notes" are provided on pages 601-684 and their "Bibliography" requires an additional fifteen pages.
Here are a few brief excerpts of special significance. First, Oppenheimer's recollection (in 1965) of reactions to the explosion of "The Gadget" (on July 16, 1945) which sent a mushroom cloud soaring into the heavens above Point Zero: "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty, and impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, `Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another."
After the AEC's security hearing and subsequent denial of Oppenheimer security clearance, the impact on the scientific community: "For a few years after World War II, scientists had been regarded as a new class of intellectuals, members of a public-policy priesthood who might legitimately offer expertise not only as scientists but as public philosophers. With Oppenheimer's defrocking, scientists knew that in the future they could serve the state only as experts on narrow scientific issues. As the sociologist Daniel Bell later observed, Oppenheimer's ordeal signified that the postwar `messianic style of the scientists' was now at an end....The trial thus represented a watershed in the relations of the scientist to the government. The narrowest vision of how American should serve their country had triumphed."
Finally, the impact on Oppenheimer himself: "Far from being indifferent, Robert was acutely aware of the sufferings he had caused others in his life -- and yet he would not allow himself to succumb to guilt. He would accept responsibility; he had never tried to deny his responsibility. But since the security hearing, he nevertheless no longer seemed to have the capacity or motivation to fight against the `cruelty' of indifference. In that sense, [Isidor] Rabi had been right: `They achieved their goal. They killed him.'"
Bird and Sherwin have written an eloquent as well as rigorous and comprehensive analysis of J. Robert Oppenheimer, "American Prometheus." While doing so, they have also revealed a great deal about the age in which he lived. And also while doing so, yes, they have re-examined many of the same themes which Aeschylus did....2,500 years ago.
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