The True Story of Oppenheimer
Sheltered Upbringing
J. Robert Oppenheimer’s father, Julius, immigrated to the United States from Germany as a teenager. He came with nothing, but in a rags to riches story worked his way up to become a wealthy textile executive. Born in 1904, his son J. Robert (whose first name was also Julius) grew up surrounded by luxury and art in their Manhattan apartment. The family had a collection of original paintings, including pieces by Picasso, Vuillard and van Gogh. The young boy led a sheltered, upper class existence. His father’s business success ensured that J. Robert and his brother, Frank, had the best education possible. J. Robert made good use of his time in school, and even completed the 3rd and 4th grade in one year.
Praise & Ridicule
Oppenheimer showed his interest in science at a very young age. When he was just 12 years old, he exchanged letters with a local geologist about rock formations he’d noticed in Central Park. His correspondent nominated the young scientist to be a member of the New York Mineralogical Club and invited him to give a lecture. The club had a good laugh when a young boy appeared to speak instead of the adult they were expecting. They still let him give the lecture and gave him a solid round of applause at the end. Although the precocious youth got on well with adults, he struggled with his peers. His awkward manner made him an easy target as he moved into adolescence. When he was 14, while at a summer camp, he was taunted by his fellow campers and locked naked in an icehouse overnight. Incidents like this made it clear to Oppenheimer that his childhood had been a sheltered one, and that the world could be a cruel place.
College Years
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Oppenheimer was accepted into Harvard and graduated summa cum laude in just three years with a degree in Chemistry. Then, he moved on to Cambridge University where he studied physics. A chain smoker who often forgot to eat, he was described by those who knew him as self-destructive, and struggled with depression. On a trip to Paris, his friend, Francis Fergusson, tried to snap him out of his mood by sharing news that he was engaged. Oppenheimer jumped on Fergusson and tried to suffocate him. During those years, the young genius was almost expelled from Cambridge for trying to poison his physics tutor, Patrick Blackett. He’d covered an apple with chemicals and left it on Blackett’s desk. Luckily, the apple wasn’t eaten. Oppenheimer’s influential father kept the school from pressing criminal charges.
Academia & Relationships
After Cambridge, Oppenheimer studied under renowned physicist and mathematician Max Born at the University of Göttingen in Germany. There he brushed shoulders with the great scientific minds of his age, such as Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, Enrico Fermi, Paul Dirac, and Edward Teller. At 23, he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree, and returned to the United States, where he was given fellowships at both Harvard and Caltech. However, his personal relationships continued to involve drama and scandal. His friend and colleague Linus Pauling cut ties after Oppenheimer invited his wife for a tryst in Mexico. Oppenheimer became a professor at Berkeley, where he published papers on a range of topics, from theoretical astronomy to nuclear physics and quantum field theory. For three years, he dated Jean Tatlock, a member of the American Communist Party who introduced him to leftwing causes. After that relationship ended, Oppenheimer courted German American Katherine "Kitty” Harrison. However, Kitty was already married. When she became pregnant, she divorced her husband and married Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer may have continued to see Tatlock, and later had an affair with his friend’s wife Ruth Tolman.
The Manhattan Project
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During World War II, US President Roosevelt urgently called for the development of the atomic bomb. In 1942, this led to the Manhattan Project and the creation of the Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico. Oppenheimer was put in charge of scientists whose mission was to create nuclear weapons. Many people thought he wasn’t the right fit to lead such a large project. However, director Major General Leslie Groves saw in Oppenheimer a pragmatic intelligence and “overweening ambition”. Oppenheimer’s wide-ranging talents and leadership skills proved crucial to the project’s success. On July 16th, 1945 the first test of an atomic bomb took place, in the desert 210 miles from Los Alamos. Although the observers were stationed 20 miles away, there was no missing the shock wave, massive fireball, and desert sand turned to glass. When describing the experience, Oppenheimer said that he recalled a line from the Bhagavad Gita: [“Now I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”]
Blood on His Hands
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On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing between 129,000 and 226,000 people - most of them civilians. Oppenheimer was dismayed at the bombing of Nagasaki, which he felt had been unnecessary. Just over a week later, he visited President Truman to express his concerns, admitting that he felt he had blood on his hands for his role in designing the bombs. Infuriated at this show of remorse, Truman threw him out. Moving forward, the man dubbed the father of the atomic bomb worked with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission to control the use and proliferation of nuclear weapons. When Truman approached the commission about creating a hydrogen bomb, Oppenheimer opposed it. This opposition to increasing the country’s weapons of mass destruction led to suspicion of his loyalties.
Accusations of Disloyalty
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Since 1941, Oppenheimer had been under FBI surveillance. He was associated with various progressive causes and organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and anti-fascism in Spain. He also had close ties to the Communist Party through members such as Jean Tatlock, his wife Kitty, and his brother Frank. In 1943, his friend Haakon Chevalier, a professor of French literature, suggested passing information to the Soviet Union; Oppenheimer rejected the idea, but delayed reporting it, and provided inconsistent accounts to protect his friend. In the post-war years, McCarthyism swept through the United States, leading to political repression and the persecution of left-wing individuals. Oppenheimer had made various enemies, such as AEC commissioner Lewis Strauss, who disliked Oppenheimer on personal grounds, and for his opposition to the hydrogen bomb. In 1949, Oppenheimer was brought to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee, during which the Chevalier incident came back to haunt him. Ultimately, his government security clearance was revoked. He was no longer able to work in government or policy.
Postwar Years
Oppenheimer spent his remaining years continuing to write, teach and lecture on physics and the role of science in society. In 1965, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. This was a result of a lifetime of cigarette smoking, and not his exposure to radioactive materials. Despite treatment, he died in 1967 at the age of 62. His funeral services were attended by a crowd of more than 600 former associates from the scientific, political and military communities.
In Popular Culture
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The Manhattan Project remains a source of fascination in popular culture. Oppenheimer was played by Sam Waterston in the 1980 BBC TV Series, “Oppenheimer”. Dwight Schultz took on the role of the father of the atomic bomb in 1989’s “Fat Man and Little Boy”. There’s a lot of buzz around the Christopher Nolan film, “Oppenheimer” which will be released in 2023. It has a star-studded cast that includes Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt as his wife Kitty and Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock. Clearly, audiences continue to be fascinated by these historic events, and the man who led the way.
