Oppenheimer: The Father Of The Atomic Bomb | Full Biography

his creation became a point of no return for us the American theoretical physicist Julius Robert Oppenheimer is known primarily because of the title father of the atomic bomb but he was far from the only member of the Manhattan Project in fact he was backed by hundreds of scientific Minds the best in their fields so what was so special about this person that he was chosen to lead a project of national significance how did the result of the work of V him and did the scientist regret what happened biographer history is with you and today we will talk about the path of who became death the destroyer of [Music] worlds the biography of Robert Oppenheimer is not the story of an ordinary man but a scientist of the 20th century a time when a moral breakdown occurred and the researcher ceased to personify a scientist engaged in a noble cause scientists were faced with the ethical dilemma of responsibility to humanity for what they could bring to the world you can clearly see it in the fate of the man who headed the collegial intellect the laboratory where artificial death a nuclear bomb was born Julius Robert Oppenheimer the American theoretical physicist was born into a Jewish Family in New York City on April 22nd 1904 his father Julius came from Germany to America in 1888 when he was 17 Julius senior was a poor immigrant who did not know the language so he got a job with his uncle a fabric importer but by 30 he had become a partner and a wealthy man he married artist Ella fredman who was born in Baltimore she had a delicate nature with an elegant taste Robert was generously gifted which became clear from Early Childhood his parents doed on him the boy was accompanied Everywhere by servants and had little contact with children his parents were too protective of him Oppenheimer then said my childhood did not prepare me for the fact that the world is full of cruel and bitter things it gave me no normal healthy way to be a bastard in 1912 the oppenheimer's moved to Manhattan the well-known fashionable area of New York their flat was luxuriously furnished thanks to the mother's Exquisite artistic taste the family had its own collection of paintings there were Originals by Pablo Picasso and Jean vard and at least three paintings by Vincent van go among them from childhood Robert was instilled with a love for art which reflected in his entire life parents were not limited to one thing so at the age of five his grandfather gave him a collection of minerals which was the beginning for him not of simple collecting but of scientific research there is a story about how Robert typed a letter to the New York minerological society and there he 11 years old was mistaken for an adult impressed by what he had written the young scientist was invited to give a lecture during which the boy had to stand on a box or he could not be seen from the pulpit so such a childhood cannot be called Ordinary Robert was a loner he almost didn't communicate with his peers as he was far ahead of them in development after graduating from high school with honors the young man entered Harvard Oppenheimer did not limit himself to the subjects he studied physics chemistry mathematics English and French literature and Western Indian and Chinese philosophy he also wrote poems and short stories and avidly studied art and culture we can say that Robert finally found himself in his environment where intellectual life completely replaced social life maybe that's why for all the years of study at Harvard he did not have a girlfriend he remained shy immature and easily lost at the same time friends noted his boats of depression or despondency he later spoke of that time in the days of my almost infinitely prolonged adolescence I hardly took an action Hardly did anything that did not arouse in me a very great sense of revulsion and of wrong my feeling about myself was always one of extreme discontent Oppenheimer graduated from Harvard in 3 years a year earlier than expected after that a talented and not poor young man had a direct road to England since it was believed that it was the best place for the best professors from all over the world and training was quoted much higher he chose C bridge where the young man was going to continue his studies at the famous Cavendish laboratory under the guidance of the great Rutherford however contrary to the expectations of a brilliant study Robert began to overtake hitherto unknown failures for some reason he was very clumsy constantly dropping something and because of that plunged into Despair and even more failures the one who was accustomed to the easy comprehension of Science in childhood as many child prodigies at an older age was faced with a simple truth the need for hard work Robert even began to doubt his intelligence Oppenheimer said that he had a pretty hard time there working in the laboratory was terribly boring and it was so hard for him so Robert could not feel he was learning anything Oppenheimer called lectures disgusting the internal incessant struggle oppressed Robert so he thought of taking his own life at the insistence of relatives he had to turn to a psychiatrist after a strange incident that happened in front of everyone one day when Oppenheimer was on vacation with his friends in Paris he was in a very bad mood and his friend admitted that he would soon have an engagement Robert's reaction shocked everyone he attacked a friend and began to strangle him but the doctor could not help the brilliant young man after attending the therapy session Robert said that the guy was too stupid to understand his state of health and he knew much better about his problems the scientist was diagnosed with schizophrenia which was quite common common and clearly did not match reality oppenheimer's quirks are now attributed by historians to an overloaded brain sensitivity and poor socialization even though the doctor did not help Robert there were no more such outbursts of aggression he sometimes had periodic depressions perhaps in order not to go crazy Oppenheimer left the chemical laboratory and in 1926 went to Germany to Goden to study theoretical physics under the guidance of Max Bourne who became a Nobel laurat later Oppenheimer made friends with people who over time achieved great success verer Heisenberg Pasqual Jordan Wolf Gang poly Paul D Rock enrio fery and Edward Teller they explored a new area of science that ran counter to established ideas about the world quantum physics science restored oppenheimer's self-confidence and brought him back to life he defended his PhD excelling as a theoretical physicist and published six 16 papers in 3 years but he did not linger in goddin and in the spring of 1929 he returned to America which he missed very [Music] much we can say that at the age of 25 Oppenheimer turned out to be the most advanced physicist in the United States he wanted to develop and popularize a new direction of physics in his country Oppenheimer received a lot of offers from various universities and he chose Berkeley in California the main reason why he chose that particular educational institution turned out to be somewhat eccentric Robert admitted that he was attracted by a great collection of poems by French Poets of the 16th and 17th centuries collected in the University Library there he began to engage in science the calculation of models of neutron stars students and colleagues recall that he was mesmerizing even hypnotic during private conversation but often indifferent in public those who communicated with him were divided into two camps some considered him an aloof and expressive genius and esthet and others saw him as a pretentious and disturbing poser his students almost always belonged to the first category and adopted the habits of opies from his walk to his speaking manner you can feel his magnetism even now when watching documentary videos Hans Beth an immigrated German physicist spoke of Oppenheimer as a teacher in the following way he always knew what were the important problems as shown by his choice of subjects he truly lived with those problems struggling for a solution and he communicated his concern to the group he was interested in everything and in one afternoon they might discuss Quantum electrodynamics cosmic rays electron pair production and nuclear physics don't forget this characteristic we will need it later such a fact is interesting students who took oppenheimer's Physics course took it twice they would take a second year to fully understand it other students were taking it in pairs one would listen and the other would write notes and they'd work up the lecture afterward physicist Robert Christie said in addition Oppenheimer was in an incredible hurry the chalk flashed across the board and no one kept up with him however later Robert still became a great and unusually effective lecturer in 1930 note he was just 26 years old Oppenheimer wrote a paper that essentially predicted the existence of the positron the scientist analyzed the 1928 work of Paul Dak refuting the author's assumption that positively charged electrons were protons referring to the weight of the latter his criticism made dur reconsider his position and postulate a new particle which the scientist called an anti-electron an electron with a positive charge but negative energy 2 years later that particle became known to the world as a positron in the in the late 1930s Oppenheimer probably influenced by his friend Richard Tolman became interested in astrophysics which resulted in a series of articles in the first of them co-authored with Robert cerber in 1938 and entitled on the stability of Stellar Neutron cores he researched the characteristics of white dwarfs in 1939 Oppenheimer and his student Harland Snider wrote on continued gravitational contraction which predicted the existence of what is now called a black hole that work as well as work on gravity is considered oppenheimer's most important contribution to the development of physics but when those discoveries were made the scientists paid little attention to their importance later their great importance was emphasized by Steven Hawking nowadays they often write that the determination with which Oppenheimer took up the creation of nuclear weapons was so strong due to his personal qualities and views on the world students and teachers noted his incredible Horizons and the ability to think on his feet about various topics his interest in poetry and literature which in fact led him to Berkeley despite the occupation of physics continued to accompany him Oppenheimer spoke six languages which made it possible to read works in the original we should also mention his other oddly enough passion religion in the early 30s when Robert was 29 years old he discovered the Bhagavad Gita a religious work in translation from Sanskrit meaning Divine song which significantly influenced his life philosophy and Views it should be noted that the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita has quite specifically found its adherence in rather opposite circles for example it was adhered to by both the peaceloving Gandhi and the Nazi the murderer the organizer of the Holocaust himler who always had the volume of it Oppenheimer learned Sanskrit to read the bug avad Gita it is difficult to say how much it influenced the work of Robert but his controversial moral principles can be traced in the further actions of the scientist Oppenheimer himself later recalled that it radically influenced his world view so the Bhagavad Gita tells about a great bloody battle through the dialogue of the warrior Arjuna and Krishna the Incarnation of the god Vishnu Arjuna is in a difficult position and faces a difficult choice in the army that opposes him there are many of his friends relatives and teachers tormented by doubts he stands down but Krishna urges him to continue assuring the warrior that the battle is his sacred Duty which cannot be abandoned out of love for the close one at the same time devotion is proclaimed as the highest value of the Soul during the conversation Krishna Reveals His Divine Essence and appears as an exalted and terrifying being with many mouths and eyes he pronounces a phrase which in transl ation sounds something like this now I am become death the destroyer of worlds interestingly the teaching is aimed at a person's awareness of himself as a Divine person his higher Destiny Oppenheimer remembered that story when he tested the nuclear bomb oppenheimer's close friend and colleague Noble laurate Isidor rabi explained his fascination with the babad Gita by saying that Oppenheimer was overeducated in those fields which lie outside the scientific tradition such as his interest in religion in the Hindu religion in particular which resulted in a feeling of mystery of the universe that surrounded him like a fog he saw physics clearly looking toward what had already been done but at the border he tended to feel there was much more of the mysterious and novel than there actually was he turned away from the hard crude methods of theoretical physics into a mystical realm of broad intuition this broad Outlook of Robert Oppenheimer was both his advantage and a huge disadvantage due to his diverse Hobbies he was scattered and could not focus on one thing possessing great talent intellect and erudition he failed to stand on par with such scientists as Einstein Max Bourne and Irwin schinger Robert often abandoned a problem halfway through a solution and grabbed a new one was there a political background to his decisions until the early 30s Robert was not interested in politics I voted for the first time in a presidential election in 1936 I was deeply interested in my science but I had no understanding of the relations of man to his Society he said also the scientist said I had no radio no telephone I never read a newspaper or a current magazine I learned of the stock market crash in the fall of 1929 only long after the event oppenheimer's father left him enough funds so that Robert did not need money and the Great Depression Did not affect him personally Oppenheimer had been drawn into politics and became left-wing in 1934 at that time the persecution of scientists of Jewish origin began in Germany and one by one they left the country which was suffering from fascist ideology in support of the German physicists Oppenheimer began donating 3% of his salary about $3,000 a year during the West Coast fisherman strike in 1934 Oppenheimer and several of his students joined the protesters in the spring of 1936 friends introduced Robert to Jean tatlock in the fall he began courting her she was a 22-year-old medical student Jee was worried about political events in the world unemployment the war in Spain and racial discrimination she was a member of the Communist party and introduced her fiance into this political sphere I made left-wing friends and felt sympathy for causes which hitherto would have seemed so remote from me there he realized that that he began to participate in the life of his country I did not then regard Communists as dangerous and some of their declared objectives seemed to me desirable later Americans began to be afraid of the Communists but the country was literally captured by communist ideas in the 30s members of communist organizations were people from different classes even though Oppenheimer shared some of their views he was not a communist the FBI subsequently tried for 30 years to prove that he was a member of the party but all to no avail in 1940 Oppenheimer married Kitty Harrison he was already her fourth husband she was a member of the Communist party and at the time of her acquaintance she was still married however that did not stop her from having an affair with the scientist it was even said that she kept him with a strangle hold Kitty divorced her husband in one day and 7 months after the wedding with Robert their son Peter was born they began to move away from politics at that time in 194 4 the couple had a second child the girl was named Catherine later as Oppenheimer said he realized that the USSR controlled the Communist Party in the USA but even when he did not know anything Robert was just a sympathizer a fellow traveler not a party member and never accepted their basic Dogma it seemed to him meaningless in general thanks to his beloved women and the new friendships that began the scientist's connection became very compromising the FBI put the scientist on the so-called custody index for immediate arrest in the event of a National Emergency the wake-up call that shocked Oppenheimer was the events in the USSR from there disturbing news about Stalin's cruelty towards those anti-fascist physicists who had taken refuge in the country of Victorious communism so the Communist ideas quickly faded not allowing any kind of flare up that happened not only to Robert's mind but to America in general in addition the world came closer to the second world [Music] war against that background a fantastic message appeared about the discovery of uranium fishing by German scientists it happened after the discovery of the neutron and the study of its influence on the nuclei of various elements due to the characteristics of the neutron it could overcome the electrical repulsive force and create a nuclear transformation reaction nuclear fion that discovery changed the whole history of humanity as well as the life story of Oppenheimer like any good physicist he saw how powerful energy could be in the case of a reaction it was said that a few days after that Discovery Oppenheimer had a drawing of a bomb on a Blackboard of course a very primitive one there were enough uranium reserves on Earth so its further use opened up unprecedented Horizons for people in terms of using a new type of energy that surpassed all previously known ones such as oil and gas but for some reason Humanity came to this discovery just when the world was engulfed by the second world war in 1939 and what could be used for peaceful purposes led to a new type of weapon in war conditions that is why the discovery also influenced the relationship between science and the state it became clear that now scientific research should be classified and scientists became hostages of the regime almost all countries of the world have begun to develop nuclear bombs these were not only Germany England and the USA but also France Japan and the USSR but the biggest danger came from Germany American scientists began to study nuclear chain reactions actively Roosevelt took the warning seriously and in October the so-called advisory committee on uranium was created without any publicity and perhaps the question would have remained at the the theoretical level for a long time if the Japanese had not attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941 as a result America entered the war and all possible forces and means were used in research on the atomic bomb in May 1942 the chairman of the National Defense research committee one of oppenheimer's Harvard teachers James B Conant offered him to lead a group in Berkeley that would work on the calculations of fast neutrons Robert was disturbed by the worrying situation in Europe and enthusiastically began the work the title of his position coordinator of Rapid rupture definitely meant the use of fast Neutron chain reactions in the nuclear bomb Robert's group began to study what and in what order to do to get the bomb the first thing he did in his post was to organize a summer school on bomb theory at his Berkeley campus the group included his students and European physicists including the future father of the hydrogen bomb Edward Teller already in June 1942 the military took control of the creation of nuclear weapons the US Army founded the Manhattan engineering District which later became known as the Manhattan Project to organize all units into a single system also it was necessary to unite the efforts of British Americans Canadians and scientists who immigrated from various European countries fleeing the Hitler regime they also needed a scientific laboratory located far from civilization for security and team building and to provide the necessary secrecy for such a case in October 1942 General Leslie Groves head of the Manhattan Project and Robert Oppenheimer had a conversation on a train Bound for New York Grove spoke to the scientist as if he were a potential candidate who could lead the laboratory where the atomic bomb was to be created after several hours of face-to-face conversation the general concluded that Oppenheimer was a genius and could talk about any topic except Sports Robert had no practice in leadership work but Groves brilliantly calculated that for such an unprecedented large scale and diverse project they needed Oppenheimer an incredibly ambitious person a scientist with great knowledge and intelligence and he was not mistaken in his choice Oppenheimer as the head of the laboratory caused a surprise among many people he did not even head the department and was not a Nobel lauran even though there were plenty of them in addition the security service also had doubts about Oppenheimer they didn't let him come close to secret developments Groves considered the scientist an ideal candidate for the position in early 1943 I received a letter appointing me director of the laboratory almost everyone knew that this was a great undertaking it might determine the outcome of the war it was an unparalleled opportunity to bring to bear the knowledge and art of science for the benefit of the country this this job if it were achieved would be part of History Oppenheimer said as a place the scientist proposed a desert plateau in New Mexico near the canyon in Los Alamos a place he knew and loved well there was a ranch where he in the late 20s was treated for tuberculosis Oppenheimer was fond of saying that physics and desert country were his two great loves Los Alamos located far from major cities isolated but accessible was excellent for maintaining secrecy production facilities and testing interestingly Oppenheimer even took into account the fact that the place was not blocked by mountains as he believed that it would have a bad effect on the psychological state of the staff General Grove seeing the plateau agreed that the place was just perfect for a laboratory the 38-year-old head of the laboratory in April 1943 enthusiastically set to work Oppenheimer said no one doubted that this invention would shock the whole world the picture of the great Bang loomed in front of us also we began to understand that the work would be difficult and tense the consequences will be unpredictable so the whole city was built from scratch in parallel with the laboratory roads and houses were built but when it rained everyone got stuck in ankle deep mud in general a first class Physics laboratory was to appear in the wilderness there Oppenheimer assembled a group of prominent physicists of the time whom he called The Luminaries Gathering scientists was not an easy task since people had to be persuaded to move with their families from their homes quit their jobs and sign a contract for an indefinite period Oppenheimer had to speak to each applicant using all his power of persuasion and Charisma also it was not entirely clear how to organize the work of scientists with the military initially it was assumed that since the laboratory was military scientists should join the Army Oppenheimer even managed to order a uniform and undergo a medical examination and according to the results he was declared unfit for service doctors diagnosed him as underweight recognized tuberculosis in his cough and were unhappy with his lower back pain however other scientists opposed joining the Army and then they developed a compromise plan According to which the University of California took the laboratory on lease from the war department it soon turned out that oppenheimer's initial estimates of the labor input required were extreme optimistic Los Alamos increased its Workforce from a few hundred in 1943 to over 6,000 in 1945 Victor viop an American theoretical physicist recalled Oppenheimer directed these studies theoretical and experimental in the real sense of the words here his uncanny speed in grasping the main points of any subject was a decisive Factor he could acquaint himself with the essential details of every part of the work he did not direct from the head office he was intellectually and physically present at each decisive step he was present in the laboratory or in the seminar rooms when a new effect was measured when a new idea was conceived it was not that he contributed so many ideas or suggestions he did so sometimes but his main influence came from something else it was his continuous and intense presence which produced a sense of direct participation in all of us it created that unique atmosphere of enthusiasm and challenge that pervaded the place throughout its time in the beginning it was clear that the work would be carried out in the strictest secrecy the scientific world was already ready to hide its developments for example physicist Percy Williams Bridgeman who was oppenheimer's lecturer at the University wrote in the journal science that from now on he is forced to close access to his laboratory to scientists of totalitarian States because a citizen of such a state is no longer a free individual but he may be compelled to engage in any activity whatever to advance the purposes of that state cessation of scientific intercourse with the totalitarian States serves the double purpose of making more difficult the misuse of scientific information by these states and of giving the individual opportunity to express his abhorrence of their practices it is a Pity that the text apparently did not make any impression on the British physicist of German origin Claus Fu a participant in the Manhattan Project from Great Britain who in fact leaked information about nuclear weapons to the Soviet Union the military administration of the Manhattan Project did everything so that even inside the laboratory its departments did not communicate with each other coordination was carried out according to the rules of the military hierarchy from top to bottom but what was positive for secrecy was sometimes bad for the work itself therefore scientists often violated those rules leading to conflicts between them and the security service surveillance was carried out constantly telephone conversations were tapped and letters were opened the personal life of the employees was no longer the same as the apartments had hidden microphones of course the head of the secret Los Alamos laboratory was the most deeply tested early on when Oppenheimer first joined the Manhattan Project in 1942 he wrote on his security clearance form that he was a member of almost every front communist organization on the west coast such a rash statement would come back to haunt him when the US Atomic energy Commission on December 23rd 1953 considered the question of revoking his clearance for secret work in his defense Oppenheimer stated that he did not remember saying something like that that it was not true and if he said something like that it was a semi- joking exaggeration Oppenheimer couldn't take a step without surveillance his bodyguard and Driver were secret informants it was said that the agents were annoying and infuriated him and the scientist brushed them aside Robert's fatal mistake was a visit in the spring of 1943 to his ex- fiance Jean tatlock Robert said he had to do it because she had asked to meet before he left for Los Alamos she was undergoing psychiatric treatment and suffered greatly Jee was not much of a communist but she was certainly a member of the party there was nothing dangerous about that there was nothing potentially dangerous about that Oppenheimer said the agent stayed under Jean's house until morning and of course the FBI immediately became aware of that visit sure Robert knew that he was being watched but his compassion for the once- loved woman overrode security concerns the FBI imagined that tatlock was handing over nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union her phone was tapped but they didn't find anything incriminating 6 months later Jean took her own life after Robert met with tatlock General Groves received a demand from security to fire Oppenheimer but Groves was well aware of oppenheimer's key role in such a huge project therefore he rejected those demands and the scientist continued his work however the shadow of Suspicion has not disappeared thus Colonel Boris Pas head of West Coast Counter Intelligence who in 1943 dealt with the security of the Manhattan Project at Los alabamos admitted the possibility that Oppenheimer was a spy Pash believed that the scientist was handing over information to the Soviets in August 194 three he interrogated Oppenheimer on suspicion that he was a secret member of the US Communist party in turn the scientists told Pash a whole theory that an intelligence Network could exist in the laboratory then Oppenheimer reported that George Elon whom he did not know was trying to get secret information about nuclear development in favor of the Soviet Union from three people from Los Alamos Oppenheimer did not understand what a mess he had made in subsequent interrogations Robert admitted under pressure that that the only person who approached him about this was his friend hon chaler a professor of French literature at Berkeley chaler at a dinner at oppenheimer's house mentioned that he was approached by a man named George Elon who lamented that there was no exchange of scientific information between the USA and the USSR therefore he asked chaler a friend of Oppenheimer to carry out such an exchange of data through private communication the scientist answered with an unconditional refusal there was no question of any trans of information thus Oppenheimer who was not going to become a traitor did not consider chaler as a traitor nevertheless informed the security service which immediately cast a shadow on the reputation of the scientist and chaler lost his [Music] career the main thing that captured oppenheimer's whole life was the work that was in full swing at Los Alamos that place turned into a city with a population of several ,000 people the scale of the project at the very beginning was greatly underestimated but Oppenheimer proved to be more than a good leader for the project Manhattan Project member Roy J glabber recalled Oppenheimer inspired everyone he expressed the intellectual essence of what we were doing the deepest desire of what it was even now I don't know who could do it better than him who could lead a whole crowd of scientists 80% of them were famous and he United them and made them work as a single mechanism everyone loved him because he was everywhere Robert understood all of these absurdly difficult and intractable problems and he often had witty things to say about them glabber added it was said that Oppenheimer had Charisma charm and attraction also Robert never managed from the office he had a robin's egg blue convertible Cadillac you know and if you're a young kid and here's the boss he's driving around with his pork pie hat and his tweed jacket and cigarette always you know like in the movies you know you're impressed said physicist Harold h agnu his presence created a unique atmosphere of enthusiasm and challenge throughout the Manhattan Project Robert worked for the good of the nation completely forgetting about himself however the deadlines that had been set for the creation of the bomb began to be pushed back experiments sometimes came to a standstill so for example Edward Teller reported that according to his calculations some reactions in the atomic bomb could ignite the atmosphere and thereby burn all life on Earth no one knew if it was really possible so such assumptions were taken very seriously Oppenheimer instructed scientists to double check everything they found a mistake in teller's calculations and research continued in 1944 there was an event that somewhat reduced the tension in the race for the bomb documents revealed the position of Germany how far they had advanced in research were found in November they said that Nazis were far behind in their research since they had neither a rea for the production of plutonium nor a plant that would separate uranium 235 the same news shook the belief that the creation of such a bomb should be continued but a powerful machine launched with one great goal rushed by inertia and could not stop like that scientists could not abandon their research halfway and many did not want to in addition the war was not over yet and hostile Japan took part in the race for weapons of mass destruction none of the scientists considered the fact that the bombs that they created would be dropped precisely on Peaceful cities there was an idea to have a powerful weapon in the hands that would protect the Americans Oppenheimer did not allow the thought to interrupt the work at the same time starting in 1944 some scientists began to realize the danger of the atomic threat in July 1944 Neil's bore in a memorandum addressed to President Roosevelt called for a complete ban on the use of nuclear weapons and strict International control over them some changed their opinion seeing that Nazi Germany was far from its evil design Leo sillard wrote throughout 1943 we were afraid that the Germans would be able to make an atomic bomb before we landed in Europe but when we were relieved of that fear in 1945 we began to think with horror what other dangerous plans the American government was making when Germany capitulated in May 1945 the moral question of the expediency of continuing work on the atomic bomb again arose in all its formidable and unattractive form but Oppenheimer was so engrossed in the incredibly complex project that he cared only about one great desire to complete what he had started and worked so hard on usually people don't stop working on an interesting invention and it is possible to decide on its application only after actual success perhaps we will convince everyone that the next war will destroy the world therefore you need to use a bomb only in real hostilities Oppenheimer said in April 1945 President Roosevelt died suddenly leaving no instructions on the fate of the nuclear project the new US President Truman Justified his decision to use the Bomb by saying that the atomic bombing of the islands would forc Japan out of the war and it would save hundreds of thousands of lives of both Americans and Japanese on May 31st 1945 a meeting of high-ranking government officials military and scientists was held Oppenheimer also took part in that meeting the target was a military Factory in Hiroshima surrounded by large warehouses scientists could not be sure that the contraption which they calculated up and down would still work tests were required Robert suggested using a test site for the world's first nuclear explosion near almagordo New Mexico the Spaniards called that deserted place the path of the dead because in the 16th and 17th centuries people who tried to pass through that desert very often died the test code named Trinity was scheduled for July 16th 1945 at 5:30 a.m. everyone was in anxiety and uncertainty because the bomb might not have exploded nobody knew what to expect we kept welding glass in front of our eyes so as not to go blind looking at the explosion in the impenetrable pre-dawn Darkness a huge tension was felt Witnesses Rec called when the explosion occurred the light from it was clearly visible at points about 180 m miles away according to people's memories there was a brilliant flash like daylight outside suddenly from pitch dark to Daylight over a huge area there was this rapidly expanding glowing sphere with swirling dark clouds in it and finally as it dimmed you could see on the outside a faint blue glow it was simply fantastic the power of the charge exceeded all predictions Brigadier General Thomas frell described Robert's reaction Dr Oppenheimer on whom had rested a very heavy burden grew tenser as the last seconds ticked off he scarcely breathed he held on to a post to steady himself when the announcer showed it now and there came this tremendous burst of light followed by the Deep growling Roar of the explosion his face relaxed into an expression of tremendous relief 20 years later during one of the TV shows Oppenheimer recalled that moment we knew the world would not be the same a few people laughed a few people cried most 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 to 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 according to eyewitnesses the scientists mood changed after the Trinity test like other residents of Los Alamos he understood that a promising project became a terrible weapon in the hands of the military such things opened his eyes the war was over but Japan refused to sign the surrender that was laid out in the pot Stam Declaration on July 26th 1945 therefore Harry Truman more Resolute and categorical than Roosevelt adopted a clear plan for the further use of nuclear weapons oppenheimer's secretary and Wilson recalled meetings between the scientist and representatives of the ground forces they chose cities among the targets that would become potential victims during those two weeks Robert was quiet and thoughtful Wilson recalled partly because he knew what was to come and partly because he understood their significance according to her Robert was completely depressed but at the same time he worked diligently to ensure that the weapon worked as efficiently as possible possible that morning smoking his pipe he blurted out these poor little people these poor little people referring to the Japanese as a result of the preparation President Roosevelt supported options for possible targets he approved the order starting from August 3rd as soon as the weather cleared to bomb one of the Cities Hiroshima kakura nigata or Nagasaki also in the future as bombs arrive the following cities from the list in the evening on the eve of the bombing raid on the first city Hiroshima Oppenheimer met with two senior officers who were responsible for delivering weapons to the Target he gave them their clear instructions to ensure maximum lethality Lieutenant Colonel Monahan a former newspaper man published a report on his recommendation in 1946 recalling that the scientist was persistent tense and spoke nervously don't let the bomb drop through the clouds or overcast Oppenheimer said the target must be visible don't drop according to the radar only visually if you drop at night then only in the light of the Moon that's the best don't fly too high otherwise the target will suffer little early in the morning of August 6th 1945 an American bomber dropped the little boy atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima the Japanese learned about what happened to them only 16 hours later from an official statement made in Washington Truman addressing the nation said 16 hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima an important Japanese Army base that bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT the Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor they have been repaid manyfold Junior physicist Sam Cohen recalled meeting Oppenheimer with other scientists in a lecture hall after the crowd burst into Applause Robert said it's it's too early to judge the results but I'm sure the Japanese didn't like it according to Cohen the scientist was proud of the success and regretted that the bomb could not be made in time and dropped on the Germans 2 days later on August 9th the fat man bomb was dropped on Nagasaki during the second world war the city was a major sea port it was also of particular importance as an industrial center in which steel production and the Mitsubishi Shipyard and torpedo production were concentrated tools ships and military equipment were manufactured there explosions killed about 150,000 people another 15,000 died in the next 5 Years From previously unknown radiation sickness colleagues and acquaintances of Oppenheimer recalled that the general Joy was replaced by a state of disgust according to the journalist Charlotte cerber despair gripped the laboratory an FBI informant reported on August 9th that Oppenheimer had turned into a bundle of ner nerves and the scientist was said to have called the bomb so terrible a weapon that there will be no more Wars after the second bombing Oppenheimer doubted the need to use the atomic bomb it was said that he even fell into depression this project had bad consequences they hung over us like a cloud and today the future not only beckons but is one step away from hopelessness he wrote to a friend to the American philosophical Society 3 months after the bombing he said some of you will have seen photographs of the Nagasaki strike seen the great steel girds of factories twisted and wrecked Atomic weapons are weapons of aggression of surprise and of Terror if they are ever used again it may well be by the thousands or perhaps by the tens of thousands although Oppenheimer was a supporter of the use of the atomic bomb he understood that it would give rise to a new wave of Terror Jean Bacher a friend of Katherine Oppenheimer recalled Kitty rarely shared her feelings but at that time she said she didn't know how she could handle it and that Robert was completely lost and Ernest lawence recalled that during the meeting he found the scientist tired gloomy and deep in thought Richard rhods the Pitzer prize winning author of the making of the atomic bomb states that Oppenheimer was tormented by conflicting feelings he saw the question in all its complexity it wasn't so simple as was he guilty about building such a weapon he understood that the bomb was going to change history he might have hoped that there was some other way to demonstrate its Effectiveness they knew what they were making they knew it was going to kill a lot of people they didn't like that aspect of it but there you were after America's Victory a scientist told secretary Stimson and the president we are not only unable to outline a program that would assure to this nation for the next decades hegemony in the field of atomic weapons we are equally unable to ensure that such hemony if achieved could could protect us from the most terrible destruction on August 17th Oppenheimer traveled to Washington to protest he expressed his point of view in a letter to the minister of War where he proposed to ban the use of nuclear weapons in October Oppenheimer had a personal meeting with President Harry Truman their conversation went something like this Mr President I feel I have blood on my hands and Truman replied you can wash it off with water after that Truman was very indignant at the scientist and even for B him to be allowed to see him since it was the president and not the scientist who gave the order to bomb what then to say about my hands thought the president before leaving Washington the scientists learned that the president had imposed a ban on the disclosure of any information about the atomic bomb and Secretary of State Burns announced that in the prevailing International situation there was no alternative but to push forward the me Manhattan engineering District program Oppenheimer returned to New Mexico even more dejected after the war Robert became a national hero the personification of a scientist of a new era and also a world celebrity his face appeared on the covers of life and time magazines and Truman still had to meet with the scientist again when he awarded him the presidential medal of Merit oppenheimer's successful work as head of Los Alamos was celebrated in 1946 Robert began to be invited to numerous interviews he became the first head of the general advisory committee GAC it included leading us scientists in the field of nuclear physics many of them took part in the Manhattan Project the scientist was very happy with this appointment he waited for the opportunity to deal with the big problems with the control of the atomic bomb at least that's what it seemed to him at the time the Manhattan Project has accomplished its only Mission the creation of the nuclear bomb after that many scientists returned to their University iiv ities to their former scientific work in October 1945 Oppenheimer left Los Alamos he accepted an offer from Lewis struss to head The Institute for advanced study in Princeton New Jersey where the world's most famous scientist Albert Einstein once taught previously Oppenheimer did not consider the Institute as a place where serious research was conducted after he visited it for the first time before the war he wrote sarcastically to his brother Princeton is a mad house where selfish luminaries scattered and helpless shine in the void but over the years he changed his mind believing that he could change the status and Prospects of The Institute it takes some thought and trouble to do a good job he told Kitty but such things come naturally to me Robert was going to transform the scientific institution into a center of world-class theoretical physics under his leadership physicists tackled an unsolved task of the pre-war years the problem of mathematically incorrect expressions in Quantum electrodynamics but what made Robert a good leader at Los Alamos created problems here rigidity and aloofness intensified by experiences manifested themselves in Princeton with such force that it frightened even those close to him wit and elegant manners did not help and sometimes the scientist was not able to hide his costic arrogance theoretical physicist Abraham pasus remembered several cases when oppenheimer's overly harsh remarks brought young scientists to tears the salary was $20,000 a year plus Oppenheimer got free accommodation in a personal director's house as well as a 17th century estate with a cook and caraker surrounded by 107 hectares of Woodland it was a spacious three-story White Mansion built in the early 18th century immediately after settling in the scientist ordered to organize a greenhouse behind the house for his wife who was very fond of orchids when we moved in Oppenheimer told the reporter I thought that I would never get used to living in such a big house but now surrounded by a pleasant mess I really liked it Robert bathed in glory but there was something else that upset him as much as the dangerous brainchild he left behind his beloved woman her name was Ruth Tolman and she was the wife of his close friend Richard with whom Oppenheimer worked closely during the war he met them for the first time in Pasadena in the spring of 1928 and always considered them best friends Ruth worked as a clinical psychologist and Robert shared her passion for psychology According to some sources they began a love relationship after the second world war while preparing to move to Princeton in the summer of 1947 Oppenheimer wrote Ruth a letter during a vacation in Los Pinos complaining that he was exhausted and scared of the future Ruth replied my heart overflows with much much unspoken like you I am grateful for the opportunity to write letters like you my soul cannot accept that our monthly meetings will cease there are no oppenheimer's letters to Ruth Tolman they were destroyed after her death but her letters were permeated with tenderness and love I look back on a wonderful week together she wrote in one undated letter with gratitude in my heart my dear it is impossible to forget I would give a lot to spend even one more day like this in the meantime I send you love and tenderness she wrote in one of them but despite their feelings both of them were not going to sacrifice their marriages Ruth maintained a good relationship with Kitty and the Oppenheimer children it must be said that at that time Oppenheimer began to promote such beliefs as openness in access to scientific ideas and developments so for example he spoke about the free undistorted exchange of opinions in a complex technological world the basis of Freedom all I want to say is is this much secrecy necessary why can't we talk about many things are we really being reasonable thought Oppenheimer at the end of the war America was the only nuclear power and Truman believed that National Security needed to maintain secrecy in this area but Oppenheimer and most nuclear scientists were opposed to that position the scientists began to defend the position of strict International control over the use of nuclear weapons and the elimination of secrecy I have been asked whether there is hope for the nation's security in keeping secret some of the knowledge which has gone into the making of the bombs I am afraid there is no such hope I think that our only hope lies in openness and good faith cooperation with other people of the world he said as a result Oppenheimer as a member of The Advisory Board to the atomic energy commission had a huge impact on the report which formed the basis for the development of the so-called baruk plan the committee recommended the creation of an international nuclear industry development agency which would own all nuclear materials and their production facilities including mines and Laboratories as well as nuclear power plants at the same time the conflict between the former partners the USSR and the USA grew and created the conditions for the start of an arms race observing where the world political situation was moving the scientist felt personally responsible for the consequences of his work at Los Alamos it is clear to any American wrote Robert in the bulletin of the atomic scientists on June 1st 1946 that if a new war breaks out nuclear weapons will be used in it Oppenheimer was burdened by a thought that he could not get rid of we know this because in the last great war two of the most educated and Humane countries in the world Great Britain and the United un States of America used nuclear weapons against a virtually defeated enemy the fame and success of the scientist were not his long Ally everything changed with the creation of the nuclear bomb in the USSR and his first test in August 1949 the news came as a complete surprise to the US government it was assumed that the Soviets would come to the creation of a bomb much later there were suspicions that managed to find out the secrets from the Los Alamos laboratory at the same time discussions began on the creation of a more powerful weapon the hydrogen bomb which Edward Teller was actively interested in while working on the Manhattan Project but then Robert stopped the project and forbade teller to be scattered many scientists including Oppenheimer received that idea coldly and not hostilely the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed how deadly and dangerous it is for Humanity to continue to to live in the same Paradigm as during the war and therefore when the government turned to Oppenheimer for help he refused and opposed it the committee proposed the utopian idea of publicly refusing to build the hbomb and was also opposed to the United States taking the lead in that matter and suggested urging the USSR to do the same like many of his colleagues Oppenheimer hoped that a bomb of this scale would never be created and that the world would come to the need for centralized Arms Control we believe that a super bomb should not be created Oppenheimer wrote expressing the opinion of the majority Humanity can live without demonstrating that such a weapon can be created but Truman did not accept such an initiative it was exacerbated by the aggravation in the political Arena the USSR violated the yelta agreements established a puppet regime in Poland and did not allow free elections in other countries of Eastern Europe and the Balkans America was seized by the fear of communism and it was not unreasonably and how else could one react if the Soviets occupied the whole of Eastern Europe and began to plant communism in these countries the Communists have been and will always be a threat to Freedom democratic ideals the service of God and the American people Truman said so on January 31st 1950 he gave the order to Begin work on the creation of a hydrogen bomb and already in 1951 Edward Teller together with mathematician Stannis ulum took up his development oppenheimer's position became unpopular with the United States government and the suspicion of the scientist's disloyalty only intensified in the current environment oppenheimer's position on openness and reduction of secrecy in atomic matters has become very irrelevant but Robert eventually moved away from the leftist views of his youth the scientist's attitude towards the USSR was in line with the growing Cold War he was also alarmed by Stalin's speech on February 9th 1946 which he described as reflecting Soviet fears of surroundings and the need for vigilance and rearmament in addition he felt despair because of the cases of Soviet Espionage that were revealed during the War years Robert was increasingly disillusioned with Communism hoping for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue his right-wing views did not help him avoid problems since the 1940s the FBI has kept a close eye on the scientist because of his links to Communists in the past despite his dedicated work at Los Alamos and oppenheimer's reputation as an outstanding leader and father of the atomic bomb FBI director John Edgar Hoover continued to suspect him of leaking secret information for 8 years Hoover and his agents released 1,000 pages of explanatory memos surveillance reports and transcripts of overheard conversations related to Oppenheimer each year all this to catch the scientist in the act a statement by Paul crch a Communist Party recruiter in Alam County in the early 1940s added fuel to the fire he became the first person to accuse the scientist of connections with Communists namely of meeting party members at his home in Burkley Robert proved that he was in New Mexico during the Gathering of party members and the case was closed despite the wide publicity in November 1953 William LOM bordon former executive director of The Joint committee on atomic energy sent a letter to Jay Edgar Hoover which stated that according to available classified information J Robert Oppenheimer with some degree of probability is an agent of the Soviet Union Robert probably understood that he was being watched and that annoyed him terribly one day at Berkeley while talking to a former student Joe Weinberg he suddenly pointed to a brass plate on the wall and asked what the hell is that Weinberg tried to explain that the university removed the old intercom and plugged the hole in the wall with a plate however Oppenheimer cut him off it's a hidden microphone and it's always been there after that he went out of the office slamming the door in addition the scientist was sure that his phones were tapped they really were Ralph lap recalled how once Robert took him out of the office with the words even the walls have ears here and Dr Lewis hempleman said he always remembered to be followed Robert gave the impression that he was really being followed when Robert returned from England where he had given a series of lectures and received an honors causa doctorate in December 1953 atomic energy commission commissioner Lewis Strauss informed Oppenheimer that the hearings on the scientist's access to classified information had been suspended stros had long felt resentment towards Oppenheimer robertt opposed the hydrogen bomb which Str gross advocated and once humiliated him in front of congress with a scathing remark Oppenheimer was asked to resign however the scientist did not do that and insisted on resuming the hearings hearings which were closed were held in April to May 1954 particular attention was paid to oppenheimer's former connections with the Communists and his collaboration during the Manhattan Project with unreliable or Communist Party scientists recall that his wife bride and brother were also Communists Oppenheimer testified for 27 hours he was completely devastated and the man who practically affected Robert's reputation was the father of the hydrogen bomb Edward Teller was the last to testify in the Oppenheimer case when asked about the trustworthiness of his former colleague teller replied I thoroughly disagreed with Dr Oppenheimer on numerous issues and his actions frankly appeared to me confused and complicated I feel that I would like to see the vital interests of this country in hands which I understand better and therefore trust more I would feel personally more secure if public matters would rest in other hands during oppenheimer's trial he was the only member of the scientific Community to say that Oppenheimer should not be given security clearance Oppenheimer took the results of the safety hearing very calmly but he was a different man much of his former spirit and vivacity had left him physicist Hans bet recalled years later in 2009 a group of researchers John Earl Haynes Harvey cler and Alexander vasilev based on materials from the KGB archive confirmed that Oppenheimer was never engaged in Espionage for the Soviet Union the special services of the USSR periodically tried to recruit him but without success moreover he fired several people who sympathized with the Soviet Union from the Manhattan Project teller's testimony left Oppenheimer vulnerable to charges by a congressional Aid that he was a Soviet spy it led to the destruction of his career Oppenheimer was crushed he was called unreliable dangerous to the state and even a liar Robert was deprived of access to classified materials influence Authority and post and all that was done with the government's Chief expert on nuclear weapons the father of the atomic bomb friends said that Robert fell into despair after the hearing started in 1954 Oppenheimer spent several months of the year on St John one of the Virgin Islands and after 3 years he bought a plot of land with an area of 2 Acres 0.81 hectares on Gibney Beach and built a Spartan house on the shore he spent time with his family sailing with his daughter Tony and wife Kitty deprived of political influence Oppenheimer continued to lecture write and work in physics he visited Europe and Japan giving lectures on the history of science the role of science and society and the nature of the universe Robert drew his authority exclusively from the status of a public figure over time the image of a humanist who worried about the future of humanity became fixed for him the scientist did not stop worrying about the potential danger that scientific inventions could pose Humanity together with Albert Einstein Bertrand Russell Joseph rotlet and other eminent scientists he founded what would later in 1960 become the World Academy of Arts and Sciences after the public humiliation Oppenheimer no longer signed major open protests and made no statements or comments against nuclear weapons trying to prove his trustworthiness he avoided all public confrontations especially in the matter of his work on the Manhattan Project but gradually the scientist became a symbol for liberals representing the vices of the Republican Party many began to see in him a scientist martyr in the the summer of 1954 The Washington Post published a series of Articles presenting Oppenheimer from the good side one article headlined drama Pack's amazing Oppenheimer transcript called the hearing an Aristotelian drama Shakespearean in richness and variety with Eric Amer Illusions to espionage a plot more intricate than Gone With the Wind and with half again as many characters as War and Peace when Columbia University invited Robert to give a speech on the occasion of its Bicentennial Oppenheimer delivered a pessimistic and sad address this is a world in which each of us knowing his limitations knowing the evils of superficiality and the Terrors of fatigue will have to cling to what is close to him to what he knows to what he can do to his friends and his tradition and his love lest he be dissolved in a universal confusion and know nothing and love nothing in the spring of 19 57 The Faculty of philosophy and psychology of Harvard University invited Oppenheimer to give one of the lectures but the scientist faced condemnation and rejection some Harvard alumni led by archal Roosevelt threatened to suspend sponsorship if Robert was allowed to do it the lecture took place despite the aggression more precisely it was a series of six lectures that Oppenheimer called the hope of order writer and journalist Edmund Wilson who attended one of the lectures recorded his impression of the famous scientist he recalled Oppenheimer he called Oppenheimer a brilliant man who had been beaten by the age who knew no more what to do about it than anybody who was as incapable of leading it as anybody according to Wilson oppenheimer's humility now seemed hang dog but there were also good times in Robert's life many European countries awarded him in September 1957 France made him an officer of the Legion of Honor on May 3rd 1962 Oppenheimer was elected a foreign member of the Royal Society by the early 1960s Oppenheimer had begun to emerge from political obscurity although the Kennedy administration did not reinstate Robert to Public Service Liberal Democrats nevertheless considered him a deserving man who had innocently suffered at the hands of Republican extremists in April 1962 the US government changed its attitude toward Oppenheimer during the McCarthy years when President Kennedy invited him to dinner at The White House with Nobel Prize winners after the reception oppenheimer's old friend on the aec advisory committee Glenn seaborg asked if he would be willing to undergo another hearing to regain access to State Secrets not for anything in life Robert snapped in 1963 at the urging of oppenheimer's many friends among politicians who had achieved High positions you US President John F Kennedy awarded the scientist the enrio fary prize as a sign of political Rehabilitation the president did not have time to give it to the scientist after his death this role went to his successor lynndon Johnson the award was for his contributions to theoretical physics as a teacher and creator of ideas and his leadership of the L Alamos laboratory and the atomic energy program during critical years according to the memory of those was present standing in the hall of the office of the White House the scientist looked like a stone statue gray-haired motionless almost lifeless tragically tense at that point he told Johnson I think Mr President it took some courage for you to present this award today gradually the scientist's health began to fail Oppenheimer was an inveterate smoker since his youth he almost never took the pipe out of his mouth in late 1965 he was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx even though he stopped smoking and survived a painful operation the disease did not recede Robert began attending radiation therapy sessions at the Sloan ketering Cancer Institute in New York by the end of May it became clear to everyone that he had faded away the operation was unsuccessful at the end of 1966 he underwent radio and chemotherapy which also had no effect exhausted by the disease oppenheimer's some managed not to lose heart Freeman Dyson said of him his Spirit grew stronger as his bodily Powers declined he accepted his fate gracefully he carried on with his job he never complained he became quite suddenly simple and no longer trying to impress anybody Oppenheimer always knew how to present himself effectively but now he was simple straightforward and indomitably courageous on February 15th 1967 Oppenheimer fell into a coma and on February 18th at the age of 62 he died at his home in Princeton Robert Oppenheimer was undoubtedly a great man who embodied the image of a 20th century scientist on the one hand the researcher cannot influence the inevitability of discoveries they can neither be hidden nor slowed down on the other hand he has become responsible for the ethical problems that these discoveries bring to the world did he regret his brainchild in his later years Oppenheimer claimed that if he could go back he would do exactly the same and he did not regret having contributed to the success of the Manhattan Project there is a theory that under the influence of the Bhagavad Gita he perceived his work as an inevitable process by analogy with the warrior Arjuna who was destined to fulfill his duty no matter what James haay a professor at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth argued in his essay that this was a huge test for Oppenheimer as the pacifist scientist he had been before during and after the bombing everything was obvious for Oppenheimer During the period of work on the Manhattan Project it was necessary to defeat Nazi Germany in any way but his Discovery horrified the scientist 2 years after Trinity Oppenheimer said in some sort of crude sense which no vulgarity no humor no overstatements can quite extinguish the physicists have known sin and and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose Oppenheimer was determined by fate or history to become a symbol of the scientist of the middle of the 20th century when a moral crisis occurred and the researchers ceased to represent a scientist engaged in a noble cause scientists faced the ethical dilemma of responsibility to humanity for what they could bring to the world Oppenheimer bravely accepted the challenges of fate and no matter how we feel about the Manhattan Project it is impossible to deny that its leader was a genius he was not only a talented scientist but also a good manager who was able to unite many different scientists around him we know another talented man who could spark people with ideas he was a Visionary saw things that others did not see and he was able to risk everything in order to make a breakthrough in his business this is of course about Steve Jobs we tell about what kind of person he really was and where he found motivation on our new channel dedicated to historical figures even more incredible life stories inspiration and facts that only a few people know click on the video that appeared on your screen and find out the truth about Steve Jobs and that's all for today it was biographer with you see you very soon

Channel: Biographer

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Keywords: father of the atomic bomb, atomic weapons, threat of atomic weapons, first atomic bomb, how does a atomic bomb work, who invented the atomic bomb, oppenheimer, oppenheimer documentary, oppenheimer bhagavad gita, oppenheimer trailer, oppenheimer interview, atomic bomb, WWIII, oppenheimer movie, nuclear fission, nuclear fission explained, manhattan project, world war 3, atomic energy commission, j robert oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan Oppenheimer, biographer history, Oscar 2024

Id: c8VnbN2Trjk

Length: 70min 44sec (4244 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 09 2024