Biography: The Man who created the Atomic Bomb
How the Atomic Bomb was Created.
You might have heard about the Atomic Bomb and the Cold War and how the soviets where threatening the Americans (and vice versa), to send Atomic Bombs. This all started for some considered the greatest physicist, and here is his Story:
Oppenheimer's Early Life
Oppenheimer was born on April 22nd, 1904, to a rich New York family that valued education a lot. His Father was a businessman, and his Mother and artist. Although being a very gifted Student, interested in science and languages, Oppenheimer was always a person of theory rather than experiments, and when he went to his first university, being Harvard, Oppenheimer hated his professor and famously tried to poison him with a poisoned apple (most likely containing cyanide, although the details were lost in history). When he left Harvard in his third year, he continued his studies at his opinion better University of Göttingen in Germany (Img. Beige Building) and became a leading figure in early quantum physics.
Scientific Career
After he finished his education in Göttingen, Oppenheimer became a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and helped develop quantum mechanics in the United States. As mentioned before, he was greatly known for his strong theoretical insights rather than experiments.
Manhattan Project
When the Manhattan Project started, it did not have a place to be "hosted" at, so Oppenheimer proposed to place the scientific site in Los Alamos, New Mexico, as he had first gone there, he said:
My two great loves are Physics and New Mexico. It's a pity they can't be combined.
As the leading figure of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer had to coordinate the scientists to build the atomic bomb, with the first design having a gun-type design where two chunks of Uranium were shot at each other, going over the critical limit. The second design involved a domestic explosive, which would then compress the Uranium or Plutonium.
The day before the test of the Bomb, Oppenheimer was worried that the atmosphere would catch fire and kill the entirety of humanity, but many scientists did not assume this would really happen. On the first successful test they used the implosion style design. After the bomb test, he sang the Bhagavad Gita, which is the "Song of God," which Oppenheimer translated into English, referring to Chapter 11, Verse 32:
“I am Time, the mighty destroyer of the world, engaged here in destroying these people.” ... “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
After the Bomb
After the Bomb, Oppenheimer became a Public figure and advisor on nuclear policy. Additionally, he opposed on the development of the hydrogen bomb and advocated for international control of nuclear weapons. After passing away on February 18th, 1967 he became know as the "Father of Atomic Bombs" and became the symbol of scintific brilliance and ethical responsibility in science. His life raised questions about science, war and morality
Learn more in the Wonderful Veritasium video: https://youtu.be/Xzv84ZdtlE0?si=KMCUc5azYu38qWy5
Bibliography:
- Bird, Kai, and Martin J. Sherwin. American Prometheus. Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
- Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Simon & Schuster, 1986.
- “J. Robert Oppenheimer.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, www.britannica.com
- U.S. Department of Energy. “The Manhattan Project.” www.energy.gov
- Veritasium. “Why Oppenheimer Deserves His Own Movie.” YouTube, 18 July 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzv84ZdtlE0
