The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer - American Prometheus

What a powerful book. Beautifully written. Oppenheimer was a near-mythical figure and suffered a tragedy that was undeserved and spiteful. A must-read for anyone who wants a better understanding of this man and the times in which he lived.

Subtitled "The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer", this 2005 book won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. This fascinating story of the physicist who oversaw the creation of the atomic bomb is meticulously researched by the authors and offers the reader a comprehensive look at the facts and the political complexities that first held this man in high esteem in 1945 and later turned on him and disgraced him just nine years later in 1954.

Born in 1904 to a Jewish family who had been one of the founders of the Ethical Culture movement in the America, young Robert attended a private Ethical Culture school and grew up inspired by the ideal that the supreme aim of our lives is to create a more humane society. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Cambridge in England and the University of Gottingen in Germany, later becoming a professor at the University of Berkeley in California. This was in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Europe was where the innovations in physics were happening, Hitler was rising to power, Russia was in a state of revolution, the Spanish Civil War was beginning and the work of Karl Marx was being discussed by the segment of American society that believed in making the world a better place. Naturally, Robert Oppenheimer found himself in that world, and contributed money to some humanitarian causes. During this time he had several romances and eventually married a woman whose former husband was a Communist who had died fighting in the Spanish Civil War.

Robert was a brilliant physicist and was chosen to run the project at Los Alamos to create what turned out to be the Atomic Bomb. In this section of the book we meet the other scientists involved in the project and get to understand the kind of isolationist lives they and their families lived during the two years that the project was being developed. Later, when the Atomic Bomb became a reality, there was debate over whether or not it should be used. Originally, it was designed to be used in Europe, but Hitler had already surrendered and Japan was on the verge of surrendering. There were no military targets left that the bomb was suited for. All it would do would be to kill thousands of civilians and wreck havoc in Japan. Some thought at the time that all that would be needed was to call a press conference and do a test in an isolated area so that reporters could report on its strength which might have been enough to push Japan's surrender. This, however, was not to be.

Well, we all know what happened. Two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. Japan surrendered. And Robert Oppenheimer was lauded as one of the greatest scientists of all time.

Things changed however. Atomic power seemed to let the genie out of the bottle. The arms race began with the Soviet Union exploding a bomb of its own and the United States wanting to develop even bigger and bigger bombs. All of a sudden, it seemed as if there would be no end - that the bombs would just get bigger and bigger and the world would blow itself into destruction. Robert Oppenheimer opposed this trend and wrote many articles warning the world of this course of action. Some saw him as un-American and wanted to destroy him. Eventually, in 1954, there was a hearing which would eventually strip him of his top secret security clearance. It was an unfair, kangaroo court which made me cringe as I read the transcripts. How awful for him.

After that, Robert was never the same. A few years later, at the age of 62, he died of throat cancer.

I looked up the myth of Prometheus so that I could better understand the title. In Greek Mythology, Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals to use. Zeus then punished him by having him bound to a rock while an eagle ate his liver, only to have it grow back the next day.

This is a fine book. I learned a lot. It is not the kind of book to read in one big gulp though. I read it little by little, a page or two at a time. And during the period I was reading it I was right there in those long-ago years, living and breathing all the influences of the times and understanding the world around me just a little bit better.

My background is of a technical nature but I believe any person with an interest in the overall topic; the development of the Bomb and the terrible McCarthy years will become entranced with this treatment of those issues and many other related issues and questions.

This is a great book that highlights the anomalies of the genius mind. He was brilliant enough to lead the group that invented the atomic bomb and yet he was irrational enough to attempt the murder of two of his profs while in college !!! After the successful destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki our FBI was so afraid the Russians were going to kidnap him and force him to make an atom bomb for them that they considered taking reprehensible steps to prevent that possibility. After becoming a pacifist in his dotage he turned to alcohol. It's a great read !!!

This the first book I read on Oppenheimer. Is quite thorough and with some reference to other writers. As as I am concern it is a great first book on this person, the politics of this era, and the history of WWII.

This book was engaging and well written and full of insights about the life of J Robert Oppenheimer. However, it was clear to this reader that the sympathies of the authors are far to the left. Although one could easily agree that the 1954 Oppenheimer security hearing was something of a kangaroo court, the authors treated the issue of Oppenheimer's security status as if it were a primary right (such as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) rather than a status granted by the government at its discretion. After all, why would the US Government appoint someone to be intimately associated with the development of the H-bomb who publicly and forcefully disdained the effort--whether or not the man was at the time or had been in the past a fellow-traveler? Also, all of the "nasty" characters who happened to be Republican were repeated and clearly identified as Republican but the "nasty" Democrats were simply identified by their names.

This leftist tendency by the authors is a blemish on what otherwise would have been one of the most enjoyable books I have read in years and certainly one of the best I have read on this remarkable period in American history. But, then, I guess it is difficult for authors not to identify and sympathize with their subject, especially since most who came in contact with Oppenheimer during his life seemed also to have succumbed to his spell.

My first College Electronics book was authored by Oppenheimer and it was a gem. I knew this fellow had problems, but this book makes it clear that he had MANY problems - besides good ethics and sound morality. If you love the bomb, you may not like this book. On the other hand, if you have an open mind (rather than a well-washed brain)...

Excellent review of Oppenheimer's rubbing noses early on with all the most famous physicists of the time. All regarded him as absolutely brilliant, arrogant, and sloppy with the mathematics he was using to prove the relationships he had discovered by intuition and back-of-the-envelope. Bird also describes his close friendships and agreements on social policy questions of the day with the well-known communists of the time.

Excellent and well researched biography of Robert Oppenheimer -- his genius, his flaws, and the sad persecution he suffered at the hands of the anti-Communist fear-mongering in this country during the 1940s and 1950s.

I love history and this subject and would recommend it to any one whom also feels the same way. However if you are not a history buff or interested in an amazing amount of detail about Oppenheimer's complete life then shy away.

Very well written and researched entering quite a bit into the person and personality. It was a complicated situation to explain his associations and actions in light of the era and his values related to mankind. I suppose one aspect that was missing was more around his leadership and specifically the process of the development of the bomb. It was quite clear he had charm, charisma and was well respected for his intelligence, but it did not touch specifically on his leadership - they way it was written was almost as that was how it was meant to be. Regardless of that point the book was excellent.

Clearly this was a well researched book. I thought this was a very good book, but not excellent. For me the communism thing took a huge portion of the book (I know it was a major issue and topic), but after that was settled, it seemed like in the next 10 pages he went from that to being dead. It was a good read, but just seemed to jump from that to the end rather abruptly for me.

For someone who remembers the "Duck and Cover" days, this was an eyeopening read. This book contains some keen insights into the times of J Robert Oppenheimer and the paranoia that gripped the US following World War 2. We not only get to know Oppenheimer the scientist, but we get a glance an Oppenheimer the man and his feelings, oft-times confused about the atomic bomb and the US strategy after it was used. We get a harrowing view of the gross abuse of governmental authority in the 50's as well.

Excellent biography of Dr. Oppenheimer, America's first atomic genius. I suppose there will never be an end to the controversy over his being stripped of his security clearance and all, and this book takes his side in the issue, more or less, as I recall.

Clearly this was a well researched book. I thought this was a very good book, but not excellent. For me the communism thing took a huge portion of the book (I know it was a major issue and topic), but after that was settled, it seemed like in the next 10 pages he went from that to being dead. It was a good read, but just seemed to jump from that to the end rather abruptly for me.

For someone who remembers the "Duck and Cover" days, this was an eyeopening read. This book contains some keen insights into the times of J Robert Oppenheimer and the paranoia that gripped the US following World War 2. We not only get to know Oppenheimer the scientist, but we get a glance an Oppenheimer the man and his feelings, oft-times confused about the atomic bomb and the US strategy after it was used. We get a harrowing view of the gross abuse of governmental authority in the 50's as well.

Excellent biography of Dr. Oppenheimer, America's first atomic genius. I suppose there will never be an end to the controversy over his being stripped of his security clearance and all, and this book takes his side in the issue, more or less, as I recall.

on their best day, could not have equaled the story of Oppenheimer. Why do we allow our governmental processes to function in a manner that is so self destroying. Amazing book and amazing revelations.

The parts about Oppenheimer's early life, his rise to prominence, and the Manhattan project were riveting and well told. I give those parts five stars. His association with the communist party and how this was used against him later in life is also an important part of his story, but is more dry, and I found myself wishing that this book covered it in less detail and with less text. Overall, a good read, but if I was going to read it again, I'd be skimming through certain chapters.

Great thought provoking book that makes you revisit what you thought you knew about the birth of the atomic age, and also face the behaviors allowed during the height of Mccarthyism. Because it is a biography being careful to support its facts it can read slow at times but worth it to better understand the history of the time and the humans involved.

This book on Oppenheimer is one every American MUST read!! If our democracy has one major failing it is the combat between morality and our politicians. The Oppenheimer story of a brilliant if naive American confronting our political structure. A great and illuminating book.

A terrifically interesting, detailed and well researched book, as it should be since it took 25 years to write. Clearly, however, the authors fell in love with Oppenheimer and seem to have lost balance and objectivity. A little like a 1930's cowboy movie; Oppie and friends all wear completly white hats while the enemies are all misguided, ruthless or worse.

Nevertheless, it is far and away the most complete and well written biography of Oppenheimer available.