Book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

The Book review is in  our parts  

1) General book review 

2) Part II, Areas not covered in the film 

3) Part III: 

Interaction of Oppenheimer with top Physicists

4) Part IV:

Interaction of Oppenheimer with top Physicists

Part  I: Authors and the book: American Prometheus’ by Kai Bird (Author), Martin J. Sherwin (Author): It took a rare collaboration between two indefatigable writers — and 25 years — to write the prizewinning Oppenheimer biography that inspired the film. 

This Pulitzer Prize-winning book reflects on Oppenheimer’s life and his contribution to the development of the atomic bomb. It brings to light the dramatic interplay of science, politics, and personality that shaped the mid-20th century.

One of the best scientific biographies to appear in recent years, It is an intense book with many details covering the complex personality of the genius scientist versatile in arts and science and many subjects,   Oppenheimer, aka father of the Atomic bomb.

One of the authors is the late Martin Sherwin who was an eminent professor and scholar of American and nuclear history. His insights shape the depth and gravity of American Prometheus. Kai  Bird is the surviving author whose columns, and podcasts are brilliant and provide lots of insights. 

The authors explore the duality of science – its capacity to create and destroy. Oppenheimer’s work gave birth to the atomic age, but it also created the potential for massive destruction.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning book reflects on Oppenheimer’s life and his contribution to the development of the atomic bomb. It brings to light the dramatic interplay of science, politics, and personality that shaped the mid-20th century. The book is not just a log of scientific activities but also has gripping also has  Shakespearean drama, the tragic suicide of the lover,  complex web of spying.  the town planning of a new city, politics of scapegoats. The book is the intersection of science,  politics,  human psychology and morality. It covers geopolitics, power of secrets  

In the book American Prometheus, the authors write that Oppenheimer was "a magnet for brilliant people." He was able to attract and inspire some of the best minds in physics, and he created a culture of creativity and innovation at Los Alamos.

The scientists that Oppenheimer met and worked with had a profound impact on his life and career. They helped him to develop his own scientific thinking, and they inspired him to use his knowledge to make a difference in the world. The book is meticulously researched and compelling biography that offers a deep exploration of the life of a brilliant scientist who played a pivotal role in shaping the modern world.. The book also makes a commentary of political witch-hunting and the impact of the injustice. This book stands as a testament to the power and potential pitfalls of science in the service of humanity and the enduring impact of one man’s choices on the course of history. He never fully recovered from the fallout of the security clearance hearing.

The last years of Oppenheimer’s life just seem to peter out in this biography. He spent much of his time on a Caribbean island and did little or no scientific work. Perhaps this is the tragedy Bird and Sherwin have in mind. Perhaps they are suggesting that McCarthyism killed Oppenheimer’s creativity, though they do not quite say so.

The biography portrays Oppenheimer as a complex figure, torn between his dedication to science, his political beliefs, and the intense pressures of his time. Also Oppenhiemer was very versatile pursuing a wide set of his interests and hobbies in full depth

Here is a brief summary form the biography about Oppenheimer's life before his leading the Manhattan Project, as this part of his life is not covered in the film. (see the review )

Part II : Summary of years before the Manhattan Project

Childhood and adolescence: Chapters 1 and 2

The biography opens with an exploration of Oppenheimer’s early life, depicting him as a brilliant and precocious child growing up in a wealthy New York family. It highlights his intellectual curiosity, his love for literature, and his early exposure to progressive political ideas. Oppenheimer’s education at elite institutions like Harvard and the University of Cambridge paved the way for his impressive academic career.

It is important to understand Oppenhiemer's previleged childhood to understand his progressive and liberal views. Hoping to give him the best education possible, Oppenheimer's parents sent him to the famous New York School for Ethical Culture, which he attended from second grade through his graduation from high school. he school was run by another European émigré who also was founder of the NAACP. By the time he graduated, Oppenheimer could speak five languages and had gained a lifelong passion for art, literature, and philosophy.

He went to Harvard, eCavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, one of the best nuclear physics labs in the world.

In this period, Oppenheimer suffered from serious depression. He went to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with dementia praecox–what we now call schizophrenia. The disease was believed to be incurable and required lifelong institutionalization. Refusing to believe the psychiatrist's sentence

His parents were concerned about lack of  girlfriend in  his life.  His mother Ella  insisted  him to see a  French psychoanalyst. After several sessions this doctor announced that Robert was suffering a “crise morale” associated with sexual frustration. He prescribed “une femme” and “a course of aphrodisiacs.” Years later, Fergusson observed of that time: “He [Robert] was completely at a loss about his sex life.”

A Physicist and Oppenheimer the radical  

He came back to United States . It was difficult enough to find an American physics department that taught about the discoveries on this forefront of physics, much less one that allowed for the type of breakthrough research that was being done in Europe. Oppenheimer arrived in the United States determined to change all that. He would bring the secrets of European physics home to the United States and use them to mold the minds of a new generation of American physicist.

He joined Berkley and consistently published well-respected papers recording his gifted research in quantum physics.At the beginning of his time at Berkeley, Oppenheimer embodied the ivory tower intellectual, and, caring nothing for politics or current events, he isolated himself from both. Immersed in physics and spending all his spare time pondering Hindu mythology or the classics of the ancient world, Oppenheimer had no time to spare for worldly matters.

Here he met Jean Tatlock who was a graduate student at Berkeley, working toward a degree in psychology. She was also a member of the Communist Party. This was not unusual in the 1930s. Communism was a standard path for young liberals to take. she introduced Oppenheimer to the world of radical politics that thrived just below the surface at Berkeley. He joined a number of political organizations, some of which were secretly controlled by the Communist Party–although there is no evidence he was ever a member of the Party itself.

But Oppenheimer's plunge into radical politics soon proved to be nothing more than a passing fancy. He broke up with Tatlock and met someone new. Kitty Harrison, and this time the relationship would stick. At the time Kitty was married to her third husband, a British doctor. Soon after meeting Oppenheimer, she got a divorce, and the two were married She too had a strong attachment to communist party of uSA.

Manhattan Project and Los Almas

Closing Chapters

In the closing chapters, Bird and Sherwin reflect on Oppenheimer’s legacy and the broader implications of his life and work. The biography portrays Oppenheimer as a complex figure, torn between his dedication to science, his political beliefs, and the intense pressures of his time. It also serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of political paranoia and the erosion of civil liberties in the pursuit of national security.

Part II: Oppenheimer quoting from Bhgavad Gita and Sanskrit

Oppenheimer's famous phrase, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds," is a reference to a verse from the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita. The verse in question is from Chapter 11, Verse 32, in which the deity Krishna reveals his divine form to the warrior Arjuna. Witnessing the terrifying sight of Krishna's cosmic form, Arjuna is overwhelmed with awe and fear. Oppenheimer, who was well-versed in various philosophical and religious texts, including the Bhagavad Gita, reportedly recited this verse upon witnessing the first successful detonation of an atomic bomb during the Trinity test. The quote has since become closely associated with Oppenheimer and his reflections on the destructive power of the atomic bomb. In the context of Oppenheimer's statement, he was expressing a profound sense of the magnitude and implications of the scientific achievement he had helped bring to fruition. The immense destruction unleashed by the atomic bomb made Oppenheimer acutely aware of the devastating potential of nuclear weapons. His use of the quote from the Bhagavad Gita reflects his introspection on the consequences of his work and the moral responsibility that came with it.

Here are the references to "Sanskrit" and "Bhagavad Gita" in the book "American Prometheus" along with the relevant paragraphs and page numbers: Page 132: "...Oppie took to passing out copies of the Gita as gifts to his friends. Robert was so enraptured by his Sanskrit studies that when, in the autumn of 1933, his father bought him yet another Chrysler, he named it the Garuda, after the giant bird god in Hindu mythology that ferries Vishnu across the sky. The Gita—which constitutes the heart of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata—is told in the form of a dialogue between the incarnate god Krishna and a human hero, Prince Arjuna..." Page 133: "...The Gita seemed to provide precisely the right philosophy for an intellectual keenly attuned to the affairs of men and the pleasures of the senses. One of his favorite Sanskrit texts was the Meghaduta, a poem that discusses the geography of love from the laps of naked women to the soaring mountains of the Himalayas..." Page 131: "...Robert felt himself drawn to both Ryder and the ancient language that was his friend’s vocation. Soon Ryder was giving Oppenheimer private tutorials in Sanskrit each Thursday evening. “I am learning Sanskrit,” Robert wrote Frank, “enjoying it very much, and enjoying again the sweet luxury of being taught...” With his facility for languages, it wasn’t long before Robert was reading the Bhagavad-Gita..." Page 371: "...That evening, in an effort to relieve the tension, Oppie recited for Bush a stanza from the Gita that he had translated from the Sanskrit..." Page 376: "...Oppenheimer later said that at the sight of the unearthly mushroom cloud soaring into the heavens above Point Zero, he recalled lines from the Gita. In a 1965 NBC television documentary, he remembered: “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 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.

Part III: Interaction of Oppenheimer with top Physicists

Albert Einstein on Oppenheimer

I feel the following statement is the synopsis of Oppenhiemer's tragedy!. "The trouble with Oppenheimer is that he loves a woman who doesn't love him — the United States government. ... The problem was simple: All Oppenheimer needed to do was go to Washington, tell the officials that they were fools, and then go home." as mentioned in 'American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer' by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.

Here are the references to some of the top physicists that Oppenheimer interacted with in his life, as mentioned in the book: Albert Einstein: Page 88: "When Max Born sent Albert Einstein a copy of Heisenberg’s 1925 paper on matrix mechanics, an intensely mathematical description of the quantum phenomenon, he explained somewhat defensively to the great man that it “looks very mystical, but is certainly correct and profound.” But after reading the paper that autumn, Einstein wrote Paul Ehrenfest that “Heisenberg has laid a big quantum egg. In Göttingen they believe in it. (I don’t.)”" Page 728: References to Einstein's critique on quantum mechanics. Niels Bohr: Page 330: "Bohr later said. “They didn’t need my help in making the atom bomb.” That evening, Bohr told Oppenheimer that Heisenberg was working quite vigorously on a uranium reactor that could produce a runaway chain reaction, and thereby create an immense explosion. Oppenheimer convened a meeting the next day, the last day of 1943, to discuss Bohr’s concerns." Page 84: Mention of Niels Bohr's description of the hydrogen atom. Page 109: Reference to Oppenheimer's interaction with Niels Bohr. Werner Heisenberg: Page 90: "Oppenheimer invariably sought out those young men with growing reputations. Others could not help but feel they had been snubbed. “He [Oppenheimer] and Born became very close friends,” Edward Condon said rather peevishly years later, “and saw a great deal of each other, so much so, that Born did not see much of the other theoretical physics students who had come there to work with him.” Heisenberg passed through Göttingen that year and Robert made a point of meeting the brightest of Germany’s young physicists." Page 102: Mention of Oppenheimer's interaction with Heisenberg in Leipzig. Page 272: Discussion about Heisenberg's appointment as director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute and his potential involvement in building an atomic bomb for Germany. Page 373: Bohr recounts his encounter with Heisenberg in September 1941. Enrico Fermi: Page 373: Fermi's concerns about the potential effects of a storm during a test. Wolfgang Pauli: Page 88: Mention of Wolfgang Pauli's work in quantum mechanics. Page 102: Reference to Oppenheimer's interaction with Wolfgang Pauli. Erwin Schrödinger: Page 84: Mention of Schrödinger's theory of wave mechanics. These are just a few of the physicists mentioned in the book. Oppenheimer had interactions with many prominent physicists of his time, and the book provides detailed accounts of these interactions.

,Lewis Strauss became one of America's most important atomic-energy advisers during the Cold War. He also became known for his role in the dramatic downfall of the A-bomb's chief developer, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Strauss took an unlikely path to his perch as atomic policy czar.

From the book "American Prometheus," here are the references to individuals who were antagonistic or had conflicts with J. Robert Oppenheimer:

Lewis Strauss:

Page 462: The episode marks the apparent end for the time being of Mr. Strauss’ hope to help govern the Institute at short range. There was permanent tension and mutual distrust between Strauss and Oppenheimer.

Page 461: Oppenheimer soon realized that Strauss had ambitions to be something of a "co-administrator." Strauss had intentions of buying a former faculty member’s home on the grounds of the Institute, which Oppenheimer forestalled.

Page 437: Strauss was pathologically ambitious, tenacious, and extraordinarily prickly. He was known to remember every slight and meticulously recorded them. He was described as a man with a "desperate need to condescend."

Page 568: Strauss requested a copy of the FBI’s latest summary report on Oppenheimer and began to study it with the zeal of a prosecutor. He stayed in contact with William L. Borden, who shared Strauss’ deep suspicions of Oppenheimer.

Page 437: By 1945, Strauss had used his Wall Street and Washington connections to carve out a powerful position for himself in America’s post–World War II establishment. Over the next two decades, he would exercise a baleful influence over Oppenheimer’s life.

Page 565: Strauss disagreed with some of Oppenheimer's ideas and was determined to disabuse the president of the notion of their value. He secretly collaborated on an essay critical of Oppenheimer’s call for candor on atomic secrets.

William L. Borden:

Page 568: Borden, the young staff director for the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, shared Strauss’ deep suspicions of Oppenheimer. Borden was obsessed with Oppenheimer and worked on a report tracing Oppenheimer’s influence in Washington.

 Chapter 1 about childhood and early years is very important to better the rest of his life.   When young Robert was five years old, the Oppenheimer family went on a trip to Germany to visit their remaining relatives there. Oppenheimer's grandfather gave him a collection of minerals, and Oppenheimer was immediately entranced–he became a devoted rock collector. 

Hoping to give him the best education possible, Oppenheimer's parents sent him to the famous New York School for Ethical Culture, which he attended from second grade through his graduation from high school. The school was run by another European émigré, Felix Adler, who believed in teaching his students science, Ancient Greek and Roman classics, literature, and "moral law."  He was also the founder of the NAACP. By the time he graduated, Oppenheimer could speak five languages and had gained a lifelong passion for art, literature, and philosophy.

Oppenheimer quickly realized that experimental physics was not his calling. He was frustrated by his work, and his inabilities in the lab soon drove him to the verge of a mental breakdown.

Oppenheimer went to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with dementia praecox–what we now call schizophrenia. The disease was believed to be incurable and required lifelong institutionalization. Refusing to believe the psychiatrist's sentence, Oppenheimer fled Europe

"Robert was getting very little sleep and, according to Fergusson, he “began to get very queer.” One morning he locked his mother in her hotel room and left. Ella was furious. After this incident, Ella insisted that he see a French psychoanalyst. After several sessions, this doctor announced that Robert was suffering a “crise morale” associated with sexual frustration. He prescribed “une femme” and “a course of aphrodisiacs.” Years later, Fergusson observed of that time: “He [Robert] was completely at a loss about his sex life.”

It was Oppenheimer’s good fortune to arrive shortly before an extraordinary revolution in theoretical physics drew to its close: Max Planck’s discovery of quanta (photons); Einstein’s magnificent achievement—the special theory of relativity; Niels Bohr’s description of the hydrogen atom; Werner Heisenberg’s formulation of matrix mechanics; and Erwin Schrödinger’s theory of wave mechanics. This truly innovative period began to wind down with Born’s 1926 paper on probability and causality. It was completed in 1927 with Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and Bohr’s formulation of the theory of complementarity. By the time Robert left Göttingen, the foundations for a post-Newtonian physics had been laid.

 another of his favorite parts of the Gita, the Satakatrayam, contains these fatalistic lines:

. . .

Gain mastery of the sciences

And varied arts . . .

You may do all this, but karma’s force

Alone prevents what is not destined

And compels what is to be.