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1.63k reviews for:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Martin J. Sherwin, Kai Bird
4.33 AVERAGE
1.63k reviews for:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Martin J. Sherwin, Kai Bird
4.33 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
slow-paced
An incredibly even-handed, fair portrait of Oppenheimer. Bird and Sherwin did a magnificent job in illuminating the man behind the atomic bomb, avoiding the trap of many biographies wherein its subject's flaws are unacknowledged or erased.
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Amazing from start to finish. I never thought I would gravitate to an autobiographical book but here we are. The perfect combination of history, philosophy, and physics made this a worthwhile read. Oppie is truly a remarkable man and made his mark on history and it was wonderful sharing that journey with him.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This book was a monster but it was such a worthwhile read! I especially loved listening to most of it as an audiobook.
I am definitely not going to try and pull the wool over your eyes by telling you I have any idea about physics, atomic energy or the inner workings of the universe. I approached this book with the idea of getting to know more about Mr Oppenheimer and the Los Alamos group. (Which, I will freely admit, I know little and the names that were familiar are only that way because I watched The Big Bang Theory - so thankyou Sheldon and his cats).
Thankfully this book did supply me with lots of information that I did understand. There is a phenomenal amount about communism (who was in, who was out, who dipped a toe in etc) which I found slightly tedious but necessary. There is also a phenomenal amount about the various trials (which also encompasses communism) that Oppenheimer and his fellow physicists had to endure.
So, as far as I could tell Oppenheimer was ridiculously bright but struggled with originality and hard work. Thankfully he was a great organiser and inspirational to the point that he encouraged the Los Alamos crew shine in their respective fields. However he also appeared to be star struck, petty, jealous, rude, naive and suffered from a total lack of common sense.
Unfortunately when great minds are involved there is always jealousy. So I got to the end of the book wondering several things - if JRO hadn't been such an insufferable fool whether he would been targeted by other physicists after the bomb; if he hadn't dropped his colleagues in the soup whether they would have backed him during his trials; if he'd stopped smoking when he was told he had TB he might have lived.
They're minor points in the life of a remarkable man but I still wondered. Oppenheimer certainly seemed oblivious of cause and effect in his personal life if not his professional.
The truth is that this book left me feeling very depressed. I think that is purely due to the amount of time spent on the effects of the bomb. It certainly appeared that once it was tested the Americans couldn't wait a single second to see what it would to do people -- couldn't drop it on the Germans because they'd already surrendered so the Japanese got it in the neck even though they were a beaten people already. It seems that no one cared at all what devastation it had wrought on the human beings who died. The advancement of science (it appears) is the only thing that matters.
Yes, I was profoundly depressed and if it hadn't been the USA it would have been someone else.
So I'm glad to have finished. It gave me what I wanted but I'd rather not watch the movie.
Thankfully this book did supply me with lots of information that I did understand. There is a phenomenal amount about communism (who was in, who was out, who dipped a toe in etc) which I found slightly tedious but necessary. There is also a phenomenal amount about the various trials (which also encompasses communism) that Oppenheimer and his fellow physicists had to endure.
So, as far as I could tell Oppenheimer was ridiculously bright but struggled with originality and hard work. Thankfully he was a great organiser and inspirational to the point that he encouraged the Los Alamos crew shine in their respective fields. However he also appeared to be star struck, petty, jealous, rude, naive and suffered from a total lack of common sense.
Unfortunately when great minds are involved there is always jealousy. So I got to the end of the book wondering several things - if JRO hadn't been such an insufferable fool whether he would been targeted by other physicists after the bomb; if he hadn't dropped his colleagues in the soup whether they would have backed him during his trials; if he'd stopped smoking when he was told he had TB he might have lived.
They're minor points in the life of a remarkable man but I still wondered. Oppenheimer certainly seemed oblivious of cause and effect in his personal life if not his professional.
The truth is that this book left me feeling very depressed. I think that is purely due to the amount of time spent on the effects of the bomb. It certainly appeared that once it was tested the Americans couldn't wait a single second to see what it would to do people -- couldn't drop it on the Germans because they'd already surrendered so the Japanese got it in the neck even though they were a beaten people already. It seems that no one cared at all what devastation it had wrought on the human beings who died. The advancement of science (it appears) is the only thing that matters.
Yes, I was profoundly depressed and if it hadn't been the USA it would have been someone else.
So I'm glad to have finished. It gave me what I wanted but I'd rather not watch the movie.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I admittedly purchased the book after watching Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer in theaters. I did not know many details about the development of the atom bomb and how it snowballed into the nuclear age we now live in. Hearing about it in the context of the life of one man that facilitated the project was incredibly moving and left me in ponderment about the life and death of someone that still touches our lives.
The complexities of being human are so often forgotten in the case of such public figures. We often forget that the same complexities we struggle with also reside in infamous characters of history. This book exemplified that very well. It humanized a character that can so easily be fictionalized as a villain of history. Even if he was a villain, he was also a person. If he was a hero, he is also still just a person. So were the people he loved and who loved him.
It's also interesting how a flame that burned so bright was extinguished by cancer- something that millions of "ordinary" people experience and lose their lives to. Many more millions live with the grief of losing someone to it. We are not all as unique as we like to believe, despite the differences in accomplishment or prestige. We live, and then we die. What happens in between is certainly of-consequence, but the scale of that consequence does not save us in the end.
The book was a great accompaniment to my fascination with the movie. Many lines were taken straight from the book and transcripts of the 1954 hearing. Although many find historical biographies dreary, I found this one touched on more than what is found on the surface.
The complexities of being human are so often forgotten in the case of such public figures. We often forget that the same complexities we struggle with also reside in infamous characters of history. This book exemplified that very well. It humanized a character that can so easily be fictionalized as a villain of history. Even if he was a villain, he was also a person. If he was a hero, he is also still just a person. So were the people he loved and who loved him.
It's also interesting how a flame that burned so bright was extinguished by cancer- something that millions of "ordinary" people experience and lose their lives to. Many more millions live with the grief of losing someone to it. We are not all as unique as we like to believe, despite the differences in accomplishment or prestige. We live, and then we die. What happens in between is certainly of-consequence, but the scale of that consequence does not save us in the end.
The book was a great accompaniment to my fascination with the movie. Many lines were taken straight from the book and transcripts of the 1954 hearing. Although many find historical biographies dreary, I found this one touched on more than what is found on the surface.
While excellent, I do feel like this could have used some editing, less childhood, less Los alamos, more post bomb life.
Naturally, I picked this up after seeing the amazing movie. I'd planned to write a more detailed review, but I am in awe at the work put into the book and how the authors managed to make things like the prelude to a security hearing such a tense affair. There are too many details to mention, the care put into uncovering every facet of forgotten memories and wiretapped reports. Extremely commendable work. There are so many things about Oppenheimer and things he'd said I had to underline, come back to and ponder over.
10/10, would recommend.
10/10, would recommend.
An endlessly fascinating book about an even more fascinating man.
informative
reflective
slow-paced