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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
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I obviously picked this book up after watching the film but I was so intimated I never thought I’d actually finish it. Sometimes it was a struggle and I had to take long breaks whilst reading but I’ve finally done it!
I don’t really have the words to describe how I feel about this book. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book as researched, in depth and thorough as this one.
Like Oppenheimer himself my thoughts are complicated. This book was dense, slow, it jumped back and forth so much it sometimes confused me but it was also interesting, informative, in depth and gripping. I both feel like I know so much about him but also nothing because I think few people actually KNEW him.
Even though I can’t say I loved this book, I think it would be unfair to give this book anything less than a 5 stars. I can see why people may not like it and I’m not sure I will ever re - read it but I definitely think it will stick with me.
This isn’t something I would normally read and if I hadn’t come out of the film needing to know more about the man and his decisions, I wouldn’t have picked it up.
Incredibly well-written biography. I’m still not sure how I feel about the man, but I love the book.
This has many familiar stories but also some new insights. An interesting looking at technical science, scientific leadership, and national policy. something that's on my mind at the moment.. :)
I saw the movie Oppenheimer prior to reading this book, on which the movie is primarily based. I thought that the presentation was unbalanced; being a sceintist, I would have liked to have more detail about what went on at Los Alamos. However, perhaps details are not available or the author didn't find the deeper details of the science as interesting as the post Hiroshima/Nagasaki part - which is the entire second half of the book. I was not as interested in the deep details of this part, in which case I appreciated the movie summary of what happened (which was pretty close to some of the salient details). Oppenheimer was a gifted, but also complicated person and it hard to forgive the government which treated him the way they did. The "red scare" did have a big influence on politics in those days, as well as a neglect of the cautions about using nuclear weapons.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Yall it took me two years to read but it was so good!
slow-paced
An incredible and thorough work about the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Like Oppenheimer himself later stated in his response for his AEC charges, Oppenheimer (and his charges) "cannot be fairly understood except in the context of my life and my work," and Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin truly do a fantastic job, aided by meticulous research, interviews, and notes, to fully show the life of Oppenheimer and the circumstances that led to his atomic success, and his downfall in the public eye. (also, should be noted that Christopher Nolan really does do a fantastic job in adapting this book - there are many note-for-note adaptations that come from this text, which is no small feat for how extensive this book is!)
Perhaps more interesting to me than serving as a very thorough examination of a complicated man's life, American Prometheus is a critical point of discussion to understanding the current role of science and scientists in public policy, as well as understanding the long-lasting effects of the Cold War and McCarthyism on current American culture. Oppenheimer really encompasses the radical nature of nuclear physics and the potential hope for the atomic age, but also the downfall of nuclear science into a primarily military use (and therefore helping to shape American military strategy and reliance on game theory for tactical armament).
Perhaps more interesting to me than serving as a very thorough examination of a complicated man's life, American Prometheus is a critical point of discussion to understanding the current role of science and scientists in public policy, as well as understanding the long-lasting effects of the Cold War and McCarthyism on current American culture. Oppenheimer really encompasses the radical nature of nuclear physics and the potential hope for the atomic age, but also the downfall of nuclear science into a primarily military use (and therefore helping to shape American military strategy and reliance on game theory for tactical armament).
challenging
informative
fast-paced
i have read an impressively large amount of poorly written history in the past 5 years, but what was immediately striking was how remarkably engaging of a biography this was. i made fun of christopher nolan for treating the recruitment of scientists to the manhattan project like the recruitment of the avengers in a marvel movie, but the way that the book itself frames these events borderline demands cinematic adaptation. my center of research, while i adore it, admittedly does not have as large or as impressive of a historiography as the father of the atomic bomb. ultimately, the craziest thing is not that j robert oppenheimer was a weird man (something we all know), but rather the fact that there is so much historical documentation of how weird of a man he was.
anyway rip to j robert oppenheimer you were one of the most well documented and weirdest men that i've ever read about
anyway rip to j robert oppenheimer you were one of the most well documented and weirdest men that i've ever read about
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Is it really possible for me to rate this book?
There is only one other book that has taken me longer to read than this one, but I believe this one to be the most difficult one I have yet to read.
It is, for one, expertly written, it took Sherwin 25 years, with Kai Bird in the last 5 years, to write this absolute insane piece of history.
I picked this book up as for my History HL, I chose to write my History IA comparing the film interpretation to the book, and oh lord did I not know what I was setting myself up for.
This has taken me over 6 months, with a very slow start where I read only a few pages a month, to now having read I think over 400 in the last 2 month. This has been such a journey.
Oppenheimer was an incredibly complicated figure, and in many ways, I am very critical of him. I cannot ever forgive him for being the "father of the atomic bomb". For bringing that monstrosity into this world. But the man wasn't a monster. He wasn't the sad and guilt ridden man some made him out to be, but he also didn't walk around, proudly and happily making stronger bombs to detonate. I am grateful to have experienced his life in the way I have. What happened to him at the near end of his life is a horribly horrific trial, if not the most horrific TRIAL (yes, trial) I've ever read. There is Oppie before the bomb, during the bomb, after the bomb, and then after his trial. Those 4 men all differ very greatly.
He said his life was not a tragedy, and I agree, I did not read it that way. He held the responsibility for all that happened to him in the end, just as he said. The only tragedy is the people around him who suffered because of the man. Those people, that he did not directly, but inadvertently, take the life of.
The man truly had blood on his hands, and that blood stained him till the bitter end.
(This book is not a 5 star because it is my favourite, it is a 5 star because I truly do not see how it could, quality and narrative wise, be anything less than that 5. I do not read biographies often, if at all, and I think I might change that from here on.)
There is only one other book that has taken me longer to read than this one, but I believe this one to be the most difficult one I have yet to read.
It is, for one, expertly written, it took Sherwin 25 years, with Kai Bird in the last 5 years, to write this absolute insane piece of history.
I picked this book up as for my History HL, I chose to write my History IA comparing the film interpretation to the book, and oh lord did I not know what I was setting myself up for.
This has taken me over 6 months, with a very slow start where I read only a few pages a month, to now having read I think over 400 in the last 2 month. This has been such a journey.
Oppenheimer was an incredibly complicated figure, and in many ways, I am very critical of him. I cannot ever forgive him for being the "father of the atomic bomb". For bringing that monstrosity into this world. But the man wasn't a monster. He wasn't the sad and guilt ridden man some made him out to be, but he also didn't walk around, proudly and happily making stronger bombs to detonate. I am grateful to have experienced his life in the way I have. What happened to him at the near end of his life is a horribly horrific trial, if not the most horrific TRIAL (yes, trial) I've ever read. There is Oppie before the bomb, during the bomb, after the bomb, and then after his trial. Those 4 men all differ very greatly.
He said his life was not a tragedy, and I agree, I did not read it that way. He held the responsibility for all that happened to him in the end, just as he said. The only tragedy is the people around him who suffered because of the man. Those people, that he did not directly, but inadvertently, take the life of.
The man truly had blood on his hands, and that blood stained him till the bitter end.
(This book is not a 5 star because it is my favourite, it is a 5 star because I truly do not see how it could, quality and narrative wise, be anything less than that 5. I do not read biographies often, if at all, and I think I might change that from here on.)