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1.65k reviews for:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Martin J. Sherwin, Kai Bird
4.33 AVERAGE
1.65k reviews for:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Martin J. Sherwin, Kai Bird
4.33 AVERAGE
A well written biography of the life of Robert which fills in the gaps that wasn’t captured in respective movie. While the ending of his life may have been more tragic than what the movie offered, I was in awe of seeing how rooted Robert was in his values while fighting in a trial that was unfair from the onset.
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
I sometimes got lost in all the names, especially in the beginning section of the book, but I don’t think that was the fault of the authors.
Anyway, fuck Strauss and fuck McCarthy
Anyway, fuck Strauss and fuck McCarthy
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
i don’t read nonfiction generally (except occasionally a sad memoir that could be fiction if you didn’t know better). and uh yeah what a book to dip my toe into the nonfiction world. this is genius. the level of research that went into it is frankly bamboozling. it’s one of the best character portraits of anyone in anything ever (there i’ll say it). the personal details in here are just as fascinating as the big picture political stuff, and the political stuff is FASCINATING. i would have read a book just about him as a young person, i would have read a book about him just at los alamos, i would have read a book about him in his beach house post the security hearing, etc etc. i had already seen oppenheimer (2023) before this so i knew the broad strokes of his life story but i really really liked getting all of the details and nuances that didn’t make it in. checked the audiobook out on libby which i recommend 100% if you are up for 26 hours of oppenheimer, which clearly i was. lots and lots and lots to think about. oppenheimer himself said he didn’t want his life to be considered a tragedy bc that wasn’t ambiguous enough (what a guy) and this book was like why not make it an ambiguous tragedy then? sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
An incredibly detailed, well researched biography of Robert Oppenheimer who many credit as the father of the first atomic bomb.
“Oppi” was a world leading theoretical physicist known for his awkward style and erratic teachings. He never settled on one thing long enough so never won the Nobel Peace prize but many of the physicists he worked with and teached did. During the Second World War he was asked to head up the lab responsible for experimental nuclear weapons and devised 2 types - Little Boy and Fat Man. The first was explosion at his lab in New Mexico he named Trinity
After the bombs were used in the Pacific War in Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) Oppi debated politically against the use of nuclear weapons against the Soviet Union. He was heavily against the development of the Hydrogen Bomb which (although the simized the physics himself) knew it was too dangerous to make.
Oppi had lots of Communist Party links and it was at a time thought to be a Soviet Union spy. His security clearance was removed and he was no longer able to work on nuclear weapons. Therefore his voice could not be heard on the damaging effects of what he had had in creating.
During his final years Oppi was advocate of science working together with politics and humanities for good.
I found this book way too detailed for me but I enjoyed the story and have learnt a lot I had absolutely no idea about. I wanted a challenging book and this was it. The book is research from interviews and writings at the time so reads a lot like a Wikipedia page. I’d be interested in developing my learning with some dramatized creations with a bit more emotional connection.
“Oppi” was a world leading theoretical physicist known for his awkward style and erratic teachings. He never settled on one thing long enough so never won the Nobel Peace prize but many of the physicists he worked with and teached did. During the Second World War he was asked to head up the lab responsible for experimental nuclear weapons and devised 2 types - Little Boy and Fat Man. The first was explosion at his lab in New Mexico he named Trinity
After the bombs were used in the Pacific War in Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) Oppi debated politically against the use of nuclear weapons against the Soviet Union. He was heavily against the development of the Hydrogen Bomb which (although the simized the physics himself) knew it was too dangerous to make.
Oppi had lots of Communist Party links and it was at a time thought to be a Soviet Union spy. His security clearance was removed and he was no longer able to work on nuclear weapons. Therefore his voice could not be heard on the damaging effects of what he had had in creating.
During his final years Oppi was advocate of science working together with politics and humanities for good.
I found this book way too detailed for me but I enjoyed the story and have learnt a lot I had absolutely no idea about. I wanted a challenging book and this was it. The book is research from interviews and writings at the time so reads a lot like a Wikipedia page. I’d be interested in developing my learning with some dramatized creations with a bit more emotional connection.