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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
This book came highly recommended to me, so I had high expectations for it going in. The beginning was slow, and due to several large technical issues with Audible, I nearly scrapped reading it altogether. I'm glad I didn't, however, because this book was very good.
American Prometheus, which has got to be one of the greatest book titles I've ever heard of, is a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Father of the Atomic Bomb. Admittedly, I had a somewhat dim view of him going in because I felt he was a prima donna. (To be fair, I'm correct.)
Thankfully, this book came to his rescue and salvaged my opinion of him. While he was a prima donna (at least early in life), he was also a veritable genius. Like this book, Oppenheimer was a late bloomer. He matured slowly, but eventually transformed into a capable administrator of geniuses. His life (and this book) peaked with the Manhattan Project; almost everything afterward dealt with his political crucifixion at the hands of the House Un-American Committee. While this tragedy was interesting, and relevant, I noticed that once the Manhattan Project concluded it was just a slow slog toward the inevitable destruction of Oppenheimer's career. In fact, once the witch hunt portion concluded, the authors apparently agreed so much that they skipped ten years altogether and practically jumped straight to Oppenheimer's death in 1967.
It was obvious to me that the authors had a clear objective: they wanted to burnish Oppenheimer's name. I didn't mind this; as it turns out, they did a pretty compelling job. My main gripes with this book include its absolutely terrible audiobook production and meandering story. This audiobook had, without question, the poorest quality of any I've ever heard. The audio jumped, repeated itself, and varied in volume. I'm quite sure that there were snippets of the audio where a different narrator altogether was speaking. Audio issues aside, I felt that the story was not clear-cut and straightforward. Not only did it jump forward an entire decade in a few lines, it did not address Oppenheimer's legacy hardly at all. There were a few measly lines at the end about his children and his wife, Kitty, but otherwise the book ended quite flatly. For such an accomplished man, I felt that he was due something more eloquent than what we were given.
But this book wasn't all bad. In fact, I quite enjoyed it. The subject is absolutely fascinating and I felt the authors did a good job of turning Oppenheimer into a three-dimensional character. Despite their obvious intent to paint him in a good light, they did not skip out on Oppenheimer's character flaws and weaknesses. I felt they did a good job of helping me understand him as a whole. One of my favorite takeaways from the book was the indirect lesson I learned on why listening to political speech I disagree with is an important part of my political diet.
Overall, I rate this book four stars. It was very good despite its obvious flaws. It's definitely worth a read.
American Prometheus, which has got to be one of the greatest book titles I've ever heard of, is a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Father of the Atomic Bomb. Admittedly, I had a somewhat dim view of him going in because I felt he was a prima donna. (To be fair, I'm correct.)
Thankfully, this book came to his rescue and salvaged my opinion of him. While he was a prima donna (at least early in life), he was also a veritable genius. Like this book, Oppenheimer was a late bloomer. He matured slowly, but eventually transformed into a capable administrator of geniuses. His life (and this book) peaked with the Manhattan Project; almost everything afterward dealt with his political crucifixion at the hands of the House Un-American Committee. While this tragedy was interesting, and relevant, I noticed that once the Manhattan Project concluded it was just a slow slog toward the inevitable destruction of Oppenheimer's career. In fact, once the witch hunt portion concluded, the authors apparently agreed so much that they skipped ten years altogether and practically jumped straight to Oppenheimer's death in 1967.
It was obvious to me that the authors had a clear objective: they wanted to burnish Oppenheimer's name. I didn't mind this; as it turns out, they did a pretty compelling job. My main gripes with this book include its absolutely terrible audiobook production and meandering story. This audiobook had, without question, the poorest quality of any I've ever heard. The audio jumped, repeated itself, and varied in volume. I'm quite sure that there were snippets of the audio where a different narrator altogether was speaking. Audio issues aside, I felt that the story was not clear-cut and straightforward. Not only did it jump forward an entire decade in a few lines, it did not address Oppenheimer's legacy hardly at all. There were a few measly lines at the end about his children and his wife, Kitty, but otherwise the book ended quite flatly. For such an accomplished man, I felt that he was due something more eloquent than what we were given.
But this book wasn't all bad. In fact, I quite enjoyed it. The subject is absolutely fascinating and I felt the authors did a good job of turning Oppenheimer into a three-dimensional character. Despite their obvious intent to paint him in a good light, they did not skip out on Oppenheimer's character flaws and weaknesses. I felt they did a good job of helping me understand him as a whole. One of my favorite takeaways from the book was the indirect lesson I learned on why listening to political speech I disagree with is an important part of my political diet.
Overall, I rate this book four stars. It was very good despite its obvious flaws. It's definitely worth a read.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
"The agony and humiliation that Oppenheimer endured in 1954 were not unique during the McCarthy era. But as a defendant, he was incomparable. He was America's Prometheus, "the father of the atomic bomb,"- who had led the effort to wrest from nature the awesome fire of the sun for his country in time of war. Afterwards, he had spoken wisely about its dangers and hopefully about its potential benefits and then, near despair, critically about the proposals for nuclear warfare being adopted by the military and promoted by academic strategists: "What are we to make of a civilization which has always regarded ethics as an essential part of human life [but] which has not been able to talk about the prospect of killing almost everybody except in prudential and game-theoretical terms?" In the late 1940s, as U.S.-Soviet relations deteriorated, Oppenheimer's persistent desire to raise such tough questions about nuclear weapons greatly troubled Washington's national security establishment." Preface
"It had to be comforting to know that he was not alone, that this was part of the human condition. He no longer need despise himself; he could love. And perhaps it was also reassuring, particularly for / an intellectual, that Robert could tell himself that it was a book- and not a psychiatrist- which had helped to wrench him from the black hole of his depression" Page 51/52
"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." Page 308/12
"Oppenheimer continually emphasized that science needed the humanities to better understand its own character and consequences" Page 377
"'...we should prefer defeat in war to victory obtained at the expense of the enormous human disaster that would be caused by its determined use' (emphasis added)" Page 418
"Asked whether humanity now had the capability to destroy itself, Oppenheimer replied, "Not quite. Not quite. You can certainly destroy enough of humanity so that only the greatest act of faith can persuade you that what's left will be human." " Page 557
"The scientist who writes like a poet and speaks like a prophet" Page 574
"It had to be comforting to know that he was not alone, that this was part of the human condition. He no longer need despise himself; he could love. And perhaps it was also reassuring, particularly for / an intellectual, that Robert could tell himself that it was a book- and not a psychiatrist- which had helped to wrench him from the black hole of his depression" Page 51/52
"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." Page 308/12
"Oppenheimer continually emphasized that science needed the humanities to better understand its own character and consequences" Page 377
"'...we should prefer defeat in war to victory obtained at the expense of the enormous human disaster that would be caused by its determined use' (emphasis added)" Page 418
"Asked whether humanity now had the capability to destroy itself, Oppenheimer replied, "Not quite. Not quite. You can certainly destroy enough of humanity so that only the greatest act of faith can persuade you that what's left will be human." " Page 557
"The scientist who writes like a poet and speaks like a prophet" Page 574
informative
reflective
slow-paced
slow-paced
Oppenheimer and his life is an incredibly interesting topic. Unfortunately this biography occasionally appears to do its best to make said topic uninteresting and/or confusing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Suicide, War
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
ive genuinely formed a parasocial relationship with oppie i love him so much
wysiłek włożony w napisanie tej książki sprawia, że jest naprawdę niesamowitą lekturą. czuję ogromny szacunek do autorów za ilość pracy wykonanej przy napisaniu tej biografii (25 lat roboty!!?). czułam się w pewien sposób zaszczycona, że jest mi dane przeczytać owoc takich wysiłków.
z szczególną przyjemnością czytałam rozdziały poświęcone młodości Oppenheimera, który był wtedy trochę krejzolem (z szacunkiem). ta część książki była pełna opisów jego życia osobistego i jego jako osoby, co dla mnie było najciekawsze do czytania. szkoda, że w późniejszych etapach tekstu było tego typu treści dużo mniej. ale mimo to ciężko było mi się oderwać od tej książki i ją gorąco polecam!!
z szczególną przyjemnością czytałam rozdziały poświęcone młodości Oppenheimera, który był wtedy trochę krejzolem (z szacunkiem).
Spoiler
dosłownie spróbował udusić kolegę za to, że flexował przed nim posiadanie dziewczyny (bratnia dusza)
Een en al genieten. Het boek weet Opje's gedachten, woorden en daden perfect, met de nodige uitleg en nuance, te weergeven. Elke keer dacht ik: nog één hoofdstukje, maar voor ik het wist was ik weer drie kwartier verder. Deze man heeft zoveel meegemaakt dat ik hem zo weer opnieuw zou lezen.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced