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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
informative
reflective
sad
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Tragic, insightful. I can't find myself longing to emulate these "great men" as I read more and more of their biographies. Oppenheimer was an incredible individual, but suffering through his tragic life was heartbreaking. Eye-opening account of the hysteria of the McCarthy years and the incredible, liberty-destroying overreach of the FBI (at least in those years).
An incredible book, wow. So well researched and well written. The first two thirds are fantastic, and the last third or so where he’s “put on trial” for his security clearance is so poignant today, with how the new administration is treating civil servants.
“The drab hearing room at 16th and Constitution had rapidly become a stage upon which an extraordinary cast of actors addressed Shakespearean themes. How should a man be judged, by his associations or by his actions? Can criticism of a government's policies be equated with disloyalty to country? Can democracy survive in an atmosphere that demands the sacrifice of personal relationships to state policy? Is national security well served by applying narrow tests of political conformity to government employees?”
“The drab hearing room at 16th and Constitution had rapidly become a stage upon which an extraordinary cast of actors addressed Shakespearean themes. How should a man be judged, by his associations or by his actions? Can criticism of a government's policies be equated with disloyalty to country? Can democracy survive in an atmosphere that demands the sacrifice of personal relationships to state policy? Is national security well served by applying narrow tests of political conformity to government employees?”
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
slow-paced
originally started this because of the movie which i rewatched an unhealthy amount of times while studying circuits or whatever (the vibe was exactly right). everytime i spotted a thing the movie took word for word or read parts from the movie that i thought were surely exaggerated (einstein suddenly appearing out of nowhere from a parking lot, gödel being paranoid the nazis would poison him somehow while he was in princeton, pash talking about interrogating scientists 'in the russian manner', so on so on) was Very satisfying!
as for J. Robert Oppenheimer, man, what a brilliant guy, what a life he had. and what an absolute fucking shame mccarthyism and strauss and his group of Haters did to him with that security hearing.
reading this actually felt like experiencing someone's life from preschool or whatever the equivalent of that is in america to if its different to college to triumph to tragedy Haha to death. absolute cinema
and i wanna go horseback riding now
as for J. Robert Oppenheimer, man, what a brilliant guy, what a life he had. and what an absolute fucking shame mccarthyism and strauss and his group of Haters did to him with that security hearing.
reading this actually felt like experiencing someone's life from preschool or whatever the equivalent of that is in america to if its different to college to triumph to tragedy Haha to death. absolute cinema
and i wanna go horseback riding now
informative
slow-paced
American Prometheus took me at least 4 months to finish. It's incredibly detailed and truly answers any questions one could have about Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. I read this book interspersed with multiple viewings of the 2023 feature film Oppenheimer. Both are great works, and I feel my thirst to learn more about the Manhattan Project and the surrounding characters could never be quenched after reading and watching these incredible works. It's impressive that this book was a 25 year project to write - I often find the most researched books are my favorite.