J. Robert Oppenheimer

From Conservapedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by WJThomas (talk | contribs) at 04:35, May 19, 2007. It may differ significantly from current revision.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
J. Robert Oppenheimer

Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967) was an American theoretical physicist who managed the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico, with other greater scientists such as Bethe, Bohr, Fermi, Feynman, Libby, and Wigner, who won Nobel prizes. In his obituary, New York Times said: "Acclaimed as the 'father of the atomic bomb,' he was officially credited by the War Department 'with achieving the implementation of atomic energy for military purposes.'"[1] Oppenheimer managed the laboratory at Los Alamos from 1943 to 1945. As described by the United States Department of Energy's historical account:[2]

While working on the Manhattan Project, J. Robert Oppenheimer shouldered burdens both large and small, managing the numerous mundane matters such as living quarters, mail censorship, salaries, promotions, and other "quality of life" issues that were inevitable in an intellectual pressure-cooker with few social amenities. Oppenheimer relied on a group of advisers to help him keep the "big picture" in focus, while a committee made up of Los Alamos group leaders provided day-to-day communications between divisions.

Soviet Collusion

Three of five scientists under Oppenheimer's direct supervision leaked secret information about the atomic bomb to the communist Soviet Union. These include Klaus Fuchs, Theodore Hall, and David Greenglass.[3] Secret Soviet Union documents reviewed in the 1990s reveal two more spies, code-named Quantum[Citation Needed] and Perseus or Pers, who were also at Los Alamos during Oppenheimer's tenure. These spies have never been identified, and one could have been Oppenheimer himself. [4][5][6] Others such as Bruno Pontecorvo and Niels Bohr[Citation Needed] also cooperated with the KGB.

Scientific Contributions

Oppenheimer's best-known scientific contribution was to suggest a limit to the size of neutron stars. Larger neutron stars would collapse into black holes according to the theory of relativity. Oppenheimer also managed the Manhattan Project.

Oppenheimer lived in Berkeley, California, and socialized with close communist friends. When Oppenheimer opposed development of the hydrogen bomb in the 1950s, an investigation into whether he lied about his communist connections resulted in the revocation of his security clearance.[7] This infuriated liberals who then never forgave conservative scientists like Edward Teller for having testified against Oppenheimer, even though Teller was not cited in the decision to revoke Oppenheimer's security clearance[Citation Needed].

Oppenheimer helped Congress draft the first laws covering the use and control of atomic energy.

In 1963, his clearance was reinstated by President Johnson. In the same year, the Atomic Energy Commission awarded him the Enrico Fermi Award.[8]

The 2002 book "Sacred Secrets" produced documents from the FBI and the Soviet NKVD that allegedly prove the Oppenheimer's Communist Party membership and his ardent advocacy of sharing nuclear secrets with the Soviet Union.[9]

Oppenheimer's Quote

One of the most widely known quotes about the atomic bomb, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" comes from Oppenheimer who said in a 1965 interview about the Trinity explosion, "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."[10]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "J. Robert Oppenheimer, Atom Bomb Pioneer, Dies. Physicist Cancer Victim—Censured and Later Honored by the A. E. C." The New York Times, February 19, 1967, p. 1.
  2. ↑ http://www.mbe.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/basic_research.htm
  3. ↑ For Karl Fuchs, see: Andrew & Mitronkhin 1999, p. 114-115, 127-128, 131-132, 155, 164, 397 Noting that Klaus Fuchs, a committed Stalinist, begain spying while in Great Britan after fleeing Nazi Germany, and continued when he came to the United States to work on the Manhattan Project. For Theodore Hall, see: Andrew & Mitronkhin 1999, p. 128-129, 131-132, 147-48, 164-65, 205 For David Greenglass, see Andrew & Mitronkhin 1999, p. 128, 131. For all see also also LANL 2007
  4. ↑ Andrew & Mitronkhin 1999, p. 117-118 with Perseus identified as a "communist engineer". See also LANL 2007, though Los Alamos suggests Perseus may not have existed.
  5. ↑ Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors , Regnery, 2000. ISBN: 0895262754
  6. ↑ HB Laes, Theory of Fielding - Set O - Oppenheimer.
  7. ↑ http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/abomb/opp06.htm
  8. ↑ J. Robert Oppenheimer receiving the AEC Enrico Fermi Award, photograph and description, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]
  9. ↑ [1]
  10. ↑ The Decision to Drop the Bomb, NBC White Paper, 1965

Sources

  • Andrew, Christopher & Vasili Mitrokhin (1999), The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-00310-9
  • LANL, Los Alamos National Laboratory (2007), Spies, Los Alamos National Laboratory Retrieved on 05-18-2007

External link

Retrieved from "https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=J._Robert_Oppenheimer&oldid=167768"