A brilliant scientist and an arrowhead in the Manhattan Project which eventually brought an end to the second World War, Oppenheimer has been described by many as the father of the “nuclear bombs”.
Christopher Nolan, the director of Oppenheimer’s much-anticipated biopic, named him “the most important person who ever lived”.
Nolan explained in an interview with New York Times that if the fears of a nuclear war come to pass, “Oppenheimer will be the man who destroyed the world. Who’s more important than that?”
Starring, Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer” is set to hit the theatres on Friday, 21st of July. The Universal film is based on the Pulitzer-winning book, “American Prometheus”, written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
Inarguably, Oppenheimer led a remarkable life, and here are seven things to know about the legendary scientist.
Birth
Oppenheimer was born on the 22nd of April, 1904, to German Jewish immigrant parents. His mother, Ella Friedman, was a painter, and his father, Julius S. Oppenheimer was a wealthy German textile merchant, who migrated to the United States in 1888.
Education
He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1925 with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. He obtained a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Göttingen, Germany in 1927. He also lectured at the University of California, Berkley, and became a full professor at the age of 32.
Science
Oppenheimer is noted for his contribution to the theory of neutron stars, quantum fields, black holes, and the interactions of cosmic rays. He is also known for his remarkable work with Born Oppenheimer approximation in molecular dynamics, the Oppenheimer–Phillips process in nuclear fusion, and the first prediction of quantum tunneling. His 1966 article, titled, “On Albert Einstein”, revealed his close friendship with Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time.
Manhattan Project
The project arose from fears of Germany building a nuclear bomb before the Western Allies could do the same. Three years after the German Nuclear Weapons Program was established, the United States Commenced the Manhattan Project and Oppenheimer was made head of the research and development team in 1942.
Oppenheimer was able to work with both scientists and the military to create the first nuclear bomb. He code-named the first atomic bomb test “Trinity”, which was conducted in the Jornada del Muerto desert in New Mexico.
Marriage
American biologist Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer, married Oppenheimer in November 1940, shortly after divorcing her third husband.
Their first son, Peter, was born in May 1941, and their second child, Katherine, was born in December 7, 1944. During his marriage, Oppenheimer was involved in an affair with Jean Tatlock, an American psychiatrist whom he dated before his marriage to Kitty.
Political Struggle
Oppenheimer was a surprising pick for the Manhattan Project because of his German heritage as well as communist leanings He had several communist affiliations including his wife, and mistress, Tatlock. He was therefore kept under close surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for most of his career.
Shortly after the bombing of two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he wrote a letter to the U.S. Secretary of War, Henry Stimson in which he expressed, in strong terms, his opposition to the action. He proposed to Stimson that further research on nuclear weapons should be banned. In 1949, he also strongly opposed the creation of hydrogens bombs which were more powerful than their atomic predecessors.
Due to his Communist affiliation, and suspected loyalty to the Soviet Union, the Oppenheimer security hearing was held in 1953. He was afterwards stripped of his security clearance which gave him access to top secret restricted data in the U.S. This decision was recently revoked in December 2022, by the United States Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, who stated that the judgement was the result of a “flawed process”.
Death
Oppenheimer had a smoking habit and was diagnosed with throat cancer in late 1965. Despite undergoing an array of treatments including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy in 1966, he fell into a coma on February 15, 1967, and died three days later at the age of 62.
Christopher Nolan’s reputation for blockbusters such as “Interstellar”, makes “Oppenheimer” a highly anticipated film. Nolan is known for his aversion to Computer-Generated imagery and has assured viewers an unparalleled cinematic experience through his use of cutting-edge technology for analogue effects.
Asides Murphy, other Hollywood stars in the movie include Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, and Matt Damon.
Notably, the movie comes in the wake of Russian aggression in Ukraine, which has seen the resuscitation of nuclear threats.
