Julius Robert Oppenheimer[note 1] (April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American
theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the
University of California, Berkeley. He is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the
Manhattan Project, the
World War II project that developed the first
nuclear weapons.
[1] The first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945 in the
Trinity test in
New Mexico; Oppenheimer remarked later that it brought to mind words from the
Bhagavad Gita: "Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
[note 2]
After the war he became a chief adviser to the newly created
United States Atomic Energy Commission and used that position to lobby for international control of
nuclear power to avert
nuclear proliferation and an
arms race with the
Soviet Union. After provoking the ire of many politicians with his outspoken opinions during the
Second Red Scare, he had his
security clearance revoked in a much-publicized hearing in 1954. Though stripped of his direct political influence he continued to lecture, write and work in physics. A decade later President
John F. Kennedy awarded (and
Lyndon B. Johnson presented) him with the
Enrico Fermi Award as a gesture of
political rehabilitation.
Oppenheimer's notable achievements in physics include the
Born–Oppenheimer approximation for molecular
wavefunctions, work on the theory of
electrons and
positrons, the
Oppenheimer–Phillips process in
nuclear fusion, and the first prediction of
quantum tunneling. With his students he also made important contributions to the modern theory of
neutron stars and
black holes, as well as to
quantum mechanics,
quantum field theory, and the interactions of
cosmic rays. As a teacher and promoter of science, he is remembered as a founding father of the American school of theoretical physics that gained world prominence in the 1930s. After World War II, he became director of the
Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
1 Early life
[edit] 1.1 Childhood and education
Oppenheimer was born in New York City on April 22, 1904, to Julius S. Oppenheimer, a wealthy
Jewish textile importer who had immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1888, and Ella Friedman, a painter. In 1912 the family moved to an apartment on the eleventh floor of 155
Riverside Drive, near West 88th Street,
Manhattan, an area known for luxurious mansions and town houses.
[6] Their art collection included works by
Pablo Picasso and
Édouard Vuillard, and at least three original paintings by
Vincent van Gogh.
[7] Robert had a younger brother,
Frank, who also became a physicist.
[8]
Oppenheimer was initially schooled at Alcuin Preparatory School, and in 1911 entered the
Ethical Culture Society School.
[9] This had been founded by
Felix Adler to promote a form of ethical training based on the
Ethical Culture movement, whose motto was "Deed before Creed". His father had been a member of the Society for many years, serving on its board of trustees from 1907 to 1915.
[10] Oppenheimer was a versatile scholar, interested in English and French literature, and particularly in
mineralogy.
[11] He completed the third and fourth grades in one year, and skipped half the eighth grade.
[9] During his final year, he became interested in chemistry.
[12] He entered
Harvard College a year late, at age 18, because he suffered an attack of
colitis while
prospecting in
Joachimstal during a family summer vacation in Europe. To help him recover from the illness, his father enlisted the help of his English teacher Herbert Smith who took him to New Mexico, where Oppenheimer fell in love with horseback riding and the southwestern United States.
[13]
In addition to majoring in chemistry, he was also required by Harvard's rules to study history, literature, and philosophy or mathematics. He made up for his late start by taking six courses each term and was admitted to the undergraduate
honor society Phi Beta Kappa. In his first year he was admitted to graduate standing in physics on the basis of independent study, which meant he was not required to take the basic classes and could enroll instead in advanced ones. A course on
thermodynamics taught by
Percy Bridgman attracted him to experimental physics. He graduated
summa cum laude in three years.
[14]
[edit] 1.2 Studies in Europe
In 1924, Oppenheimer was informed that he had been accepted into
Christ's College, Cambridge. He wrote to
Ernest Rutherford requesting permission to work at the
Cavendish Laboratory. Bridgman provided Oppenheimer with a recommendation, which conceded that Oppenheimer's clumsiness in the laboratory made it apparent his forte was not experimental but rather theoretical physics. Rutherford was unimpressed, but Oppenheimer went to Cambridge in the hope of landing another offer.
[15] He was ultimately accepted by
J. J. Thomson on condition that he complete a basic laboratory course.
[16] He developed an antagonistic relationship with his tutor,
Patrick Blackett, who was only a few years his senior. While on vacation, as recalled by his friend Francis Ferguson, Oppenheimer once confessed that he had left an apple doused with noxious chemicals on Blackett's desk. While Ferguson's account is the only detailed version of this event, Oppenheimer's parents were alerted by the university authorities who considered placing him on probation, a fate prevented by his parents successfully lobbying the authorities.
[17]
A tall, thin
chain smoker, who often neglected to eat during periods of intense thought and concentration, Oppenheimer was marked by many of his friends as having self-destructive tendencies. A disturbing event occurred when he took a vacation from his studies in Cambridge to meet up with his friend Francis Ferguson in Paris. During a conversation in which Oppenheimer was explaining his frustration with experimental physics, he suddenly leapt up and tried to strangle Ferguson. Although Ferguson easily fended off the attack, the episode convinced him of Oppenheimer's deep psychological troubles.
[18] Plagued throughout his life by periods of depression,
[19] Oppenheimer once told his brother, "I need physics more than friends".
[20]
In 1926 he left Cambridge for the
University of Göttingen to study under
Max Born. Göttingen was one of the world's leading centers for theoretical physics. Oppenheimer made friends who would go on to great success, including
Werner Heisenberg,
Pascual Jordan,
Wolfgang Pauli,
Paul Dirac,
Enrico Fermi and
Edward Teller. He was known for being too enthusiastic in discussion, sometimes to the point of taking over seminar sessions.
[21] This irritated some of Born's other students so much that
Maria Goeppert presented Born with a petition signed by herself and others threatening a boycott of the class unless he made Oppenheimer quiet down. Born left it out on his desk where Oppenheimer could read it, and it was effective without a word being said.
[22]
He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in March 1927 at age 23, supervised by Born.
[23] After the oral exam,
James Franck, the professor administering, reportedly said, "I'm glad that's over. He was on the point of questioning
me."
[24] Oppenheimer published more than a dozen papers at Göttingen, including many important contributions to the new field of quantum mechanics. He and Born published a famous paper on the
Born-Oppenheimer approximation, which separates nuclear motion from electronic motion in the mathematical treatment of molecules, allowing nuclear motion to be neglected to simplify calculations. It remains his most cited work.
[25]
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