Despite creating the "necessary" weapon that ended the war, completely destroyed two cities, and opened a new era, Julius Robert Oppenheimer opposed nuclear proliferation for the rest of his life.
Theoretical physicist Julius Robert Oppenheimer. Photo: The Thomas Jefferson Hour
Born in New York City in 1904, Julius Robert Oppenheimer was the son of German Jewish immigrants who had made a fortune in the imported textile trade. He graduated with honors from Harvard University after only three years of study, then studied theoretical physics at both Cambridge University in England and the University of Göttingen in Germany, where he received his doctorate at the age of 23.
The young physicist quickly became close friends with the greatest scientists of his day. His academic work advanced quantum theory and predicted everything from neutrons to black holes. He was also a voracious learner outside of science, studying Sanskrit and religious studies.
After the United States joined the Allies in 1941, Oppenheimer was invited to join the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons. As the researcher struggled to understand what was needed to initiate and sustain a neutron chain reaction to create a nuclear explosion, Oppenheimer's superiors were impressed with his breadth of knowledge, ambition, and ability to work and inspire other scientists. In 1942, the U.S. Army appointed Oppenheimer as head of a secret bomb testing laboratory.
While the military searched for a suitable site for the laboratory, Oppenheimer suggested the Los Alamos Ranch School, a private boys' school near Santa Fe. He soon directed hundreds, then thousands, of employees at the Los Alamos Laboratory.
Oppenheimer not only assembled a team of the brightest minds of the time, he also inspired, motivated, organized, and encouraged them to demonstrate their abilities. On July 16, 1945, Oppenheimer and his team gathered at the Trinity Test Site south of Los Alamos for the world's first nuclear explosion. It was a tense moment. Scientists knew that the bomb, nicknamed "Gadget," would shape the future of the world. But they also believed it could end World War II. Although the war in Europe was over, American officials feared that the bloodiest phase of the war was still ahead. They hoped to force Japan to surrender rather than threaten to use a new weapon. The secret test was a success.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped the bombs that Oppenheimer helped develop on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At least 110,000 people were killed in the blasts, which obliterated both cities on a scale never seen before or since. Oppenheimer served on a scientific committee that recommended that the War Department drop the bombs on Japan as soon as possible. Debate continues over whether the government should heed the scientists’ pleas to drop the bombs only on military targets, or even conduct public tests in an effort to force Japan to surrender.
The night before the bombing of Hiroshima, Oppenheimer was cheered by a crowd of fellow scientists at Los Alamos, and declared his only regret was that he had not completed the bomb in time to fight the German army. But despite the excitement of their achievement, the scientists were horrified by the loss of life in the attack, fearing that nuclear weapons might spark rather than prevent future wars. A few weeks after the bombing, Oppenheimer wrote a letter to the Secretary of War warning that "the safety of this nation cannot rest solely or principally on scientific or technological power. It can only rest on making future wars impossible."
But Oppenheimer also defended the Manhattan Project and the bomb he was tasked with building, arguing that it was necessary to understand the possibilities of nuclear science. However, Oppenheimer spent much of his life advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons, opposing the United States' development of a more powerful thermonuclear bomb. He argued that the United States should consider using tactical nuclear weapons and pursue other applications of nuclear technology, such as energy production.
Oppenheimer never returned to government service, instead founding the World Academy of Arts and Sciences, teaching science until his death in 1967.
An Khang (According to National Geographic )
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