American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer | 
 enlarge | Authors: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
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Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 24662
Media: Paperback
Pages: 784
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.2 x 1.7
ISBN: 0375726268
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.092
EAN: 9780375726262
Publication Date: April 11, 2006
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In American Prometheus, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin delve deep into J. Robert Oppenheimer's life and deliver a thorough and devastatingly sad biography of the man whose very name has come to represent the culmination of 20th century physics and the irrevocable soiling of science by governments eager to exploit its products. Rich in historical detail and personal narratives, the book paints a picture of Oppenheimer as both a controlling force and victim of the mechanisms of power. By the time the story reaches Oppenheimer's fateful Manhattan Project work, readers have been swept along much as the project's young physicists were by fate and enormous pressure. The authors allow the scientists to speak for themselves about their reactions to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, avoiding any sort of preacherly tone while revealing the utter, horrible ambiguity of the situation. For instance, Oppenheimer wrote in a letter to a friend, "The thing had to be done," then, "Circumstances are heavy with misgiving." Many biographies of Oppenheimer end here, with the seeds of his later pacifism sown and the dangers of mixing science with politics clearly outlined. But Bird and Sherwin devote the second half of this hefty book to what happened to Oppenheimer after the bomb. For a short time, he was lionized as the ultimate patriot by a victorious nation, but things soured as the Cold War crept forward and anti-communist witchhunts focused paranoia and anti-Semitism onto Oppenheimer, destroying his career and disillusioning him about his life's work. Devastated by the atom bomb's legacy of fear, he became a vocal and passionate opponent of the Strangelovian madness that gripped the world because of the weapons he helped develop. Twenty-five years of research went into creating American Prometheus, and there has never been a more honest and complete biography of this tragic scientific giant. The many great ironies of Oppenheimer's life are revealed through the careful reconstruction of a wealth of records, conversations, and ideas, leaving the clearest picture yet of his life. --Therese Littleton
Product Description
J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress. In this magisterial, acclaimed biography twenty-five years in the making, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin capture Oppenheimer’s life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War. This is biography and history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 67 more reviews...
 A compelling portrait of a complex man May 7, 2005
Wayne Klein (My Little Blue Window, USA)
64 out of 74 found this review helpful
Oppenheimer was a man of his time for a time and quickly became a man out of time when he warned with foresight at the dangers of nuclear proliferation. This compelling, well researched biography by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin provides the most complete picture of one of the most enigmatic, charistmatic and iconic figures of the 20th Century. Pulling from a variety of sources, the authors create one of the most complete and compelling portraits of the "father of the atomic bomb".
Following Oppenheimer and his family from his birth, through his work at UC Berkeley, involvement in protesting social injustice and ultimately his leadership of the team that develop the atomic bomb AMERICAN PROMETHUS looks at Oppenheimer flaws and all. Oppenheimer emerged at one of the most morally complex and scientifically rich times in history. His work at Los Alamos with his group of collaborators transformed our world for good and bad. Oppenheimer lived both in the glow of that success and in the shadow of the world he helped usher in for the remainder of his life. The authors present all this information with detailed accounts from Oppenheimer's life. They also relate many of the personal conflicts that Oppenheimer felt while working in one of the most promising and dangerous fields. There's plenty of excerpts from Oppenheimer's letters and comments from contemporaries he both agreed/disagreed with (Teller, Bohr, Strauss and many, many others).
When Oppenheimer had his security clearence revoked and he was betrayed by rumour, poor choices and some of his collegues, one of America's brightest and best fell from hero to possible traitor in the eyes of the American public. The controversey and circumstances were much more complex than they appeared on the surface. This book provides much needed balance to a complex life rendered simply by the idealogy that drove (and still does to some extent)America at the time. It was a complex, harsh world full of shadows and, unfortunately, Oppenheimer's reputation through both his beliefs and the beliefs of others around him was dragged gagged and bound into the shadows. Although he often disagreed with the US, he had his own unique sense of patriotism every bit as valid as those that accused him of being an unacceptable risk. When the disagreement about whether or not the Super was going on the authors quote a wonderful discussion. In discussing the moral implications of building a bomb even more destructive than those dropped on Hiroshima, Oliver Buckley (president of Bell Telephone Labs)commented that there was "no moral difference between building an atomic bomb and a super". James Conant dryly replied, "there are grades of morality". In a moral black and white world Opponheimer found his claim to fame and also lost himself.
A Sharp, Lucid Look at Oppenheimer April 7, 2005
R.F.Bauer
64 out of 70 found this review helpful
Kai Bird's and Martin J. Sherwin's biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer is a deeply researched, carefully judged and well-written examination of the life and politics of the man who directed the development of the atom bomb. The story is a complex one of murky motivations and large consequences, and to the credit of the authors, who offer their own point of view on central questions, they do not evade the complexity of the questions or the possibility that others would answer them differently. They have done the hard and thorough work on which first-rate biography depends: they have located and reviewed the primary source documents, mastered the secondary literature, and interviewed scores of those with personal knowledge and information to offer. The story they tell is of a man with huge intellectual-and as it turned out, organizational-gifts, and faults of a comparable magnitude. The book is first-rate.
The Price of Genius July 21, 2005
Edward P. Matos (Laredo, Texas)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
In their book, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin have created a biographical masterpiece that will not soon be outdone. The authors research and writing has given the reader a candid, yet complicated and conflicted portrait of one of America's leading scientific minds of the twentieth century.
Their research is comprehensive and their writing intelligible as can be seen as Bird and Sherwin recreate Oppenheimer's grand yet tragic life from his lecture at the New York Mineralogical Club at age twelve, to the 1954 security hearings in Washington that altered his later life. The question of Oppenheimer's affiliation with and membership in the American Communist Party is factually covered in detail along with his battles against the American political system and government powerbrokers.
Bird and Sherwin remind the reader that while Oppenheimer may not have won the Noble Prize in physics, he should certainly be given the credit for opening the door for other physicist, such as Ernest Orlando Lawrence, to win the coveted Nobel Prize. While Oppenheimer had a dark side to his personality, the authors show us that Oppenheimer was not only a genius in theoretical physics, but was remarkably well versed in many fields including poetry, art, music, books. . . . He also loved camping in the wilds of New Mexico, and horseback riding near his beloved Pierro Caliente Ranch. Oppenheimer's love affairs with country, wife, children, friends, science and women are also well documented.
"American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer" was a great read. It also puts to rest many unanswered and troubling questions concerning the life and times of J. Robert Oppenheimer. This masterpiece of literary work will not be outdone any time soon.
"Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." October 31, 2005
Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas)
15 out of 21 found this review helpful
To help their readers understand the life and career of Robert Oppenheimer, Bird and Sherwin provide about as much information as most people can absorb and digest. Of greatest interest to me is what they have to say in response to questions such as these:
1. What were the dominant influences and defining moments during Oppenheimer's youth and adolescence? What later proved to be the significance of each?
2. Why do Bird and Sherwin characterize him as the "American Prometheus"?
3. What do they consider to be the nature and extent of his triumph and tragedy"? What specific evidence do they offer in support of their assertions?
4. Of all of Oppenheimer's personal as well as professional relationships, which did he consider to be most important? Why?
5. Which did he consider to be most difficult and disruptive? Why?
6. With regard to the Manhattan Project, what were the greatest challenges which Oppenheimer faced when he began his involvement with it?
7. Over time, how did he respond to each? With what result(s)?
8. During preparations to produce the bombs eventually dropped on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki in August of 1945, to what extent (if any) did Oppenheimer's own thoughts and feelings about the use of nuclear weapons? Why?
9. Do Bird and Sherwin agree with Ward Evans (the dissenting member of the Atomic Energy Commission's hearing board, that denying Oppenheimer his security clearance was "a black mark on the escutcheon of our country"? If so, why? If not, why not?
10. Finally, what enduring lessons can be learned from Oppenheimer's personal life and professional career?
To their great credit, Bird and Sherwin anchor their responses to these and other questions within a frame-of-reference for each response based on rigorous and extensive research. It is noteworthy that their "Notes" are provided on pages 601-684 and their "Bibliography" requires an additional fifteen pages.
Here are a few brief excerpts of special significance. First, Oppenheimer's recollection (in 1965) of reactions to the explosion of "The Gadget" (on July 16, 1945) which sent a mushroom cloud soaring into the heavens above Point Zero: "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 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."
After the AEC's security hearing and subsequent denial of Oppenheimer security clearance, the impact on the scientific community: "For a few years after World War II, scientists had been regarded as a new class of intellectuals, members of a public-policy priesthood who might legitimately offer expertise not only as scientists but as public philosophers. With Oppenheimer's defrocking, scientists knew that in the future they could serve the state only as experts on narrow scientific issues. As the sociologist Daniel Bell later observed, Oppenheimer's ordeal signified that the postwar `messianic style of the scientists' was now at an end....The trial thus represented a watershed in the relations of the scientist to the government. The narrowest vision of how American should serve their country had triumphed."
Finally, the impact on Oppenheimer himself: "Far from being indifferent, Robert was acutely aware of the sufferings he had caused others in his life -- and yet he would not allow himself to succumb to guilt. He would accept responsibility; he had never tried to deny his responsibility. But since the security hearing, he nevertheless no longer seemed to have the capacity or motivation to fight against the `cruelty' of indifference. In that sense, [Isidor] Rabi had been right: `They achieved their goal. They killed him.'"
Bird and Sherwin have written an eloquent as well as rigorous and comprehensive analysis of J. Robert Oppenheimer, "American Prometheus." While doing so, they have also revealed a great deal about the age in which he lived. And also while doing so, yes, they have re-examined many of the same themes which Aeschylus did....2,500 years ago.
put it in a context August 11, 2005
scarecrow (Chicago, Illinois United States)
10 out of 22 found this review helpful
I have a problem with all this hero-worship,the great technical mind of another death machine, one where are we to believe that Oppenheimer never thought the atomic bomb would ever be used?, especially with the growing threat of Soviet and Chinese Communism, in fact this is why Stalin developed the bomb in four years for he knew Washington would eventually drop one on Moscow if they in turn didn't have one as a deterrant.It is fairly acceptable that only Washington today would have the ultimate dimension and capacity to actually detonate another bomb,if the neo-liberal order becomes disrupted or placed off-center.If anyone else tried to detonate a bomb on another city it would be mutually suicidal.But Oppenheimer did have the sense to see the continuation of this paradigm in what they refer to today as the "suitcase" bomb.
The scholarship here is impeccable but then place it within a context,for all the painstaking arduaous work, Oppenheimer hadn't in the end the power to stop or re-direct his efforts,or once the bomb was developed;ultimately it was not his to decide on its use.No amount of lifeworld details will make this fact any more understandable. He was merely a paid servant technician not a planner of world affairs, nor visionary in state power and its use, and mis-use.
If anything a book like this should now develop a dialogue on what Washington intends to do now, with growing numbers of "peace loving" countries and those clandestine groups they harbor all developing nuclear weapons.
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