ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (1904-1967) 281 and Given Greatersupport

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (1904-1967) 281 and Given Greatersupport ROBERT OPPENHEIMER' (1904-1967) ROBERT F. BACHER Professorof Physics,California Institute of Technology ROBERT OPPENHEIMER died in Princeton,New Island. His fatherpresented him witha sailboat Jerseyon February18, 1967, at the age of sixty- which Robert named Trimethyafter a chemical two. He was the leading American theoretical compoundthat interested him. He and his younger physicistof his generation,the founderof the brotherFrank, born in 1912, sailed the Great most importantschool of theoreticalphysics, and South Bay endlessly. He becamean accomplished one of the leadingintellectuals of our day. sailor and kept an interestin sailing for the rest Robert Oppenheimer,whose full name was J of his life. Robert Oppenheimer,was born in New York In spite of outdoorsummers, Robert was frail City on April 22, 1904. His father,Julius and was oftenill, especiallyduring the winters. Oppenheimer,was a very successfulmember of a He completedhis workat Ethical CultureSchool firmof textile importerswhich had been started earlyin 1921 and thentook some advanced chemis- by his uncle and which his fatherhad joined at trybefore the close of the springterm and gradua- an early age after immigratingfrom Germany. tion. Afterthat his familywent to Europe where His mother,Ella FriedmanOppenheimer, shared Robert and Frank had a finetime exploringand her husband's interest in the Ethical Culture seeing the sights. Robert became ill apparently Societyand had manyinterests of her own. She with dysenteryand was broughthome to recover was an accomplishedpainter. Robertgrew up in and recuperate. By fall he had not acquired suf- an atmosphereof cultureand affluencein which ficientstrength to enter Harvard where he had his intellectualcuriosity was stimulatedand en- been admitted. Instead he stayed in New York couraged. At a very early age he became in- and then his fatherpersuaded one of his former terested in minerals and by age eleven was a instructorsat Ethical Culture School to go west member of the New York Mineralogical Club, with him to a ranch in the upper Pecos area of largelyon the basis of an eruditecorrespondence the Sangre de Cristo Mountainsin New Mexico. whichhe carriedon withsome of the members. Katherine Page, who owned and operated this Robert attendedthe Ethical Culture School in ranch, encouragedRobert's interestin the out- New York where he apparentlykept much to doorsand riding. He rapidlygained strength and, himself, having little interaction with other after spendingthe summeragain at Bay Shore, students. He had great facilitywith languages headed for Harvard withenthusiasm. and beforehe graduatedhe had masteredseveral To quote his own wordshe "almostcame alive" languages as well as almost everythingelse the at Harvard. He was able to startwith advanced school had to offer. His familyhad long before standing and each year audited more courses recognizedhim as a prodigyand fedhis voracious (includingexaminations) than he took regularly. appetitefor learningwith books about his latest He soon realizedthat his interestswere in physics interests. His interestsmoved towardchemistry and was attractedto Percy Bridgman,who gave and he had the good fortuneto have a stimulating him help and good advice. Robert Oppenheimer teacher,Augustus Klock. graduatedsumma cum laude in three years. During the summersthe familywould move to The next year he went to Cambridge Uni- a house in Bay Shore on the southshore of Long versitywhere he tried his hand at some experi- ments. He was greatly attractedby visiting 1 Dr. Bacher's memoirof Robert Oppenheimer,dis- lecturerswho were reportingon the new work tinguishedmember of theAmerican Philosophical Society, in quantummechanics, especially Max Born. As preparedby requestfor the Society'sYear Book, is of such fullnessand historicalvalue thatit is presentedin- a result, he transferredto Gottingenand im- stead in the Proceedingsfor the benefitof a wider mediatelyfound himself in the midstof an extra- circleof readers. ordinarygroup of professors,postdoctoral fellows PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, VOL. 116,NO, 4, AUGUST 1972 279 This content downloaded from 131.215.225.219 on Tue, 14 Oct 2014 16:47:52 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 280 ROBERT F. BACHER [PROC. AMER. PHIL. SOC. and studentswho were deep in the applicationof as a base fromwhich he and his brotherFrank the new quantum mechanics. Robert worked took long rides throughthe mountainsand high withgreat intensityand with such success that in desertfor days at a time. It was a vigorouslife the springof 1927 afterless than two years he and doubtlesshelped to developthe extraordinary was awarded the Ph.D degree. staminawhich he showed later. Many visitors, For the followingyear he had a National Re- especiallyhis studentsand physicistfriends, visited search Council fellowshipat Harvard and the thereand had lively discussionson new work in CaliforniaInstitute of Technology. By this time quantumtheory. he had made some major contributionsin the Robert Oppenheimergradually shortenedhis applicationof the new quantummechanics and was visitsto Caltechand made Berkeleyhis mainbase. widelysought after for a universityposition. He Justbefore World War II he lived almostentirely decided that he needed anotheryear to studybe- in Berkeleyexcept for occasional visits and a few fore he startedto teach and he was awarded an weeks in the early summerin Pasadena. He had InternationalEducation Board fellowshipto study manyfriends in Pasadena and always kepta close in Europe at Leiden and at Zurich. Ehrenfest interestin the work in cosmic rays and high- and especially Pauli made deep impressionson energyradiation, since it was so close to his long- him. time theoreticalinterests. During the years be- At thispoint he expresseda strongdesire to go fore the war, Robert Oppenheimer'sgroup in home. He had decidedon an unusualarrangement theoreticalphysics was the strongestone in the of a double appointmentas assistantprofessor at country.2 In addition to excellent graduate Caltech and at the Universityof Californiaat students,numerous postdoctoral fellows, including Berkeley. For several years he taughtthrough Schwinger,Serber, and manyothers, worked with group the fall term at Berkeley,then after Christmas him. It was a vigorous and productive most wentto Pasadena forthe spring.His teachingwas and formermembers now staffmany of the not an immediatesuccess. He felt that he was distinguisheduniversity faculties in theoretical going much too slowly; yet his studentshad real physics. Katherine difficultykeeping up the pace. In addition,he In 1940 RobertOppenheimer married in Pasadena. spokevery softly with a fairamount of mumbling. PueningHarrison, whom he had met in This once caused Ehrenfest,a sticklerfor clear In 1941 they had their first child, Peter, house exposition,to call repeatedlyin a Caltechseminar Pasadena. Aboutthis time Robert bought a over "Louder, please, dear Oppenheimer." When at 1 Eagle Hill whichcommanded a fineview Robert'svoice quicklydropped after the thirdcall San FranciscoBay and whichprovided a delight- co-workers. he banged his desk. Robert stopped and said ful spot to entertainhis studentsand "But this room is so big." Ehrenfestshouted The discoveryof nuclear fissionin 1939 tied "You always adjust your voice so we can't hear. intomany current activities in the RadiationLabo- I couldn'thear you in a telephonebooth." Before ratoryat Berkeley,where neptunium and laterplu- of very manyyears Robert Oppenheimerbecame an toniumwere discoverednot long after.The fall excellentlecturer and manyof his generallectures France and the battleof Britainbegan to displace are known for their lucid expositionsof funda- theoverpowering concern for research in Berkeley. mentalideas in physics. In late 1940 and early 1941, many of Robert's researchfor Studentswere attractedto RobertOppenheimer colleagues leftto work on weapons was not yet and he soon establisheda group of studentsand a war in which the United States be. postdoctoralfellows with whom he worked. Their involvedbut mightsoon relationwith him was close and personal. When Some work continuedon the fission project he went to Pasadena in the spring most of his whichwas financedon a relativelysmall scale by groupfollowed along. Some too, followedhim to the governmentthrough a committee. In early nuclear his ranchin the upper Pecos, a beautifulspot not 1942 workon thepossibility of producing a farfrom where he had stayedbefore and whichhe chain reactionwas broughttogether at the Metal- had acquiredbefore going to Europe in 1928. He lurgicalLaboratory of the Universityof Chicago called it "Perro Caliente," Hot Dog, reputedly 2 An accountof Robert Oppenheimer'swork in the exclamationhe made when he firstsaw it. theoreticalphysics by Hans Bethemay be foundin Through the thirtieshis summerswere almost BiographicalMemoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society always spentthere in New Mexico. He used it 14 (1968): p. 391. This content downloaded from 131.215.225.219 on Tue, 14 Oct 2014 16:47:52 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions VOL. 116, NO. 4, 1972] ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (1904-1967) 281 and given greatersupport. The director,Arthur Groves appointed Conant and Tolman as his Compton,asked Robert Oppenheimerto get a scientificadvisers. Tolman, especially,followed theoreticalgroup togetherin the summerof 1942 the project closely and provided a link to the to look into the possibilityof whether,if reason- scientificcommunity. ably pure fissionablematerial were available, an Grovesconsulted
Recommended publications
  • The Younger Oppenheimer
    Vol 461|24 September 2009 BOOKS & ARTS The younger Oppenheimer Frank Oppenheimer founded the San Francisco Exploratorium: his charisma and passion for science education made him as influential, if not as famous, as his brother, explains Robert Crease. Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens: Frank Oppenheimer and the World He Made Up by K. C. Cole Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 2009. 416 pp. $27 Alfred Russel Wallace wrote that Charles Darwin never lost “the restless curiosity of the child”. One could say the same of the experimental physicist and educator Frank Oppenheimer (1912–1985), younger brother of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, whose life has been far more documented. Like Robert, Frank was involved in leftist politics in ways that damaged his career; unlike Robert, Frank’s relentless enthusiasm allowed him to forge a dramatic comeback. His masterpiece was the San Francisco Exploratorium in Cali- fornia, through which he influenced the lives of countless people. K. C. Cole, a journalism professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, is one of those people. In the early 1970s, the magazine Saturday Review assigned the fledgling writer — who says she had “no interest in science whatsoever” and thought an accelerator was a gas pedal — to cover Frank Oppenheimer brought a “rancher’s aesthetic” to the Exploratorium science museum. the Exploratorium. She was transformed by meeting Frank, who struck her as “a kind of years, relying on familiar sources of some- a neighbour telling her of how Frank once Yoda” and helped to launch her career as a times doubtful reliability. She does not explore became incensed by a cow’s refusal to enter a science writer.
    [Show full text]
  • Signal to Background
    signal to background Tevatron sets world record; the most productive age for research; numbers: Pierre Auger Observatory; bicycle networks; keeping computers cool; opera review: Doctor Atomic. 160 Collider Run II Peak Luminosity 140 (x1030 cm-2sec-1) 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 2 3 4 5 Jun 2002 Jun 2003 Jun 2004 Jun 2005 Dec 200 Dec 200 Dec 200 Dec 200 A bright machine to produce than protons, and date of publication of the top The Fermilab Tevatron achieved the Tevatron operates at a 25 theoretical papers from the a world-record peak lumi- much higher collision energy spires all-time top-cited list. nosity, or brightness, in colliding of 1960 GeV. The Tevatron Included are the 29 authors protons and antiprotons on record is tied to the startup of whose ages are in the database. October 4, 2005. The luminosity a new technique to cool anti- Some appear more than once Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab of 141x1030 cm-2sec-1 is about proton beams, which makes as authors on multiple papers. four times the luminosity the beams more concentrated. Half the authors were 32 achieved three years ago, and Kurt Riesselmann or younger when they published more is expected to come. their famous papers. The chart To maximize the potential Don’t cite anybody shows that the most frequent for scientific discovery, accel- over 30? ages are 29 and 30. In fact, erator experts improve and A common assertion is that almost half the ages are con- tune their machines to produce the best work in physics is centrated around the window the largest number of colli- done by people who are under of 29-30.
    [Show full text]
  • A Selected Bibliography of Publications By, and About, J
    A Selected Bibliography of Publications by, and about, J. Robert Oppenheimer Nelson H. F. Beebe University of Utah Department of Mathematics, 110 LCB 155 S 1400 E RM 233 Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0090 USA Tel: +1 801 581 5254 FAX: +1 801 581 4148 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] (Internet) WWW URL: http://www.math.utah.edu/~beebe/ 17 March 2021 Version 1.47 Title word cross-reference $1 [Duf46]. $12.95 [Edg91]. $13.50 [Tho03]. $14.00 [Hug07]. $15.95 [Hen81]. $16.00 [RS06]. $16.95 [RS06]. $17.50 [Hen81]. $2.50 [Opp28g]. $20.00 [Hen81, Jor80]. $24.95 [Fra01]. $25.00 [Ger06]. $26.95 [Wol05]. $27.95 [Ger06]. $29.95 [Goo09]. $30.00 [Kev03, Kle07]. $32.50 [Edg91]. $35 [Wol05]. $35.00 [Bed06]. $37.50 [Hug09, Pol07, Dys13]. $39.50 [Edg91]. $39.95 [Bad95]. $8.95 [Edg91]. α [Opp27a, Rut27]. γ [LO34]. -particles [Opp27a]. -rays [Rut27]. -Teilchen [Opp27a]. 0-226-79845-3 [Guy07, Hug09]. 0-8014-8661-0 [Tho03]. 0-8047-1713-3 [Edg91]. 0-8047-1714-1 [Edg91]. 0-8047-1721-4 [Edg91]. 0-8047-1722-2 [Edg91]. 0-9672617-3-2 [Bro06, Hug07]. 1 [Opp57f]. 109 [Con05, Mur05, Nas07, Sap05a, Wol05, Kru07]. 112 [FW07]. 1 2 14.99/$25.00 [Ber04a]. 16 [GHK+96]. 1890-1960 [McG02]. 1911 [Meh75]. 1945 [GHK+96, Gow81, Haw61, Bad95, Gol95a, Hew66, She82, HBP94]. 1945-47 [Hew66]. 1950 [Ano50]. 1954 [Ano01b, GM54, SZC54]. 1960s [Sch08a]. 1963 [Kuh63]. 1967 [Bet67a, Bet97, Pun67, RB67]. 1976 [Sag79a, Sag79b]. 1981 [Ano81]. 20 [Goe88]. 2005 [Dre07]. 20th [Opp65a, Anoxx, Kai02].
    [Show full text]
  • The United States Atomic Army, 1956-1960 Dissertation
    INTIMIDATING THE WORLD: THE UNITED STATES ATOMIC ARMY, 1956-1960 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Paul C. Jussel, B.A., M.M.A.S., M.S.S. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2004 Dissertation Committee Approved by Professor Allan R. Millett, Advisor Professor John R. Guilmartin __________________ Professor William R. Childs Advisor Department of History ABSTRACT The atomic bomb created a new military dynamic for the world in 1945. The bomb, if used properly, could replace the artillery fires and air-delivered bombs used to defeat the concentrated force of an enemy. The weapon provided the U.S. with an unparalleled advantage over the rest of the world, until the Soviet Union developed its own bomb by 1949 and symmetry in warfare returned. Soon, theories of warfare changed to reflect the belief that the best way to avoid the effects of the bomb was through dispersion of forces. Eventually, the American Army reorganized its divisions from the traditional three-unit organization to a new five-unit organization, dubbed pentomic by its Chief of Staff, General Maxwell D. Taylor. While atomic weapons certainly had an effect on Taylor’s reasoning to adopt the pentomic organization, the idea was not new in 1956; the Army hierarchy had been wrestling with restructuring since the end of World War II. Though the Korean War derailed the Army’s plans for the early fifties, it returned to the forefront under the Eisenhower Administration. The driving force behind reorganization in 1952 was not ii only the reoriented and reduced defense budget, but also the Army’s inroads to the atomic club, formerly the domain of only the Air Force and the Navy.
    [Show full text]
  • THE MEETING Meridel Rubenstein 1995
    THE MEETING Meridel Rubenstein 1995 Palladium prints, steel, single-channel video Video assistance by Steina Video run time 4:00 minutes Tia Collection The Meeting consists of twenty portraits of people from San Ildefonso Pueblo and Manhattan Project physicists—who met at the home of Edith Warner during the making of the first atomic bomb—and twenty photographs of carefully selected objects of significance to each group. In this grouping are people from San Ildefonso Pueblo and the objects they selected from the collections of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture to represent their culture. 1A ROSE HUGHES 2A TALL-NECKED JAR 3A BLUE CORN 4A SLEIGH BELLS 5A FLORENCE NARANJO Rose Hughes holding a photograph of WITH AVANYU One of the most accomplished and (Museum of Indian Arts and Culture) Married to Louis Naranjo; her father, Tony Peña, who organized (plumed serpent) made by Julian and recognized of the San Ildefonso Sleigh bells are commonly used in granddaughter of Ignacio and Susana the building of Edith Warner’s second Maria Martinez, ca. 1930 (Museum of potters. Like many women from the ceremonial dances to attract rain. Aguilar; daughter of Joe Aguilar, who house. Hughes worked at Edith Indian Arts and Culture) Edith Warner pueblos, she worked as a maid for the Tilano Montoya returned with bells like helped Edith Warner remodel the Warner’s with Florence Naranjo one was shown a pot like this one in 1922 Oppenheimers. these from Europe, where he went on tearoom. Edith called her Florencita. summer. She recalls that Edith once on her first visit to San Ildefonso, in the tour with a group of Pueblo dancers.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Tactical Nuclear Weapons in American China Policy: 1950-1963
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2016 The Role of Tactical Nuclear Weapons in American China Policy: 1950-1963 James Poppino University of Central Florida Part of the History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Poppino, James, "The Role of Tactical Nuclear Weapons in American China Policy: 1950-1963" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 4910. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/4910 THE ROLE OF TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN AMERICAN CHINA POLICY: 1950- 1963 by JAMES D. POPPINO B.A. University of Central Florida, 1995 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2016 Major Professor: Hong Zhang © 2016 James Poppino ii ABSTRACT This study demonstrates that tactical nuclear weapons occupied a central and essential role in US military policy for confronting the Peoples Republic of China between 1950 and 1963. Historians seldom look at tactical nuclear weapons as a separate and distinct component of American foreign policy and generally place these weapons as a subset of a strategic doctrine directed at the Soviet Union.
    [Show full text]
  • Character List
    Character List - Bomb ​ Use this chart to help you keep track of the hundreds of names of physicists, freedom fighters, government officials, and others involved in the making of the atomic bomb. Scientists Political/Military Leaders Spies Robert Oppenheimer - Winston Churchill -- Prime Klaus Fuchs - physicist in ​ ​ ​ designed atomic bomb. He was Minister of England Manhattan Project who gave accused of spying. secrets to Russia Franklin D. Roosevelt -- ​ Albert Einstein - convinced President of the United States Harry Gold - spy and Courier ​ ​ U.S. government that they for Russia KGB. Narrator of the needed to research fission. Harry Truman -- President of story ​ the United States Enrico Fermi - created first Ruth Werner - Russian spy ​ ​ chain reaction Joseph Stalin -- dictator of the ​ Tell Hall -- physicist in Soviet Union ​ Igor Korchatov -- Russian Manhattan Project who gave ​ physicist in charge of designing Adolf Hitler -- dictator of secrets to Russia ​ bomb Germany Haakon Chevalier - friend who ​ Werner Reisenberg -- Leslie Groves -- Military approached Oppenheimer about ​ ​ German physicist in charge of leader of the Manhattan Project spying for Russia. He was designing bomb watched by the FBI, but he was not charged. Otto Hahn -- German physicist ​ who discovered fission Other scientists involved in the Manhattan Project: ​ Aage Niels Bohr George Kistiakowsky Joseph W. Kennedy Richard Feynman Arthur C. Wahl Frank Oppenheimer Joseph Rotblat Robert Bacher Arthur H. Compton Hans Bethe Karl T. Compton Robert Serber Charles Critchfield Harold Agnew Kenneth Bainbridge Robert Wilson Charles Thomas Harold Urey Leo James Rainwater Rudolf Pelerls Crawford Greenewalt Harold DeWolf Smyth Leo Szilard Samuel K. Allison Cyril S. Smith Herbert L. Anderson Luis Alvarez Samuel Goudsmit Edward Norris Isidor I.
    [Show full text]
  • J. Robert Oppenheimer Papers [Finding Aid]. Library of Congress
    J. Robert Oppenheimer Papers A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2016 Revised 2016 June Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms998007 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm77035188 Prepared by Carolyn H. Sung and David Mathisen Revised and expanded by Michael Spangler and Stephen Urgola in 2000, and Michael Folkerts in 2016 Collection Summary Title: J. Robert Oppenheimer Papers Span Dates: 1799-1980 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1947-1967) ID No.: MSS35188 Creator: Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967 Extent: 76,450 items ; 301 containers plus 2 classified ; 120.2 linear feet Language: Collection material in English Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Physicist and director of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey. Correspondence, memoranda, speeches, lectures, writings, desk books, lectures, statements, scientific notes, and photographs chiefly comprising Oppenheimer's personal papers while director of the Institute for Advanced Study but reflecting only incidentally his administrative work there. Topics include theoretical physics, development of the atomic bomb, the relationship between government and science, nuclear energy, security, and national loyalty. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005--Correspondence. Birge, Raymond T. (Raymond Thayer), 1887- --Correspondence.
    [Show full text]
  • Nuclear Proliferation International History Project
    Nuclear Proliferation International History Project Political Authority or Atomic Celebrity? The Influence of J. Robert Oppenheimer on American Nuclear Policy after the Second World War By Marco Borghi NPIHP Working Paper #14 August 2019 THE NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION INTERNATIONAL HISTORY PROJECT WORKING PAPER SERIES Christian F. Ostermann and Leopoldo Nuti, Series Editors This paper is one of a series of Working Papers published by the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project. The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project (NPIHP) is a global network of individuals and institutions engaged in the study of international nuclear history through archival documents, oral history interviews and other empirical sources. Recognizing that today’s toughest nuclear challenges have deep roots in the past, NPIHP seeks to transcend the East vs. West paradigm to work towards an integrated international history of nuclear weapon proliferation. The continued proliferation of nuclear weapons is one of the most pressing security issues of our time, yet the empirically-based study of international nuclear history remains in its infancy. NPIHP’s programs to address this central issue include: • the annual Nuclear Boot Camp for M.A. and Ph.D. candidates to foster a new generation of experts on the international history of nuclear weapons; • the NPIHP Fellowship Program for advanced Ph.D. students and post-doctoral researchers hosted by NPIHP partner institutions around the world; • a coordinated, global research effort which combines archival mining and oral history interviews conducted by NPIHP partners; • a massive translation and digitization project aimed at making documentary evidence on international nuclear history broadly accessible online; • a series of conferences, workshops and seminars hosted by NPIHP partners around the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Interview with Frank Oppenheimer
    FRANK OPPENHEIMER (1912-1985) INTERVIEWED BY JUDITH R. GOODSTEIN November 16, 1984 Image courtesy of the San Francisco Exploratorium ARCHIVES CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Pasadena, California Subject area Physics Abstract The younger brother of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Frank Friedman Oppenheimer was born in 1912 in New York City. After graduating as a bachelor of science in physics from Johns Hopkins in 1933, Oppenheimer traveled to Europe where he studied at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and Florence’s Istitudo di Arceti from 1933-35. He then entered the California Institute of Technology from where he received his doctoral degree in physics in 1939. Before joining his brother in Los Alamos in 1943, Oppenheimer held positions at Stanford, Berkeley’s Radiation Laboratory and the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Following the http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Oppenheimer_F War, Oppenheimer returned to Berkeley but then moved to the University of Minnesota where he embarked on studies of cosmic radiation. His research ended abruptly in 1949 after he was required to give testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities regarding his communist activities as a graduate student at Caltech. Not until 1961 did he return to university life at the University of Colorado. There he developed a variety of innovative teaching techniques, many of which were later incorporated in his design of the Exploratorium in San Francisco where Oppenheimer served as director. He died in Sausalito, California, in 1985. Conducted at the Exploratorium, this interview focuses on Oppenheimer’s years at the California Institute of Technology. Oppenheimer describes his work on beta- and gamma-ray spectroscopy and reminisces about C.
    [Show full text]
  • The Dilemma of NATO Strategy, 1949-1968 a Dissertation Presented
    The Dilemma of NATO Strategy, 1949-1968 A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Robert Thomas Davis II August 2008 © 2008 Robert Thomas Davis II All Rights Reserved ii This dissertation titled The Dilemma of NATO Strategy, 1949-1968 by ROBERT THOMAS DAVIS II has been approved for the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences by ______________________________ Peter John Brobst Associate Professor of History ______________________________ Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences iii Abstract DAVIS, ROBERT THOMAS II, Ph.D., August 2008, History The Dilemma of NATO Strategy, 1949-1968 (422 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Peter John Brobst This study is a reappraisal of the strategic dilemma of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the Cold War. This dilemma revolves around the problem of articulating a strategic concept for a military alliance in the nuclear era. NATO was born of a perceived need to defend Western Europe from a Soviet onslaught. It was an imperative of the early alliance to develop a military strategy and force posture to defend Western Europe should such a war break out. It was not long after the first iteration of strategy took shape than the imperative for a military defense of Europe receded under the looming threat of thermonuclear war. The advent of thermonuclear arsenals in both the United States and Soviet Union brought with it the potential destruction of civilization should war break out. This realization made statesmen on both sides of the Iron Curtain undergo what has been referred to as an ongoing process of nuclear learning.
    [Show full text]
  • Martin J. Sherwin Collection Relating to J. Robert Oppenheimer [Finding
    Martin J. Sherwin Collection Relating to J. Robert Oppenhwimer A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Prepared by Joseph K. Brooks with the assistance of Kimberly L. Owens and Pamela K. Watkins Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2009 Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2011 Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms011004 Collection Summary Title: Martin J. Sherwin Collection Relating to J. Robert Oppenheimer Span Dates: 1910-2006 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1931-2006) ID No.: MSS85395 Creator: Sherwin, Martin J. Extent: 26,000 items and 19 microfiche; 69 containers plus 1 classified and 2 microfiche containers; 27.6 linear feet Language: Collection material in English Repository: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Abstract: Author, biographer, and educator. Research material gathered for the writing of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, including interviews and oral histories, government records, topical files, correspondence, photographs, printed matter, and miscellaneous material. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005. Bird, Kai. Chevalier, Haakon, 1902-1985. DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901- Fergusson, Francis. Groves, Leslie R., 1896-1970. Horgan, Paul, 1903-1995. Kennan, George F. (George Frost), 1904-2005. Lilienthal, David Eli, 1899-1981.
    [Show full text]