American Prometheus
The Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture OPPENHEIMER
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4.6 • 44 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
THE INSPIRATION FOR THE ACADEMY AWARD®-WINNING MAJOR MOTION PICTURE OPPENHEIMER • "A riveting account of one of history’s most essential and paradoxical figures.”—Christopher Nolan
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • The definitive biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, 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.
“A masterful account of Oppenheimer’s rise and fall, set in the context of the turbulent decades of America’s own transformation. It is a tour de force.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review
“A work of voluminous scholarship and lucid insight, unifying its multifaceted portrait with a keen grasp of Oppenheimer’s essential nature.... It succeeds in deeply fathoming his most damaging, self-contradictory behavior.” —The New York Times
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This Pulitzer Prize–winning biography leaves no atom unturned as it explores the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb.” Co-authors Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin trace Oppenheimer’s life from his New York upbringing in a German Jewish family amidst growing antisemitic attitudes to his key role in developing the first atomic bomb to his postwar turn towards pacifism—which those in power found very unsettling. The authors’ meticulous research draws on thousands of personal sources and government documents to unpack the dizzying highs of the scientist’s career right along with the soul-destroying lows that Oppenheimer experienced after creating a weapon of unprecedented destruction. American Prometheus is a page-turning real-life story that’ll interest anyone with an interest in science, history, war, politics, or even philosophy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Though many recognize Oppenheimer (1904 1967) as the father of the atomic bomb, few are as familiar with his career before and after Los Alamos. Sherwin (A World Destroyed) has spent 25 years researching every facet of Oppenheimer's life, from his childhood on Manhattan's Upper West Side and his prewar years as a Berkeley physicist to his public humiliation when he was branded a security risk at the height of anticommunist hysteria in 1954. Teaming up with Bird, an acclaimed Cold War historian (The Color of Truth), Sherwin examines the evidence surrounding Oppenheimer's "hazy and vague" connections to the Communist Party in the 1930s loose interactions consistent with the activities of contemporary progressives. But those politics, in combination with Oppenheimer's abrasive personality, were enough for conservatives, from fellow scientist Edward Teller to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, to work at destroying Oppenheimer's postwar reputation and prevent him from swaying public opinion against the development of a hydrogen bomb. Bird and Sherwin identify Atomic Energy Commission head Lewis Strauss as the ringleader of a "conspiracy" that culminated in a security clearance hearing designed as a "show trial." Strauss's tactics included illegal wiretaps of Oppenheimer's attorney; those transcripts and other government documents are invaluable in debunking the charges against Oppenheimer. The political drama is enhanced by the close attention to Oppenheimer's personal life, and Bird and Sherwin do not conceal their occasional frustration with his arrogant stonewalling and panicky blunders, even as they shed light on the psychological roots for those failures, restoring human complexity to a man who had been both elevated and demonized. 32 pages of photos not seen by PW.
Customer Reviews
A Complex Man
Upon the release of the 2023 film by Christopher Nolan I realized I known much about this figure significant to the conclusion of World War II and 20th Century American Culture as a whole. After doing about 20 minutes of internet research I found myself reading Kai Bird’s and Michael Sherwin’s sprawling account of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life. This 700+ page biography, published in 2005 is the basis of the film. As of this writing I still haven’t seen it, but don’t worry I’ll get around to it!
It covers his early life, education and his influences that shaped the father of the atomic bomb and his later in great detail covers the development of said atomic bomb in Los Alamos.
Following the war (and during) Oppenheimer was a proponent of transparency in development of American nuclear arms. He was also adamantly against the ensuing development of “Superbombs”.
This didn’t sit well with his critics and ultimately had his Pentagon security clearance revoked as seen in later chapters of this book.
While Bird and Sherwin’s book portray Oppenheimer as someone with criticisms about America’s actions following his invention the book does not come to any clear and moral conclusions on his character. It dwells and reflects on the contradictory nature of the man. He supported the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki yet grieved for the loss of life. He associated with Communist groups prior to WWII but was never a card carrying member. He was a man of independent thought.
If you’re looking for a riveting biography and a page-turning exploration into 20th century science and geopolitics this is an absolute must-read!