How Did Robert Oppenheimer Contribute To Science

Robert Oppenheimer A Catalyst of Science and History

J. Robert Oppenheimer was a nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan project. Oppenheimer is widely known by society to have left a lasting impact on science and history. Oppenheimer's journey from a greatly intelligent child to a leading physicist and a central figure in the Manhattan Project is a complex journey. A journey that left 200,000 dead, a leading cause in the Cold War, and a sufficient amount of moral dilemmas that stem from the use of nuclear weapons. Oppenheimer's contributions to the development of nuclear weapons have permanently shaped the nature of warfare and have had extreme consequences for human existence.

Robert J. Oppenheimer was born on April 22, 1904.

By 1942 Oppenheimer began extensively researching neutron research at multiple universities. During his time studying in America, the threat of World War I was beginning, and the United States was warned of the dangers if Germany managed to produce an atomic bomb before the U.S. The United States began hiring scientists to work on the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan

The Manhattan project was carried out in a top secret lab located in Los Alamos, New Mexico. There, Oppenheimer and his team worked hard on the creation of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer’s greater understanding of the fundamental mechanics of nuclear physics would provide a solid foundation for him and his team to work on.After 3 years of research and preparation, on July 16, 1945 all of Oppenheimer's effort culminated in the first nuclear bomb test at the Trinity site. The first atomic bomb nicknamed “Gadget” would explode and release 18.6 kilotons of energy as well as producing a mushroom cloud over 12 kilometers in height. The atomic age has begun. After the test, Oppenheimer directly stated, “We knew the world would not be the same”. Oppenheimer would not realize the true degree to which the world would change from his invention.

6 months after the development of the atomic bomb, the United States would drop 2 newly produced atomic bombs nicknamed the “Fat man”, and “The little boy”. The bombing of Japan would kill at least 200,000 civilians. The horrors that Oppenheimer had created had been fully realized. Over 67% of the buildings in Nagasaki and Hiroshima were completely leveled, and the radiation left behind left the areas uninhabitable for 6 years. After Japan's surrender marking the end of World War 2, the world would be informed of the existence of nuclear bombs, thus beginning the