J. Robert Oppenheimer, also known as the “father of the atomic bomb,” led the Manhattan Project during World War 2. Robert Oppenheimer was born April 22, 1904 in New York. In 1922 at age 18, Robert Oppenheimer went to Harvard and took classes in literature, math, and science. In 1926 Oppenheimer began work with Max Born, a physicsts, and got his doctoral degree in 1927. In response to World War 2, the US Army began to work on the Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb. General Leslie A. Groves put Oppenheimer in charge of the project, although he was hesitant because Oppenheimer did not have a Noble Prize. Oppenheimer successfully led the project and developed the world's first nuclear weapons, Little Boy and Fat Man. Both of these weapons …show more content…
Oppenheimer became a “supporter of leftist ideas and policies.” Because of this the board of security denied Oppenheimer all security clearance due to concerns about decisions he might make. Throughout Oppenheimer’s life, he had always been extremely smart. At age twelve, he presented a paper to the New York Mineralogy Club. He spent most time with older people because kids made fun of him a lot. Oppenheimer was known as a crazy smart person with tons of curiosity, this led him away from experimental to theoretical physics. Robert Oppenheimer researched many things in his lifetime but is best known for his leadership on the Manhattan Project to develop the world's first atomic bomb for the United States. Oppenheimer eventually led 1,500 scientists in the new facility in Los Alamos who all worked in different divisions to develop the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer suggested the team work on two bomb designs, the gun assembly and the implosion bomb design. This increased the workload on the Manhattan Project, but proved to be successful in the end. Both of the bombs used on Japan were fission bombs. Fission is when the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller nuclei and releases