Robert Oppenheimer And The Atomic Bomb

“ The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds, the pessimist fears it true.” This quote is spoken by none other than J. Robert Oppenheimer, Theoretical physicist, father of two, and creator of the Atomic bomb. On April 22, 1904 Julius Robert Oppenheimer was born in New york city, to Julius Oppenheimer; a wealthy textile merchant, and Ella friedman; a Baltimore painter. Robert lived with his parents in their riverside apartment, in uptown Manhattan. This is where Robert’s interest in science arrose. New York city at the time was the scientific headquarters of the US, allowing young Oppenheimer to witness the latest discoveries first hand. Oppenheimer’s interest in science continued to flourish until 1909, when he began his

As the race for the atomic bomb slowly trudged along, the uranium committee was urged to find new members. A young member of the committee named Ernest Lawrence suggested his colleague from berkley, Robert Oppenheimer. In October 1941, Oppenheimer attended his first meeting with the U committee. From then on Oppenheimer knew this was how he would serve his country during the war. After the meeting Oppenheimer joined the Manhattan project, under the command of general Leslie Groves. Then on December 7, 1941, Japan bombed pearl harbor, bringing the US into the war. After Pearl Harbor Oppenheimer redoubled his efforts on the Manhattan project. The Uranium committee decided they needed a more secure location to continue the research, and they elected Oppenheimer as the president of the new location, which later became known as Los Alamos.Then Oppenheimer ran into a problem, at the rate that uranium was being mined, they would only have enough for one bomb. But there was a more available metal that could be used, plutonium.That wasn’t the biggest problem, the problem was trying to get the plutonium atoms to split like uranium atoms. After months of consideration Oppenheimer finally found the answer, implosion. With this discovery Oppenheimer wasted no time constructing the bomb. Then on July 16, 1945, the scientists of Los Alamos gathered around the Trinity test site to watch the detonation of the bomb, it was a success. The bomb worked just as planned, causing a massive mushroom cloud and disintegrating the steel tower it was set on. Things moved by quickly for Oppenheimer after this test. He watched on as the US dropped the first plutonium bomb on Hiroshima, and Nagasaki soon after. But as many celebrated the success of the bomb, Oppenheimer became quiet as he considered the destruction he had caused, and wondered weather the world would be better off without his