The Man Who Created the Deadliest Weapon in History

The successful detonation of the first nuclear explosion in the history of humankind, changed the course of history, ushering in the age of the atomic era. Observing the blast, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, recalled words from the ancient Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. " Was Oppenheimer talking about himself or someone else? Was he a merchant of death or a noble scientist working to end the recurrence of such wars?Was he a loyal American nationalist or a covert friend to the future enemies?The response lays in understanding his life.

Julius Robert Oppenheimer was born in New York City on April 22 in 1904 to a family that did not observe Judaism. His mother, Ella, was an artist, and his father, Julius, was a very wealthy Prussian textile importer. J. Robert’s younger brother, Frank, and the whole family lived in a luxurious art filled apartment in the Upper West Side with artworks by Picasso and Van Gogh.

Oppenheimer's school life started at the Ethical Culture Society School founded by social reformer Felix Adler. This school desired to enhance the life of the child by making him/her ethical and this would lead to the doing of greater things in future. Oppenheimer proved to be an excellent student with a tremendous affinity for mineralogy, and chemistry. By the age of 18, he changed to Harvard.

Since illness at an opportune moment diverted his plans, Oppenheimer finally enrolled to Harvard, where he soon abandoned chemistry in order to study physics. As a result of his independent work, he passed several entry-level stage and he got his diploma with honors just after three years of study. Next, he went to step his foot at the University of Cambridge Christ’s College where he worked under the British Nobel laureate J. J. Thomson.

Nevertheless, John’s stay in England demonstrated his deeper sides. The episode where he once poisoned apple for his tutor, Patrick Blackett nearly uncovered his probation from the university. His distorted mental state was manifested through being obsessive, as well. However, he struggled against it but managed to pursue his study at University of Göttingen, Germany, where using the guidance of Max Born, he gave the theory of the Born-Oppenheimer Approximation.

Following his reaching world-wide eminence in the field of physics in the USA, he was a very sought person. He shuttled back and forth between CalTech and Harvard, initially culminating in the professor position he held at the University of California, Berkeley. This period of his life shaped his political awareness in the 1930s as he opposed to fascism and supported socialist movements. Radical Women like Jean Tatlock and Kitty Puening were his closest friends and that ultimately formed his political mindset.

The ever intensifying world war II has brought Oppenheimer closer to national defense. In October 1941, nevertheless, as the U. S. headed for an inevitable conflict, he was enrolled in the Manhattan Project. Even though General Leslie Groves cared a lot about his political ties, he appointed Oppenheimer to oversee the project, and the scientists were relocated to the site of Los Alamos, New Mexico.

On July 16, 1945, the world`s first nuclear weapon test site, trinity, was established. To him, Oppenheimer observed the horrific power he was helping to release. At first he deemed himself righteous and believed that it was the way out of the confrontation with the Axis. Nevertheless, the devastating bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that resulted in the murder of more than a hundred thousand people have brought him no sleep.

Post-armistice Oppenheimer turned into a public persona, campaigning for the world-wide supremacy of nuclear weapons control to avoid an arms race. He was the director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, getting in touch with Einstein and others prodigies.

With the escalation of the Cold War, surveillance gravitated around Oppenheimer as well. Although never a party member of Communism, his current associations have caused doubts. In 1953, a letter allegedly accusing him of being a Soviet Spy has him revoke his security clearance. A private hearing in 1954 took away his White House job.

The Oppenheimer spent his last years in quiet-, criticizing dangerous science, and received an award from President Kennedy a couple of years before he died from throat cancer in 1967His legacy is complex reflecting the fact that the scientist emanated from his creations both their genius and moralistic burden.