What do you know about J. Robert Oppenheimer?

Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is best known for his role as the scientific director of the Manhattan Project, the World War II effort to develop the first nuclear weapons, at the secret Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

After the second world war, Oppenheimer became chair of the General Advisory Committee of the newly created United States Atomic Energy Commission, where he advised on both civilian and military uses of nuclear technology. In 1954, he was called before the Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security to answer questions about his past associations with left-wing causes and people. Faced with possible loss of his security clearance and consequent dismissal from his government positions, Oppenheimer chose not to defend himself at the hearing and his security clearance was revoked. He continued to work as a consultant to the AEC until his death in 1967.

Early life and education

Oppenheimer was born in New York City on April 22, 1904, to German-Jewish immigrants Julius Oppenheimer, a successful textile merchant, and Ella Friedman, a painter. He had an older brother, Frank, and a younger sister, Joan. Oppenheimer was raised in a secular household and spoke German fluently as a child. The family often vacationed in Europe, exposing Oppenheimer to different cultures and languages.

At the age of nine, Oppenheimer was sent to live with relatives in Schenectady, New York, while his parents remained in New York City. He attended the private Ethical Culture Fieldston School, where he first began to study science. He also became interested in astronomy, and built a small telescope with which he observed sunspots.

In 1918, Oppenheimer began attending Harvard University, where he initially studied chemistry. He soon switched his major to physics, and he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1925. He then attended the University of Göttingen in Germany on a fellowship, where he studied under famed physicists such as Max Born and Niels Bohr. Furthermore, he returned to Harvard in 1927 to complete his Ph.D. in physics under the supervision of Percy Bridgman.

Career

In 1927, Oppenheimer took a position as an assistant professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He quickly established himself as a leading theoretical physicist, publishing papers on a variety of topics such as the scattering of electrons by atomic nuclei and quantum electrodynamics. In 1930, he took leave from Berkeley to attend the Fifth Solvay International Conference on Physics in Brussels. There he met many of the world's leading physicists, including Enrico Fermi, Werner Heisenberg, and Paul Dirac.

Oppenheimer's horizons expanded again in 1932 when he took a leave of absence from Berkeley to work at the newly created Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey. There he opportunities to work with some of the world's most brilliant minds, including Albert Einstein, John von Neumann, and J. Robert Oppenheimer. In 1933, he was appointed as the Institute's director of theoretical physics.

In 1939, Oppenheimer was approached by Lyman Briggs, head of the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), about working on a top-secret project to develop an atomic bomb. Oppenheimer agreed to work on the project, which was code-named the Manhattan Project, and he was appointed as its scientific director. He recruited scientists from across the country to work on the project at the secret Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The Manhattan Project successfully developed the world's first atomic weapons, which were used to force Japan's surrender in 1945 and bring an end to World War II.

After the war, Oppenheimer became chair of the General Advisory Committee (GAC) of the newly created United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). In this role, he advised on both civilian and military uses of nuclear technology. He also continued to work as a consultant to the AEC until his death in 1967.

One of Oppenheimer's most important contributions to physics was his development of the theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED), which describes the behavior of electromagnetic radiation and its interaction with matter. QED is widely regarded as one of the most successful theories in all of physics, and it forms the basis for our modern understanding of light and electricity.

In 1954, Oppenheimer's security clearance was revoked by the AEC after he was called before the Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security to answer questions about his past associations with left-wing causes and people. Faced with possible loss of his government positions, Oppenheimer chose not to defend himself at the hearing, and his security clearance was revoked. He continued to work as a consultant to the AEC until his death in 1967.

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