American Prometheus

# American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.# Triumph and Tragedy of Robert Oppenheimer.It's a kind of backward integration for me. I first watched the film Oppenheimer last year and that led me to the book. The movie is an adaptation of this book.The book gives granular details of what was shown in the film but the focus was more on the Manhattan Project. Obviously it's difficult to scope in all that is there in the book in about 3 hours.Considered as the Father of Atom bomb, Oppenheimer fell in the wrong books of President Truman as he opposed deploying atom bomb on Japan. The purpose of the bomb was to destroy Germany. But by the time it was ready, Germany surrendered and Hitler had committed suicide. Oppenheimer was against using it against Japan which was already defeated and ready to surrender. But Truman was determined to show America's might and strength. And there began the problems for Oppenheimer. Subsequently he also opposed the development of the Hydrogen bomb. And the witch hunt begins.Oppenheimer once was a member of the Communist Party but now had completely severed his links but that was enough for the Republican governments to indict and crucify Oppenheimer. He was stripped of all Government positions and security clearances withdrawn. He was holding a key position at Princeton University. US wanted to strip that as well but the scientific community led by Einstein protested strongly and the Government was unsuccessful.Oppenheimer's image was resurrected after the Democrat John F Kennedy was elected US President.Sadly even after Oppenheimer's death, his children continued to suffer. His son didn't use his second name to eke out living doing menial jobs and his daughter committed suicide as she could not secure jobs as security clearances were denied to her.It made for sad reading towards the end.An excellent book provided one has patience to read a 700 page tome in small size print.5/5.

I watched the movie Oppenheimer first, at that time I haven't even heard his name. The movie made me fall in love with his character, his eccentricity, his candor, then I thought I need to find more about him, and I came across this book, it's a novel basically. But as the cover says, it reads like a thriller, and is actually a page turner. I never found myself bored reading it, and I'm glad that I read it, and I can now say with the knowledge that I have, that J.R Oppenheimer was a genius, extremely complicated man.Though even after being such a genius, why he did, what he did, i.e. why he built a weapon of mass genocide is arguable, I won't give a spoiler, after reading the book, it is pretty clear.As I said earlier, if you ask me, it is not a highly-recommended read, like Steve Jobs' biography, but if you are an ambitious, driven individual towards whatever goals you might have, it might be the next right book to read after Steve Jobs' biography.

Expansive in scope and revealing in contentA good read for people interested in that era. Could have been shorterBut I guess wouldn’t have won the Pulitzer then

Truly a remarkable book and a new light (atleast for me) in biography. The paperback I bought was equally good.

Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin collaborated on a magnificent book about J. Robert Oppenheimer, ‘The American Prometheus.’ The collaboration resulted in the blockbuster movie “Oppenheimer,” which is a magnificent film.The story starts with his parents, their marriage, journey to America, and building a fortune in their new home. Fate and genetics are strange, because the parents–with no background in science–gave birth to two physicists, one a theoretical physicist, and the other an experimental physicist.The authors then trace the arc of his life, from being an introverted genius to a powerful speaker and leader. Most authors glorify their subjects–not Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, as they outline his achievements and limitations. He was never good with the mathematical aspects of his concepts.The story of the atomic bomb's development can be a book unto itself, with the development moving from concept to execution. In the book, they highlight the almost childlike glee of the scientists when they conceived of the weapon.During the development, Oppenheimer ignored the warnings and reservations of other scientists: he focused on the job.They do an excellent job of describing his change of heart after the bombs exploded, his conversion to being an advocate of restraint, the case against him, and his death.Oppenheimer was not a perfect man, and an imperfect father, leaving two children who struggled after he died. His son downplayed his surname and the connection to the bomb, and his daughter committed suicide. Neither did he have a perfect marriage, with a talented, almost alcoholic wife, and several affairs.What do the authors leave us with, but a magnificent story of a flawed genius who had the courage to stand by his convictions? All of us are flawed but few have an outsized impact on the world, and fewer still stand by our conviction with Oppenheimer’s courage.

The book contains every minor detail. It is so interesting that by reading this book, we can feel as if we are in the story and can see what's going on there.

Arrived in good condition. It’s a massive 600 pg biography. The book shows publishing year as 2023. After watching the movie, this should make for interesting reading. The only grouse I have is about the font size used in the book. It should have been one or two sizes larger. The notes take up 150 pages at the end.

Excelente libro.

Loved the narrative, gives a great context to the “Red Scare” of the 50s and how so many could get swept up in it after their passions to help the poor and downtrodden in the 1920s and 1930s.

I bought this to read after watching Oppenheimer (which is an amazing film btw). I knew it was a big book so wasn’t daunted by the 700 pages (including 150 pages of Notes). The narrative is dense, with 25 years worth of research by the two authors. Oppenheimer was a fascinating man. A genius with a complex emotional skill set. This biography is comprehensive. Tells of his tortured youth, his inability to “fit in.” His obsession with the mysteries of physics, developing from the practical to the theoretical. He was arrogant. He was naive. He was promiscuous. There is so much delicious detail the authors discovered. It is an enthralling read.I will say, even reading just a couple of chapters at a time, my eyes strained. The print is fairly small. After we watched the film a second time, we wanted to re-read the book. Luckily there is an audio book so we got that too!This biography won the Pulitzer Prize. It is a wonderful read, not all facts and figures and university lectures. And the 150 pages of Notes are as fascinating as the text. Highly, highly recommend this book.

War ein Geschenk