The true story behind Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer

In a number of achievements Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s latest film, the protagonist is a shadowy figure who is the focus of a story centered on the scope of his invention and its future impact. The plot explores the context of the development of the first nuclear weapon on American soil.

In particular, when creating Manhattan Project and later trinity testwho demonstrated the power of the atomic bomb. Decisive contribution at the end The Second World War which almost immediately became a general threat. Between two things Oppenheimer it is both a tribute and an exploration of the identity of its creator, a mystery to many of its biographers.

scenario Oppenheimeralso written by its director, adapts the book American PrometheusKai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Chronicle, winner Pulitzerdelves into the achievements of Oppenheimer and the research done on him FBI. Which shows that the expert was haunted by the shadow of his creation for the rest of his life. First of all, because of the possible consequences of using an almost unstoppable weapon that can destroy the world.

However, the context surrounding the physicist was much more complex than one might assume due to his involvement in such a controversial historical fact. As a brilliant man full of ethical contradictions, he is the epitome of the modern scientist. The paradigm of endless discussions about moral limits in the world of knowledge. Something that is part of his vast legacy.

Oppenheimer and the most important investigation in the country

In 1930, an American theoretical physicist was a professor at University of California, at Berkeley. Oppenheimer was a leading science advocate and traveled the United States as an educator. His intention was to interest a new generation in the pure sciences, since the enrollment of students in these disciplines in the main educational institutions of the country had declined.

However, in 1927 he had already immersed himself in the research that led him to create the first nuclear weapon. In the same year, together with the German mathematician Max Born, he published the premise Born–Oppenheimer approximation. A theory that brought him immediate international recognition and important professional relationships with several of the most famous scientists in his field. Circumstances that led him to become the prime candidate to lead the most ambitious project in North America in the next decade.

Oddly enough, despite his public personality, Oppenheimer he was a closed and withdrawn person. A practicing Jew, he encountered anti-Semitism while in college. What made him suspicious of the security forces and, especially, of public opinion. Something that would have influenced his behavior when he was at the center of controversy after the explosion of the first two atomic bombs in Japan.

The famous Manhattan Project.

The origins of the initiative date back to 1942, when President Franklin D Roosevelt began a scientific program dedicated to the study of weapons. For the American leader, this was a national priority that stood above other sections of homeland security.

In May of the same year, Oppenheimer was called as an adviser National Defense Investigative Committee. By June, this was already a complete part of the army’s plan to develop an entirely new weapon. The long-term program, which included from field research to final decision, would be known as Manhattan Project.

It was called by this name because the first meetings of what would later become a group of scientists were held in New York. According to historian Robert S. Norris, the utility building in the city served as the base for the Army Corps of Engineers. And it was considered natural that research related to mechanical structures should have the same headquarters. So this place will be an operational base for the first meetings of specialists and the subsequent development of plans for false cities for field trials. Over time, this place will become part of the name of its main purpose.

A form of destruction never seen before

Oppenheimer became director of a military laboratory built in Poplars. For nearly two years, his work was highly theoretical and involved the difficult investigation leading up to the bombing. trinity test. The latter will take place in Alamogordo, New MexicoJuly 16, 1945, and would include the detonation of a plutonium device.

The results were unexpected for the participants, but for Oppenheimer they were a revelation. Based on hundreds of hypothetical calculations, the reality of the destruction that a nuclear bomb could cause stunned him. However, the path to its military use was unstoppable. The result of this first test will be technology that allows you to create detonating devices on Hiroshima And Nagasakiin Japan in 1945.

From this first and convincing demonstration of military power comes the mythical phrase of the scientist. By his own admission, after testing the magnitude of the explosion, Oppenheimer came up with a phrase that would allow him to summarize his horror: “Now I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.” this appointment Bhagavad Gitawhich tells of a conversation between a warrior Arjuna and his charioteer god krishna. The tragic story is connected with predestination to death. Something that will haunt him after confirming the tragic firepower his research has brought to the world.

Oppenheimer in the fight against injustice

According to the book Robert Oppenheimer and the American Century, according to David Cassidy, the massacre in Japan morally destroyed the physicist. Therefore, he refused to continue working for the US government and tried to make amends with various conferences where he spoke on the subject. One of them took him to Japan in 1960, where he confessed his sadness and regret to a group of colleagues who left the room without looking at his face.

At that time, he was also involved in a bitter struggle against the government of his country. In 1949, he publicly opposed the possibility of publishing a hydrogen bomb based on nuclear fusion (hydrogen bomb). In addition, he had to solve problems related to his wife’s things. Katherine Oppenheimer To communist partywhat put his name on the watchlist J. Edgar Hoover.

Finally, he left the public stage during a wave of persecution against supporters of the American left. His unwillingness to lie or deny his ties to members of the Communist Party led to a perceived national security crisis. What led to the hearing AEC (US Atomic Energy Commission) in 1954. Deprived of all his political and university privileges, Oppenheimer disappeared from the public scene.

Always in the midst of controversy and accusations of causing irreparable harm to humanity, the scientist died on February 18, 1967. His memory would be restored in the following decades and he would be considered a martyr of unjust persecution. Despite this, he still remains a dark personality whose legacy has not been fully explored.