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A review by gregbrown
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
5.0
Fantastic book on Robert Oppenheimer and all his contradictions.
Only tangentially touches on much of the technical and organizational detail of the Manhattan Project compared to Rhodes' masterpiece, but is a thoughtful exploration of how Oppenheimer built up the social organization of the mesa, weaving a strange mix of scientists together and keeping them isolated and oriented towards the shared goal of an atomic bomb.
Somewhat necessarily spends too much time futzing about who was a Communist Party member (or what that even meant) to little insight, but unavoidable to set up the pivotal role of the 1954 hearing. Ultimately, Oppenheimer's biggest and most tragic mistake was placing his faith in an evil country, one that gleefully snatched away his accomplishments to use for mass murder before eventually turning on him.
Only tangentially touches on much of the technical and organizational detail of the Manhattan Project compared to Rhodes' masterpiece, but is a thoughtful exploration of how Oppenheimer built up the social organization of the mesa, weaving a strange mix of scientists together and keeping them isolated and oriented towards the shared goal of an atomic bomb.
Somewhat necessarily spends too much time futzing about who was a Communist Party member (or what that even meant) to little insight, but unavoidable to set up the pivotal role of the 1954 hearing. Ultimately, Oppenheimer's biggest and most tragic mistake was placing his faith in an evil country, one that gleefully snatched away his accomplishments to use for mass murder before eventually turning on him.