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Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1 Coming to America 1
2 Ethically Cultured 15
3 Ethically Schooled 33
4 The Damning Lie 47
5 Summa Cum Laude 61
6 Getting Near the Center 79
7 A Taste for Physics 105
8 Coming of Age 117
9 Professor of Physics 133
10 Cosmic Connections 159
11 Depression and War 181
12 The Organic Necessity 211
13 Dropping the Bomb 237
14 Icon of Physics 253
15 State Scientist 267
16 Good Soldiers 285
17 Insecurity Hearings 305
18 Exile 327
Appendix 1 353
Appendix 2 355
Appendix 3 357
Appendix 4 359
Notes 363
Bibliography 425
Index 441
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ITUMELENG Tshabalala
reviewed J. Robert Oppenheimer and the American Century on January 28, 2017
J. Robert Oppenheimer and the American Century
I've been fascinated by the mythology of Oppenheimer for years now (really, ever since I heard his "I am become death" quote regarding the construction of the atomic bomb - it's haunting). I grabbed this biography off the shelf on my way out of Half Price Books on a whim and gave it a whirl.
Essentially, what the author is trying to achieve is to place Oppenheimer into historical context against the changing relationship between physics, scientists, the US public, and the US government from the early part of the 20th century roughly up to the space race of the 60s. Overall, I'd say he succeeds and does a fair job of asserting Oppenheimer's criticality to the evolution of science in America across that time period. It is evident that especially after the Manhattan project, Oppenheimer was a key figure in the perception of physical science and what it could contribute to American growth and development - therefore, as perceptions of Oppenheimer changed, perceptions of the value and role of scientists were affected in kind.
However, as a biography of the man, it falls short at times. First, in a biography, I'm hoping for some "humanization" figures who are too often reduced to bullet points. Tell me about the time they took a girl to a dance or got caught cow-tipping in their uncle's pasture. Something like that. This biography provides a few minor elements like that, but overall, keeps the subject at something of a distance. Second, when it comes time to discuss the key activity of the man's life (the invention of the atomic bomb), the author essentially says "hey, there's been tons of books written about that, so I'm not going to take my time to discuss that here". While I understand the argument to some extent, it's a little frustrating and I would have preferred a slightly longer text that included at least enough detail that I didn't feel like I'd walked away with a reading assignment to really understand the critical event in the man's life.
Overall, a decent read, but the above-mentioned shortcomings were just nagging enough to stick with me throughout.
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