J. Robert Oppenheimer: And the American Century

by Cassidy, David

• ISBN13: 9780131479968
• ISBN10: 0131479962
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-01-01
• Publisher: Pi Pr

Summary

The unexplored secret of the American Century, the last 100 years of US history, is the rise of American science, specifically physics. At the heart of that story is J. Robert Oppenheimer, leader of the Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb. He was a man of contradictions: a scientist who discovered black holes and then turned his back on cutting edge research; a gentle liberal humanist responsible for the creation of the first real weapon of mass destruction; a genius who founded 'scientific militarism' and then let it destroy him. His life story embodies the great conflicts of American society, its genius, its weaknesses, and even its essential morality. How did an aesthete man uninterested in the acquisition of power become the leader of American science, the most powerful research community in the world? And how did he, with all his intellectual and social advantages, lose his power and become regarded by many as an unfulfilled if not failed scientist.

Author Biography

David C. Cassidy is a Professor in the Natural Science Program at Hofstra University, and has been Chair of the Section for History and Philosophy of Science of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. x
Coming to America	p. 1
Ethically Cultured	p. 15
Ethically Schooled	p. 33
The Damning Lie	p. 47
Summa Cum Laude	p. 61
Getting Near the Center	p. 79
A Taste for Physics	p. 105
Coming of Age	p. 117
Professor of Physics	p. 133
Cosmic Connections	p. 159
Depression and War	p. 181
The Organic Necessity	p. 211
Dropping the Bomb	p. 237
State Scientist	p. 253
Icon of Physics	p. 267
Good Soldiers	p. 285
Insecurity Hearings	p. 305
Exile	p. 327
Appendix 1	p. 353
Appendix 2	p. 355
Appendix 3	p. 357
Appendix 4	p. 359
Notes	p. 363
Bibliography	p. 425
Index	p. 441
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