Important Faces of the Manhattan Project

Secret History

J. Robert Oppenheimer

One of the most renowned scientific minds of this century, J. Robert Oppenheimer’s contributions to the Manhattan Project were, in a word, immense. Known as "the father of the atomic bomb," Oppenheimer was a theoretical physicist. His work on the production of the atomic bomb began at the Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley, where he was asked to take over work on fast neutron calculations.

In the 1930’s, like many young intellectuals during that time, Oppenheimer had become a supporter of communist ideas. After inheriting a large sum of money upon his father’s death in 1937, Oppenheimer donated to many left-wing efforts including the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War and other anti-fascist activities. He never openly joined the Communist Park, though he did pass money to liberal causes by way of Party members.

Despite Oppenheimer’s political views, in 1942, newly-appointed Manhattan Project director General Leslie Groves hired Oppenheimer to be the Project’s scientific director. Groves knew that Oppenheimer would be viewed as a security risk, but he thought Oppenheimer was the best man to direct a diverse team of scientists and a man who would be unaffected by his past political leanings.

Once he became officially involved in the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer’s first act was to host a summer school for bomb theory at his building in Berkeley. The goal of this meeting was to calculate what needed to be done to build the atomic bomb. Los Alamos, New Mexico was the chosen site for a centralized, secret research laboratory. The site, not far from Oppenheimer’s ranch, was the site of a private boy’s school. Next, Oppenheimer assembled a remarkable group of physicists, whom he referred to as the “luminaries.” This group included Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, Robert R. Wilson, Victor Weisskopf, Hans Bethe, and Edward Teller. The research and work done at Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Hanford resulted in the first nuclear explosion on July 16, 1945. The site, located near Alamogordo, New Mexico, was named "Trinity" by Oppenheimer. The test was a success, and news of it was rushed to President Harry S. Truman, who then authorized the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

For more information on J. Robert Oppenheimer, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Robert_Oppenheimer