Customer Reviews

J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer of Worlds

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For those interested in the history of the atomic bomb, I strongly recommend this book. After reading Richard Rhodes' "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", I was curious to read more about Oppenheimer and this book satisfied that yen.

Goodchild's book is relatively thorough and moves quickly. I think his view of Oppenheimer is generally sympathetic and he does a nice job of showing how Oppenheimer managed the a-bomb project and kept abreast of each development in a number of then ground-breaking scientific achievements. And in a People Magazine fashion, the information about the various egos involved also made for interesting reading. This book was written for the layperson. The amount of technical information presented is limited and well-presented.

It would have been nice to have just a little more detail on the Oppenheimer trial, but was there was well-done.

J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatter of Worlds is a revolutionary biography that details the most important aspects of Robert Oppenheimer's life and accomplishments as a physicist and creator of a key bridge between government and science. Detailing his influences and inspirations such as Max Born and renowned scientist Albert Einstein, Peter Goodchild outlines Oppenheimer's political struggles as a far-leftist and his personal struggles with the aftermath of the creation of the atom bomb and the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II while simultaneously describing the challenges that his theories in physics raised to the prevalent world view of that time. He is exquisite in providing Oppenheimer with a simple but thorough recount of his life that showcases his accomplishments and influences when other biographies focused on his political associations and the charges of treason that arose during the Cold War. This biography is a profound piece of writing that is easy to follow and understand and will touch you personally as you trace the journey of a troubled and intelligent man from his early days to the peak of physics and science.

J. Robert Oppenheimer lead the project at Los Alamos to develop the first atomic bomb, struggled through accusations of being a communist sympathizer, and dealt with the guilt of having created such a terrible device. Peter Goodchild, who also wrote a seven part TV miniseries of Oppenheimer for the BBC, uses newly declassified interviews and pictures from the period in the book to offer a look at what Oppenheimer saw, sensed, and said. Not merely a biography of Oppenheimer, the book goes into great detail of the Los Alamos laboratories which developed the atomic bomb. Illustrations teach some of the basic physics that went into the project without any overwhelming equations or math that could have bored some readers. The book also excellently captures the struggle of the trial against Oppenheimer and the mood of the McCarthy red scare. Throughout the book, America clearly progresses as the characters deal with resistance to change and the after effects of Oppenheimer's work. Unlike many biographies where people simply enter and then leave a person's life, people identified in the first chapter keep coming back, creating a fiction-like web that is compelling to read. I couldn't tear myself away from the pages leading up to the first atomic test because Goodchild's suspenseful writing makes plain nonfiction read like a carefully crafted and extremely compelling story.
The book tells of the man, the physics, and the times.

The life of J. Robert Oppenheimer is too incredible to be believed. A genius who enjoyed a privileged childhood, he became a communist sympathizer while rising in academia. Then, he was tapped to coordinate the development of the atomic bomb, which succeeded beyond all expectations. And less than a decade after that triumph, his security clearance was revoked by a paranoid, biased Atomic Energy Commission.

This book tells that story briskly and with valuable commentary about the remarkable worlds in which Oppenheimer moved. It also has useful and interesting photos and diagrams that help to put some of the information into context. But the book is simply not long enough to provide sufficient depth of discussion on anything -- physics, development of nuclear weapons, communist hunting, etc.

It also has an annoying tic. The author is British, so he uses British spelling and phrasing -- even when he is quoting Americans who obviously were not writing or speaking in a British style.

I selected this book because I didn't want to read one of the 800-page biographies of Oppenheimer or of the making of the atomic bomb that have been published. Now, having finished this book, I realize I need to read them to really understand what happened. This book offers only a quick timeline and superficial discussion of the technological challenges. I would add that the praise heaped on this book by other reviewers indicates a culture that isn't willing to devote the time and mental energy to really learning something in depth. The atomic bomb is a complex subject, and you just can't "get" it from the 30 pages of text embedded in this biography.

I thoroughly enjoyed the original BBC documentary and the book
is an equally interesting companion. Oppenheimer comes across
as a fascinating character in the history of science.

He seems (to me) to be in the process of being written out of
history or at least reduced to a small footnote as an anonymous
technician identified as "father of the atomic bomb". This
very readable biography show he was a complex man and an
influential figure in twentieth century science and culture.

After reading "Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic story" I felt that I knew Mr. Oppenheimer. The author wrote the book so that all the information could be learned and still be interesting. I learned every little fact about Mr. Oppenheimer and came out with a greater appreciation for him and his work.

The reason he is worthy of a book is mostly because he was the man behind the atomic bomb. He is most famous for this but he also accomplished many other great things in nuclear fission and quantum physics.

I started reading this book because I had to but after reading it I gained an appreciation and a greater understanding for a great man. If you are doing a report or are just interested in Robert Oppenheimer I strongly suggest that you read this book.

I agree with all reviewers of this book. It's quickly paced and is written for the Readers Digest type crowd. It doesn't go into specifics about the physics behind the bomb. The book presents a fair-minded review of Oppie's life and his association's with the Communist party. The book does a good job of allowing us to see that the US government was caught up in the hysteria of the times by disallowing access of Oppenheimer to further nuclear secrets. He was simply stating his opposition to the creation of the H-bomb...and labelled a Communist because of it. The book does a good job of showing how despicable Edward Teller was to further himself at the expense of Oppie. I give it three stars simply because I didn't find it to be a page-turner...but a good, steady read.

Captivating look at the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project and other key figures. Full of interesting details that give the reader an inside view of the genesis of the effort and how it proceeded, the personalities involved, daily life at Los Alamos, scientific knowledge of the time and how theory was put into practice, the politics of WWII, etc. Highly recommended!