The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer: And the Birth of the Modern Arms Race [Mass Market Paperback]

Priscilla McMillan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2006

In a groundbreaking book that recasts the history of the Cold War, bestselling author Priscilla J. McMillan exposes, for the first time, the truth behind J. Robert Oppenheimer’s 1954 trial on charges of violating national security. Drawing on newly declassified papers and extensive interviews, McMillan places Oppenheimer’s opposition to development of the hydrogen bomb at the heart of the story—opposition that made him the victim of government officials who, conspiring with rival scientist Edward Teller, deceived President Eisenhower and trapped the enigmatic genius who had done more than anyone to build the atomic bomb. A chilling exposé of the McCarthy-era conspiracy that helped propel the East-West arms race, this is a spellbinding work of history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Harvard historian McMillan (Marina and Lee) focuses on the nine-year span in the late 1940s and early '50s when Oppenheimer, who had spearheaded the development of the atom bomb, was transformed from a hero into an alleged security risk, accused of spying for the Soviets. In light of the outstanding new biography American Prometheus and other recent scholarship on Oppenheimer, this account doesn't transform our perception of the man or the case, but it does fill in background on the anti-Communist agitators inside and outside the federal government, such as Atomic Energy Commission member Lewis Strauss, who conspired to "destroy Oppenheimer and make [Edward] Teller the leader of the scientific community" because of the latter's enthusiasm for (and Oppenheimer's doubts about) developing the hydrogen bomb. McMillan makes Teller one of the chief villains, dwelling on his contentious relations with other atomic researchers and underlining her contempt for his role in creating a massive, "superfluous" nuclear arsenal. The idealistic claim that Oppenheimer could have slowed or prevented the arms race through sheer force of personality is less convincing. Still, this is a damning record of the "travesty of justice" perpetrated through the smear campaign against Oppenheimer. (July 25)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The revoking of Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance, which caused his dismissal from the National Security Council and effectively ended his influence in the shaping of U.S. nuclear policy, constituted a tragic last act in the career of the father of the atomic bomb. Harvard professor McMillan offers a meticulously detailed account of the trial and the McCarthy-era shenanigans that surrounded it. Much of this story has been told before, most recently in Bird and Sherwin's definitive biography of Oppenheimer, American Prometheus (2005), but McMillan digs deeper, providing more evidence of the double--dealing by Oppenheimer's nemesis, security council member and McCarthy ally Lewis Strauss, and by rival physicist Edward Teller. She also argues persuasively that, had Oppenheimer remained on the council, he might have prevented the full-scale escalation of the arms race. Unfortunately, the security hearing makes for much less compelling reading than the human story of Oppenheimer himself, told so effectively in American Prometheus. Still, this account provides rich supplementary reading for those with an intense interest in the beginnings of the atomic age. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142001155
• ISBN-13: 978-0142001158
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,904,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Man of Great Strengths and Great Weaknesses, August 1, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer: and the Birth of the Modern Arms Race (Hardcover)

In studying Oppie I am reminded of the old saying about 'Gods too have feet of clay.' Oppie was a man of great talents, and some characteristics that I don't know if could be called great failures or not.

This book concentrates on the 1949 to 1955 period. These were the McCarthy years, when rumor, accusations, and the red scare. World War II was over, the Soviets, under Stalin had imposed the iron curtain. And it had become clear that communist spies in England and the United States had delivered the secrets of the atomic bomb to them.

As you might guess from the title, this book is very pro Oppenheimer. She blames Air Force officials, anti-Communist politicians, and competing scientists, particularily Edward Teller for seizing control of the U.S. nuclear policy and building ever more deadly weapons. Her telling of what happened is clear. Her philosophical tone is a bit more questionable.

She asks: Could development of the H-bomb have been averted? -- As a physicist I'll answer - No! It could be done (they thought at the time and were right), it would have been too intriguing a scientific question to let it pass. If not exactly at that time, then it would have been later. And considering the political situation at the time, no question that it would have been done.

She is very good about Oppie's weaknesses. After making an emotional appeal to Truman, Truman is rumored to have said, 'don't let that cry baby back into my office.'

There's a question I've always wondered, she doesn't answer it, I don't know that there is an answer. After the loss of his security clearance his influence on science policy was over. He became the director of the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton. He thought and wrote about the problems of intellectual ethics, morality, and the most advanced subjects in physics. Was he as happy doing this as he had been in the public eye?

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars MIddling, definitely not the first book you should read on Oppenheimer, July 11, 2006

By 

Kylo Ginsberg (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer : and the Birth of the Modern Arms Race (Hardcover)

This is the third book in a row I've read on Oppenheimer (and related subjects), and this one is middling. The subject of this book is "the people and events that led to the destruction of J Robert Oppenheimer," although one of the book's flaws is that it isn't as focussed as that statement from the introduction might have it. For one thing, it's simply a given in the book that he was "destroyed" or "ruined" and yet there's scarcely a page or two about Oppenheimer the man or about Oppenheimer the man's reactions to his security clearance hearing. It's a pity too, because he's such a fascinating personality and compelling character that it would be interesting to learn more about him, personally or professionally. (I haven't read it yet, but the Kai Bird biography might be the trick here.)

What the book is more closely about is precisely the 1954 security clearance hearing, although McMillan spends about the first half of the book winding up to the subject in roundabout ways. She clearly has done her homework and has stories to tell, but she gets caught in the middle often: for example, when she goes into some depth on Teller and his contributions to the H-bomb, she appears to be digressing to slap Teller around if her real focus is the Oppenheimer security hearing, but on the other hand she doesn't go into enough depth if her purpose is to analyze the post-war community of (thermo-)nuclear bomb research.

Also, the book needed an editor to pick up the places where she repeats vignettes or quotes that she related 50 pages earlier; this unfortunately makes the book come off slapdash at times, although I think it was actually meticulously researched (no doubt just squeezed out under deadline). And, stylistically, the book's general methodical, dry tone (suitable to the material) is occasionally punctuated by McMillan's outrage with melodramatic chapter endings like: "the vast arsenal of superfluous nuclear weaponry that curses us today." My heart is with her, but she compromises the book with unbalanced rhetoric like this every 20 pages or so. One almost feels that she just couldn't stand being sober any more and has to yell out.

So the book has a number of failings, yes, but it's still largely readable and it makes an excellent supplement to more consequential books. I would certainly start with the like of Gregg Herken's The Brotherhood of the Bomb before reading this one. But coming to this book after Herken's, it does a nice job of filling in some of the gaps by virtue of a narrower focus and a number of authorial interviews providing little insights here and there. Not a must read by a long stretch, but not a waste of time for sufficiently interested readers.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer, June 26, 2010

By 

Roy Towne (Chandler, AZ, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer: And the Birth of the Modern Arms Race (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is a must read for anyone interested in the disgusting events that led to the ruin of one of our nations greatest scientists. I did not enjoy reading about how nasty some people in high places can be. It's a book I can highly recommend for it's inside look at the beginning of the atomic age, but not a book I can "love".