“I need physics more than friends,” the famous American scientist once said. “The father of the atomic bomb” - Robert Oppenheimer is what compatriots called just that - he devoted his whole life to research. He suffered from depression, was a very eccentric man, his interests were not limited to physics. The story of Julius Robert Oppenheimer is told in this article.
Childhood
Robert Oppenheimer was born in 1904 in New York. His father was a native of Germany, was engaged in the sale of fabrics. In addition, Oppenheimer Sr. acquired throughout his life paintings, put together an excellent collection, which even included paintings by Van Gogh. The mother of the future scientist taught painting. She died young, her death devastated the inner world of her son. One of the compilers of the biography of Robert Oppenheimer suggested that a certain sophistication of the scientist and his interest in art are caused by nothing more than a desire to preserve the image of his mother.
At the age of five, the hero of today's story began to collect samples of minerals. As a gift from his grandfather, he received a wonderful collection of stones. When the boy was eleven, he was admitted to the mineralogical club. After leaving school, he entered Harvard University.
Youth
Robert Oppenheimer did not dream of becoming a physicist from an early age. Initially, he planned to do chemistry, in addition, he was attracted to poetry and architecture. This scientist was versatile in nature. His interests encompassed the exact sciences and the humanities. He studied physics, chemistry, Greek and Latin, in his youth he wrote poetry.
It is worth saying that in the United States, as early as the first half of the 20th century, both school and university education acquired a pronounced tendency toward specialization. This disconnected people, limited the circle of their knowledge. Oppenheimer's desire for knowledge in various fields testifies to his gifted, rich nature.
Passion for oriental philosophy
He impressed others with his intellectual susceptibility and high ability to work. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, during one of his trips, in just a few hours, he read a monograph by an English historian on the collapse of the Roman Empire. Once I impressed my colleagues by suddenly starting to give lectures in Dutch. But nothing could satisfy the thirst for knowledge of Oppenheimer. Later he began to study Buddhism, Indian philosophy. Moreover, he became interested in Sanskrit.
“I am the destroyer of the worlds,” Robert Oppenheimer once uttered this odious phrase. She became one of his most famous sayings. Robert Oppenheimer extracted a quote from the work of the ancient Indian philosopher. Why an American scientist called himself the destroyer of the worlds is described below.
In Europe
Robert Oppenheimer graduated from Harvard University in 1925. Moreover, he completed the standard course not in four, but in three years. After he went to Europe, where he continued his education. The glory of the universities of the Old World then did not fade against the background of rich American laboratories. Many students from the USA sought to study in Europe.
Oppenheimer admitted to the University of Cambridge. Here he began work in the Cavendish laboratory. Its leader was the scientist Rezerdorf, whom the students nicknamed for some reason the "crocodile." By the way, one of the teacher’s students with a strange nickname was Peter Kapitsa. Oppenheimer differed from his comrades in his incredible ability to conduct theoretical and experimental research.
In the laboratory of Cavendish, a young American became an eyewitness to the incredible struggle waged by scientists in order to obtain from the patrons and the government expensive, sophisticated instruments necessary for research.
Oppenheimer soon received an invitation to George Augusta University. This institution was famous primarily for outstanding mathematicians, among whom was the famous Friedrich Gauss. George Augustus University was considered a scientific center where a revolution in physics was taking place.
In 1927, Oppenheimer passed the exams. In all subjects, except organic chemistry, he received "excellent". The dissertation defended brilliantly. Max Bourne described the work of a novice scientist very highly, while he noted that it significantly exceeds standard dissertations in terms of level.
Quantum revolution
Of course, in modern physics, Robert Oppenheimer did not play a significant role, unlike Schrödinger, Curie, Einstein. Moreover, he did not make significant scientific discoveries. However, no scientist was able, like Oppenheimer, to realize the role of the quantum revolution and its possibility to the extent that the hero of the article did. He conducted numerous experimental and theoretical studies, found out new properties of matter, and published many reports on this subject. Oppenheimer made a significant contribution to the latest physics, which was built in the first half of the XX century. He was a talented teacher, popularizer of new theories.
Even a brief biography of Robert Oppenheimer indicates an important fact about him: he was one of the leading American developers of nuclear weapons. That is why he was called the "father of the atomic bomb." It was first tested in 1945 in New Mexico. Then it occurred to the scientist to compare himself with the destroyer of worlds.
Linus Pauling
In 1928, Oppenheimer came close to the famous American chemist. Together they planned to organize research in the field of chemical bonding. Pauling in this area was a pioneer. Oppenheimer had to do the math. However, the ideas of scientists were not realized. The chemist began to suspect that the relationship between the colleague and his wife was becoming too close. He refused further cooperation, and when Oppenheimer later suggested that he head the Chemical Division, he refused, citing his pacifist views.
Personal life
In 1936, Robert Oppenheimer began an affair with Jean Tatlock. The girl was studying at Stanford Medical School at that time. It is noteworthy that their relationship arose on the basis of common political views. The scientist broke up with Tatlock three years after they met. Then he began a relationship with a student at the University of Berkeley and a former member of the Communist Party, Catherine Harrison. At that time, the girl was married. When she found out that she was pregnant from Oppenheimer, she filed for a divorce. Their wedding took place in November 1940. Being married, Oppenheimer renewed his relationship with his former lover Gene Tatlock.
There is a version that the scientist's wife - Katherine Harrison - was a special agent of Soviet intelligence. And in America, she was just with the goal of entering into a relationship with Robert Oppenheimer. This point of view was expressed in his memoirs by the Soviet intelligence and saboteur Pavel Sudoplatov. Gene Tatlock, who also had contact with members of the Communist Party, was also in doubt. It is worth saying that almost every third in the circles of American scientists in those years was a scout from the USSR.
Political activity
In the twenties, Oppenheimer was not at all interested in politics. According to him, he did not read newspapers, did not listen to the radio. For example, he learned about the collapse in stock prices in 1929 a few months later. In the presidential election, he first voted in 1936. In the mid-thirties, he suddenly began to be interested in international relations. In 1934, he expressed a desire to donate a small part of his salary in support of German scientists who were forced to leave their homeland due to the totalitarian regime. Oppenheimer sometimes even appeared at rallies.
Security clearance
American internal intelligence followed Robert Oppenheimer back in the late thirties. The scientist caused distrust by virtue of his sympathies for the Communists. In addition, members of this party were his close relatives. In the early forties, the scientist was under close supervision. His telephone conversations were tapped. Oppenheimer houses were equipped with pens.
In 1949, the scientist testified to civil servants who were investigating anti-American activities. Oppenheimer admitted that in the early thirties he had contact with the Communists. His brother Frank, who was a physicist by training, but lost his job after a high-profile incident, went to Colorado, where he became a farmer. Robert Oppenheimer was removed from secret activities. According to materials from the KGB archive, he was not recruited, he never engaged in espionage in favor of the Soviet Union.
Last years
Most of the time, starting in 1954, Robert Oppenheimer spent on the island of St. John. Here he acquired a land plot, built a house. The scientist loved to sail on a yacht with his daughter and wife Katherine. In recent years, he was increasingly concerned about the danger of scientific discoveries in the field of nuclear physics. He was completely deprived of political influence, but continued to lecture and write a monograph.
In 1965, the famous theoretical physicist discovered throat cancer. He was given chemotherapy, but the treatment failed. Robert Oppenheimer passed away in February 1967.