Julius Oppenheimer

By: Danielle Johnson

and Andy Fouse

Who was Julius Oppenheimer?

Julius Oppenheimer, also known by his middle name Robert Oppenheimer is known to be the father of the atomic bomb.

He was a scholar studying subjects like physics, chemistry, and language at many different schools including Harvard, Berkeley, and Cambridge.

This is Julius Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb.

Accomplishments before war Before the war and after school

Oppenheimer founded the American school of theoretical physics.

His research in astrophysics, nuclear physics, spectroscopy, and quantam field theory proved to be important advancements in the science world.

Also was the first to propose the idea of a “black hole”.

War Contribution

Obviously, Oppenheimers role in the development of the atomic bomb was crucial to the war, because the bombs were dropped on Japanese cities leading to the Japanese surrender.

How he made the atomic bomb When the opportunity to contribute to

the war effort presented itself, Oppenheimer jumped all over it and soon became the leading man in the making of the atomic bomb.

In 1942 he was appointed leader of the Manhattan Project and 3 years later the first atomic bomb was dropped in a New Mexican desert.

This is an atomic bomb explosion, particularly the one over Hiroshima, Japan.

What he did as leader of the Manhattan Project. Although there were already facilities

running in the U.S Oppenheimer opened his own lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

There he oversaw almost 3000 workers and there efforts in the development.

He also took on theoretical and mechanical problems.

Post-War Accomplishments When the war ended he was placed as

leader of the U.S Atomic Energy Comission. At this position he could oversee the advancements in bombs.

He disagreed with the creation of the hydrogen bomb, but after the Soviets dropped the A-bomb, the president has his mind set and the bomb would be made.

Opinions got him into trouble Because of Oppenheimers disapproval

of the hydrogen bomb he was later questioned during the McCarthy trials and was thought to be a communist.

Although he denied being a communist the Senator believed he was and stripped him of his title of leader of the U.S. Atomic Energy Comission.

He lost security clearance which ended his influence on science policy.

The Remainder of his Life In 1963 his clearance to work on

government projects was reinstated by President Lyndon B. Johnson and was given the Enrico Fermi Award for the Atomic Energy Commision.

For the last few years of his life he was the academic director of the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton.

Bibliography "A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: J. Robert

Oppenheimer." PBS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/baoppe.html>.

Brody, Seymour "Sy". "Julius Robert Oppenheimer." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Oppenheimer>.

"J. Robert Oppenheimer." the history of computing project. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. <http://www.thocp.net/biographies/oppenheimer_robert.htm>.

McMillan, Priscilla. "J. Robert Oppenheimer | Biography | atomicarchive.com." atomicarchive.com: Exploring the History, Science, and Consequences of the Atomic Bomb. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. <http://www.atomicarchive.com/Bios/Oppenheimer.shtml>.