Personality Profile
Julius Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967)
INTRODUCTION
What really stopped Japanese
ambitions during World War II
(WWII)? Did the Japanese lack the
resources to sustain the war or,
was it because of the two atomic
bombs that were released over
Nagasaki and Hiroshima? These
two bombs were created by Julius
Robert Oppenheimer. And, since
then, Julius Oppenheimer’s name
has been associated with the
atomic bomb.
“I am become Death, the
destroyer of worlds.” EARLY LIFE
- Professor J. Robert Julius Robert Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer 1 was born on 22 nd
April, 1902, in
New York City, United States (US).
His father, Julius Oppenheimer,
was a wealthy textile importer
who immigrated to the US from
Germany in 1888. His mother,
Ella Friedman, from the US was an
artist and teacher in watercolour
painting and both of them had no
religious affiliations.2
EDUCATION
Initially, Oppenheimer was
educated at Alcuin Preparatory
School, and was later admitted
to the Ethnical Culture Society
School. The school was known
for its motto, ‘Deed from Creed’
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81
by Macalino Minjoot
founded by Felix Adler, to promote
a form of ethnical training based
on the Ethnical Culture Movement.3
His father had already been a
member of the Society for many
years, serving on its Board of
Trustees, from 1907 to 1915.
Oppenheimer was a very
versatile scholar; he was greatly
interested in English and French
literature, with a particular
interest in mineralogy. He was an
intelligent boy as he completed the
third and fourth grades in a year
and even managed to complete the
eighth grade in half a year. During
his final year, he became very
interested in chemistry.
By Harvard’s rules, Oppenheimer
was also required to study History,
Literature and Philosophy or
Mathematics. Because of these
requirements, he had to take
up six courses a term in order
for him to make up for his late
start at Harvard. In his first year,
Oppenheimer had applied for
‘graduate standing’ in physics on
the basis of independent study.
This meant that his independent
study, a project, was substantial
enough to allow him to understand
the topics being taught in basic
classes and therefore, he would not
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 Personality Profile
need to attend the basic classes
and could directly enrol himself
into the advanced ones. He was 4
then attracted to experimental
physics during a thermodynamics
course taught by Percy Bridgman,
Higgins University Professor of
Physics and a noble prize winner.
He graduated summa cum laude in
three years. 5 team understand the data provided
After graduating from Harvard,
he enrolled in the University of
Cambridge, where he started his
research on Atoms at Cavenish
Laboratory in 1925. He obtained
his doctorate in Göttingen
University a year later at the age
of 22, teaming up with Max Born,
Oppenheimer’s doctoral advisor.
Both Oppenheimer and Max Born
developed a method, called ‘Born-
Oppenheimer approximation’.6
EARLY PROFESSIONAL WORK
Oppenheimer accepted the
role of Assistant Professorship
in Physics at the University
of California, Berkeley in the
US. He became credited with
being a founding father of the
American school of Theoretical
Physics. He carried out research
in Astrophysics, Spectroscopy,
Nuclear Physics and Quantum
Field Theory. In these areas, he
made important contributions to
the theory of Cosmic Ray Shower,
and put in a lot of work that
led to descriptions of Quantum
Tunnelling, a theory that allow
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particles to tunnel though a
barrier. 7
Oppenheimer also worked
closely with Ernest O. Lawrence, a
Noble Prize-winning experimental
Physicist for the Cyclotron, a
particle accelerator. Oppenheimer
would help Lawrence's research
by their machines in the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory. In
1936, Oppenheimer was promoted
to full professor.
PERSONAL LIFE
When his father died in 1937,
Oppenheimer became a wealthy man
as he inherited all of his father’s
wealth. In 1940, Oppenheimer
married Katharine ‘Kitty’ Puening
Harrison, a biologist and divorcee
whose husband died during the
Spanish Civil War. The couple had
two children, Peter and Katherine.
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
On 9th October, 1941, the
President of the US, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, approved the crash
programme to develop the atomic
bomb. In May 1942, James B.
Conant, Chairman of the National
Defence Research Committee,
invited Oppenheimer to work on
the fast neutron calculations
which were the basis of creating
the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer
agreed to help as he believed
that the Nazis were developing
a nuclear weapon. His intention
82
was to create an atomic bomb in
the fastest time possible. Since
he had already carried out some
research on the subject before,
Oppenheimer went ahead with
the project. He even hosted a
summer school for bomb theory
at his building at Berkeley. He
envisioned several hundreds of
people working on this project but
by 1943, six thousand people were
involved. Alongside Oppenheimer,
were a mixed group of European
physicists and Oppenheimer’s
students, who calculated what
was needed to be done to develop
the bomb.
The first artificial nuclear
explosion occurred in mid-1944,
at Alamogordo, New Mexico
which was codenamed ‘Trinity’ by
Oppenheimer. When the testing
explosion occurred, Oppenheimer
had this verse in his head, “I am
become Death, the destroyer of
worlds.”8 He spoke these words in
the television documentary, The
Decision to Drop the Bomb.9
WORKS AFTER WORLD WAR II
After seeing the devastation
that the two atomic bombs
had wrought on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, Oppenheimer did not
want any country to harness such
weapons of mass destruction. In
1947, Oppenheimer was appointed
Chairman of the General Advisory
Committee to Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC). He served till
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 Personality Profile
1952. The AEC is an agency of
the US government, established
after WWII by Congress to foster
and control the peacetime
development of atomic science
and technology.10 In 1953,
Oppenheimer was suspended from
further nuclear research when the
AEC opposed the development of
the Hydrogen Bomb. This shocking
opposition led people to think that
Oppenheimer was a communist
supporter.
During 1947 to 1966,
Oppenheimer also served as
Director of Princeton’s Institute
for Advanced Study. In his later
years, he continued to support
the international control of atomic
energy. At Princeton, he researched
and stimulated discussions on
Quantum and relativistic Physics
in the School of Natural Sciences
as part of his interest. He retired
from the Institute in 1966 and
died on February 1967 from throat
cancer.
LEGACY
After Oppenheimer’s death in
1967, a memorial service was held
at Princeton University, Alexander
Hall. There were three speakers
who spoke at his funeral: Hans
Bethe, Henry Dewolf Smith and
George F. Kennan.11 These three
speakers had all worked closely
with Oppenheimer. In his memorial
to Oppenheimer, Hans Bethe wrote:
"Oppenheimer will leave a lasting
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memory in all the scientists who
have worked with him, and in all
the many who have passed through
his school and whose taste in
physics was formed by him. His
was a truly brilliant mind.”12
According to Bethe, Oppenheimer
was best described by his long-
time associate, physicist Charles
Lauritsen, who said, "This man
was unbelievable. He always gave
you the answer before you had
time to formulate the question."13
CONCLUSION
Oppenheimer was a highly
intelligent man who was
synonymous with the name, ‘The
Father of Atomic Bomb’.14 He was
the first to create the atomic bomb,
a weapon of mass destruction. He
was also a very determined and
responsible man, from the creation
of the bomb, to ensuring that no
one else would continue to develop
it. Oppenheimer truly regretted
the amount of devastation and
havoc that he had brought upon
the Japanese. Oppenheimer was a
lover of peace; yet, he became the
man most responsible for a new era
of war.15 
ENDNOTES
1. Brainy Quotes, ” J. Robert
Oppenheimer Quotes”, http://
w w w.brainyquote.com/quotes/
authors/j/j_robert_oppenheimer.
html.
83
2. Atomic Archive, J. Robert
Oppenheimer: biography. http://
w w w.atomicarchive.com/Bios/
Oppenheimer.shtml
3. Felix Alder Biography. Wikipedia.
ht tps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Felix_Adler_(professor)
4. ‘Graduate Standing’ in
Oppenheimer’s case would mean,
essentially, skipping lower level
courses and going directly for more
advanced courses - a testament to
his genius.
Berkeley, “Oppenheimer: A Life”,
h t t p : //c s t m s . b e r k e l e y . e d u /
archive/oppenheimer/e xhibit/
chapter1.html.
5. A Latin word meaning ‘with
highest honour.’ Cassidy, David.
J. Robert Oppenheimer and the
American Century. (New York: Pi
Press, 2005).
6. This method separates nuclear
motion from electronic motion
in the mathematical treatment of
molecules which was an important
contribution to Quantum Molecular
theory, which was essential to
create the atomic bombs.
7. Quantum Tunnelling, Wikipedia.
ht tps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Quantum_tunnelling
8. Brainy Quotes, ” J. Robert
Oppenheimer Quotes”, http://
w w w.brainyquote.com/quotes/
authors/j/j_robert_oppenheimer.
html
9. Oppenheimer read the original text
in Sanskrit, and the translation is
his own.
"J. Robert Oppenheimer on the
Trinity test (1965)". Atomic
Archive. 2008.
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 Personality Profile 84

10. About Atomic Energy

Commission (AEC). Wikipedia.
ht tps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
United_States_Atomic_Energy_
Commission

11. Bathe, Hans (1906-2005), John

Wendell Anderson Professor
of Physics Emeritus at Cornell
University and a Noble Prize
Winner.
Smith, Henry (1898-1986), former
Chairman of Physics at Princeton
University, and played a number of
key roles in the early development
of nuclear energy, as a participant
in the Manhattan Project.
Kennan, George (1904-2005),
Professor Emeritus in the School of
Historical Studies at the Institute.
12. Institute for Advanced Studies,
J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Legacy,
h t t p s://w w w.ia s.e du/p e op l e/
oppenheimer/legacy
13. Ibid.
14. Biography. ‘The Father of the
Atomic Bomb.’ http://www.
biography.com/people/j-robert-
oppenheimer-9429168
15. Spark Notes, J. Robert
Oppenheimer: Biography Study
Guides, “Reconstructing the
Legacy”. http://www.sparknotes.
com/ biogr aphy/opp enheimer/
section12.rhtml

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