How Did Robert Oppenheimer Impact Society

Even before the outbreak of War, the United States was concerned with a fascist regime in Europe researching in nuclear weapons. In retaliation, the United States began to fund an atomic weapon development program which became known as “The Manhattan Project” led by J. Robert Oppenheimer. Over the next several years, the Manhattan project started obtaining key materials such as Uranium-235 and Plutonium and testing prototypes until they reached a working model (Coroner).

Edward Teller is the prolific scientist who helped create the most powerful weapon the world has ever seen, the hydrogen bomb. I will touch on his major discovery, a brief look into the 1940’s so we can understand him better for what he did in the 1950’s, and what his discovery led to in the world we live in today. Edward Teller affected not only the entire planet both negatively and positively in 1950’s, but also continues to affect and advance our scientific discoveries.

Upon witnessing the explosion, its creators had mixed reactions. Isidor Rabi felt that the equilibrium in nature had been upset -- as if humankind had become a threat to the world it inhabited. J. Robert Oppenheimer, though ecstatic about the success of the project, quoted a remembered fragment from the Bhagavad Gita. "I am become Death," he said, "the destroyer of worlds." Ken Bainbridge, the test director, told Oppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of bitches."

That atomic research program became known as the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project had both positive and negative lasting effects on humanity. It was not until the summer of 1945, that Oppenheimer was ready to test the first atomic bomb. ON July 16, 1945, at the Trinity site located in New Mexico, scientists of the Manhattan Project readied themselves to watch the detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb.

The only reason many of the scientists kept working for the project was because they saw it as a necessary evil and a weapon that could stop the war, stop the bloodshed. Joseph Rotbalt a Polish physicist, and one of the many scientists brought to Los Alamos to work on the two atomic weapons found himself in a great moral dilemma. He was against the bombs but saw the Nazis as a great danger to the world that needed to be destroyed, an idea held by many of the scientists inside the Manhattan Project. But once it was discovered by Rotblat that US did not intend to use the weapon on the now ailing Nazi empire, but as a deterrent for the Soviets, he was appalled. ‘‘Until then I thought our work was to prevent a Nazi victory, and now I was told that the weapon we were preparing was intended for use against the people who were making extreme sacrifices for that very aim,’’ Rotblat would later comment. He was the only scientist to leave Los Alamos after it was transpired that the weapons would be used on enemies other than the Nazis. 5 Concerned by what he had learned in the Manhattan Project, Rotblat took up the helm in the disarmament community. He collected signatures from well-known scientists including the renowned Albert Einstein, denouncing the use of nuclear and atomic weaponry. He was the warrior fighting nuclear weaponry at the time and after the testing of a hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, Rotblat investigated and discovered that the bomb had released radioactivity far greater than the US scientists working on the bomb had revealed. He also cofounded the Pugwash organization that is committed to nuclear disarmament. 6 In 1995 Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conference of 1957 were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in nuclear disarmament. Rotblat had this to say after he was awarded the

J. Robert Oppenheimer, a jewish scientist that created the nuclear bomb, was seen as both a positive and negative influence on the world. Oppenheimer helped change the world during the Manhatten Project and after. Being the "Father of the Atomic Bomb" Oppenheimer gained many enemies. People did not like that he opposed the hydrogen bomb and gained cultural power. J. Robert Oppenheimer may have had both positive and negative influences on the world.

The establishment of the “Manhattan Project” lead to the creation of the first atomic bomb in the world. However, President Truman, took the roll of authority of the production and the usage of the atomic bomb. For the reason that The United States was seeking reprisal on Japan for the ambush of Pearl Harbor. The atomic bombs lead to an immense sum of innocent Japanese deaths and horrible diseases. The atomic bombs left a big impact in the Japanese empire; also effected the Japanese at the time of the atomic bomb and the generation following. There were several manners that led to the use of the atomic bomb, yet the usage of the atomic bomb caused a lot of negative effects for the people of Japan.

At the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II scientist started to develop new ways to to react to wars.Scientist like Julius Robert Oppenheimer with the help of Albert Einstein created the first atomic bomb called the “Little Boy” and the “FatMan”. Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico. He was incharge of gather the best minds to develop weapons of mass destruction. Oppenheimer along with 200 other physics developed weapons that would change the world forever.

The two atomics bombings dropping on Japan are forever remembered today as a changing moment in history. The US dropped the atomic bomb called “Little Boy” on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. Only three days later on August 9th, 1945, the second atomic bomb called “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki. This has been the only time that nuclear weapons have been used in war. These bombs have been questioned through history if it was moral or immoral correct. However, the bombs were definitely a moral decision, which helped the country immeasurably. The atomic bombing of Japan was a military success, and a moral decision because it was less harmful than the fire bombings and it helped the country immeasurably.

On the morning of August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber named Enola Gay flew over the industrial city of Hiroshima, Japan and dropped the first atomic bomb ever. The city went up in flames caused by the immense power equal to about 20,000 tons of TNT. The project was a success. They were an unprecedented assemblage of civilian, and military scientific brain power-brilliant, intense, and young, the people that helped develop the bomb. Unknowingly they came to an isolated mountain setting, known as Los Alamos, New Mexico, to design and build the bomb that would end World War 2, but begin serious controversies concerning its sheer power and destruction. I became interested in this topic because of my interest in science and history. It seemed an

July 16, 1945 is date of the first atomic bomb detonated in New Mexico. J. Robert Oppenheimer, known as the father of the atomic bomb, quoted from the Bhagavad Gita after the first detonation of the atomic bomb, “I am become death, destroyer of worlds.” Knowing the destructive capabilities of the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer regretted making the bomb, which was later used to end World War II with Japan. Despite knowing the devastating effects the atomic bomb can do, President Harry S. Truman decided that the atomic bomb should be dropped upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II with Japan. This would later cause a huge controversial topic on this matter, and which President Truman should had followed the advice of Joseph C. Grew, a former ambassador to Japan and Undersecretary of State, to find a more amiable approach to make the Japanese surrender in World War II without the usage of the Atomic bombs. Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal accounted the meetings he had to

The first origins of the Manhattan Project began as early as 1930, with physicists such as Albert Einstein, who knew of the power of the single atom. Though it wasn’t until later in the decade that German physicists were able to take those thoughts produce the first artificial nuclear reaction, and even document the theory. Due to the publication of the theory, many people began to realize the immense power that could come from such a tremendous reaction of atoms.

“Like a bunch of professional soldiers, we signed up, en masse, to go to Los Alamos” (Hoddeson, 1993 pp. 59). Upon joining the project, Oppenheimer was able to find a sanitorium near Albuquerque to allow Feynman to continue being close to Arlene while her condition continued to worsen. Upon arriving to Los Alamos, he joined Hans Bethe in developing a formula to aid in the calculation of the yield of a fission bomb. This led to the creation of the Bethe-Feynman formula (Hoddeson 1993, pp.

A man who is almost synonymous with the development of the atomic bomb as well as with the conflicts between the desires of the government

Some regard the atomic bomb as “the thank God for the atom bomb”. This places God on the U.S. side and regards the bombs as our saving grace. This bomb forced the Japanese to surrender which in turn proved the U.S. to be the heroes who saved the American’s lives.1 The Americans intended on ending the war but did not expect to end it with such a large number of casualties. The results of the atomic bomb and how it effected the Japanese people both emotionally and physically will be addressed. “The bombs marked both an end and a beginning—the end of an appalling global conflagration in which more than 50 million people were killed and the beginning of the nuclear arms race and a new world in which