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J. Robert Oppenheimer
[1904-1967]
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“There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry. There is no place for dogma in science. “Genius sees the answer before the question.”
“What we don't understand, we explain to each other.”
“Almost everyone knew that [the Manhattan Project], if it were achieved, would be part of history. “We are free to start things, free to go about them, but then the rock of what the world is really like — J. Robert Oppenheimer
“Both the man of science and the man of action live always
at the edge of mystery, surrounded by it.”
The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any question, to doubt any assertion,
to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors.”
The sense of excitement, of devotion, and of patriotism, in the end, prevailed.”
limits and shapes this freedom.”
B I O
t e x t
h e r e
Julius Robert Oppenheimer studied at Harvard, Cambridge & Göttingen universities, then worked with Ernest O. Lawrence at U.C. Berkeley, together founding American theoretical physics. paper Born-Oppenheimer Approximation 1927 on quantum theory of molecules back to USA in 1929 paper 1935 Oppenheimer-Phillips Process
In June 1942, Oppenheimer held a summer study at the University of California, Berkeley for confirming the concept and feasibility of a nuclear weapon; eight theoretical scientists, including J.H. Van Vleck, attended; from July to September, the theoretical study group examined and developed the principles of atomic bomb design.
From 1943-45, Oppenheimer was scientific director of the top-secret Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico. For twenty feverish months, the team at Los Alamos designed and produced the nuclear weapons that ended World War II, earning Oppenheimer the nickname 'father of the atomic bomb'.
appointed director of lanl in early 1943
thin man design abandoned in april 1944
trinity was eq 25,000 tons of tnt + little boy used on hiroshima + fat man bomb on nagasaki
to princeton in 1947 where were einstein, niels bohr & paul dirac [1902-84]
also chairman of A.E.C. advisory commission
President of the American Physical Society in 1948
russia's first successful nuclear test in 8/1949 + h-bomb in 1953
korean war began 1950
Oppenheimer's later outspoken opinions led to removal from government jobs and the loss of his security clearance in 1954, and to investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee (under Sen. Joseph McCarthy).
clearance suspended dec 1953
1954 May 23: The A.E.C Personnel Security Board 'witch hunt' proceeding voted 2 to 1 not to restore J. Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance
• read 2020 article at Famous Trials website
Oppenheimer was nominated for the Nobel Prize for physics three times, in 1946, 1951 and 1967, but did not win. published 16 papers in 3 years while at Görttingen published only 5 papers after wwii no more after 1950 fermi award from LBJ in 1963
spent time in virgin islands from 1957
diagnosed in 1965 with throat cancer; fell into coma in 1967 and died at home in princeton
J. Robert Oppenheimer entry at Wikipedia
J. Robert Oppenheimer credits [since 1949] at Internet Movie Database
search on keywords 'Robert Oppenheimer' {returns 500 items} at Internet Archive
Writings, Lectures, Interviews
browse books by Robert Oppenheimer {returns 90 titles} at Amazon
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![American Philosophical Society [est. 1743]](covers3/AmericanPhilosophicalSociety-logo.jpg "American Philosophical Society [est. 1743]"){kind=logo} | J. Robert Oppenheimer - Address To The American Philosophical Society, November 1945 listen to audio recording [6/2015 upload, 20:16] online at YouTube read transcript at American Rhetoric [est. 2001] Online Speech Bank website |
A plea for hope, urging peace, per a belief that we must be governed by open-mindedness in our international responsibility
for the atomic bomb, characteristic of what Secretary Stimson termed Oppenheimer's 'genius and leadership'
full article is behind the paywall at The Atlantic Magazine website
 | "The Reith Lectures" [est. 1948]
Robert Oppenheimer gave the B.B.C.'s Reith Lectures in Nov-Dec 1953, on the topic "Science and The Common Understanding" {empty} series homepage • audio recordings not found at YouTube or elsewhere #1 "Newton: The Path of Light" [15 Nov 1953] #2 "Science As Action: Rutherford's World" [22 Nov 1953] #3 "A Science In Change" [29 Nov 1953] #4 "Atom and Void In The Third Millennium" [6 Dec 1953] #5 "Uncommon Sense" [13 Dec 1953] #6 "The Sciences and Man's Community" [20 Dec 1953] = available online at B.B.C. 3/2022 "Reith Revisited: Brian Cox on Robert Oppenheimer" [27 Sept 2017] Sarah Montague and Prof. Brian Cox consider the lessons to be learnt today from Oppenheimer's Reith Lectures of 1953 episode homepage with option to download 28-minute MP-3 audio |
 | "Science and The Common Understanding" [1954] by J. Robert Oppenheimer Oppenheimer delivered the Reith Lectures on Radio B.B.C. in 1953, which were subsequently published as this book Touchstone pb [1966] out of print/used Andesite Press 9¼x6 hardcover [8/2015] out of print/used Simon & Schuster hardcover [1954] out of print/used |
 | "The Open Mind: Atomic Weapons and The Relationship Between Science & Culture" lectures [1955] by J. Robert Oppenheimer a collection of eight lectures that Oppenheimer delivered from 1946 to 1955 Simon & Schuster pb [1955] out of print/used Simon & Schuster hardcover [1955] out of print/used Simon & Schuster hardcover [1955] out of print/used available as 10/2015 badly-skewed 124-page online flip-book at Internet Archive |
 | J. Robert Oppenheimer "Electron Theory: Description & Analysis" lecture at Iowa State [May 1955] 70-minute lecture attended by an overflow crowd, estimated to be around 1,000 people 2/2022 article with links to audio at YouTube listen to audio recordings [6/2021 uploads]: Part 1 = 32:59 + Part 2 = 33:26 + Part 3 = 9:24 |
 | "The Constitution of Matter" lecture [1956] by J. Robert Oppenheimer 37-page text of a 'Condon lecture' by Oppenheimer Oregon State Education pb [1956] out of print/scarce |
"Analogy and Science" lecture by J. Robert Oppenheimer [1955] at Berkeley
listen to audio recording [10/2016 upload; 59:45] online at YouTube
"The Hope of Order" J. Robert Oppenheimer's eight William James lectures [est. 1929]
some 1,200 people packed into the Sanders Theatre at Harvard in April-May 1957 to hear Oppenheimer {alumnus 1926} speak
audio recordings or online or printed text not found
J. Robert Oppenheimer - Speech at the Princeton Theological Seminary [1958]
listen to audio recording [4/2018 upload; 1:36:51] online at YouTube - JRO starts at 6:55
J. Robert Oppenheimer - Lecture at Colorado University [1961]
listen to audio recording [5/2017 upload; 59:10] online at YouTube
J. Robert Oppenheimer - "Symmetries of Matter" Lecture at the University of Michigan [1962]
listen to audio recording [4/2021 upload; 1:21:11] online at YouTube - JRO starts at 3:55
J. Robert Oppenheimer speaking at UCLA 5/14/1964 about bohr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwEheAf3k60 1:15:37 Dec 20, 2013•
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J. Robert Oppenheimer published more than a dozen papers while in Europe (circa 1927), including many important contributions to the new field of quantum mechanics.
He and Max Born [1882-1970] published a famous paper on the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, which separates nuclear motion from electronic motion in the
mathematical treatment of molecules, allowing nuclear motion to be neglected to simplify calculations. It remains Oppenheimer's most-cited work.
"The Flying Trapeze: Three Crises For Physicists" [Oxford Univ Press, 1964]
http://www.amazon.com/Flying-Trapeze-Three-Crises-Physicists/dp/B000LZDUKQ/
Oppenheimer delivered the Whidden Lectures at McMaster University in 1962, published in 1964 as "The Flying Trapeze"
 | interview of Robert Oppenheimer by Stephane Groueff [1922-2006] [1965] promoted by L.A.N.L./N.S.R.C. for Robert Oppenheimer's birthday in April 2021 transcript + audio recording |
 | "Robert Oppenheimer: Letters & Recollections" [1980] Edited by Alice Kimball Smith & Charles Weiner Letters written by Oppenheimer, 1922-1945; recollections of others about Oppenheimer; and excerpts from interviews Stanford Univ Press 9x6 pb [8/95] for $27.10 Harvard Univ Press hardcover [5/80] out of print/used |
 | "Uncommon Sense" [1984] by J. Robert Oppenheimer collection of Oppenheimer's essays and speeches that discuss the shift in scientific awareness and its impact on education, the question of openness in a society forced to keep secrets, the conflict between individual concerns and public & political necessity, the future of science and its effects on future politics - in short, the common and uncommon sense that we find in our modern-day reality Birkhäuser Boston 9¼x6 pb [3/2012] - overpriced Birkhäuser Boston 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1984] out of print/used |
 | "Atom and Void: Essays On Science & Community" [1989] by J. Robert Oppenheimer this book of lectures displays Oppenheimer's subtlety of thought and expression as he discusses the moral and cultural implications of developments in modern physics Kindle Edition from Princeton Univ Press [7/2014] for $17.02 Princeton Univ Press 8½x5¼ pb [7/2014] for $30.95 Princeton Univ Press 8½x5¾ pb [10/89] out of print/used Princeton Univ Press 9¼x6 hardcover [4/2016] for $66.82 Princeton Univ Press 9x6 pb [12/89] out of print/used |
Works About J. Robert Oppenheimer
browse books about Robert Oppenheimer {returns 180+ titles} at Amazon
Major General Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project, commissioned physicist Henry DeWolf Smyth [1898-1986] to write the official un-classified
administrative history of the development of the atomic bombs and the basic physical processes behind them. "The Smyth Report" was released to the public
on 12 August 1945, just days after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki •
book entry at Wikipedia
 | "Atomic Energy For Military Purposes: A General Account of The Scientific Research and Technical Development That Went Into The Making of Atomic Bombs" [1945] by Henry D. Smyth Official un-classified administrative history about the Manhattan Project, released to the public on 12 August 1945, just days after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Kindle Edition from atomic archive [6/2015] for $1.99 Stanford Univ Press 8½x5½ pb [1990] for $27.36 American Physical Society 7¾x5¼ hardcover [8/1945] out of print/used |
 | LIFE Magazine: "Oppenheimer: No. 1 Thinker On Atomic Energy" [10 Oct 1949 issue] TIME Inc. 13x10¼ original magazine [10/49] long out of print/new-used |
"J. Robert Oppenheimer and The Atomic Story" [1962] by J. Alvin Kugelmass
http://www.amazon.com/J-Robert-Oppenheimer-Atomic-Story/dp/B0019DG8DU/
http://www.amazon.com/J-ROBERT-OPPENHEIMER-ATOMIC-STORY/dp/B000JPKLEG/
"Robert Oppenheimer: The Man & His Theories" [1965] by Michel Rouze
http://www.amazon.com/ROBERT-OPPENHEIMER-MAN-HIS-THEORIES/dp/B000N6OD18/
"Oppenheimer: The Story of A Friendship" [1965] by Haakon Chevalier
http://www.amazon.com/Oppenheimer-Friendship-Robert-Chevalier-Haakon/dp/B001JJQD9S/
 | "Manhattan Project: The Untold Story of The Making of The Atomic Bomb" [1967] by Stephane Groueff [1922-2006] iUniverse/Backinprint 9x6 pb [6/2000] for $28.95 Bantam Books mass pb [1968] out of print/used Little Brown & Co. hardcover [6/67] out of print/used 1965 interview of Robert Oppenheimer by Stephane Groueff: transcript + audio recording |
1968 obituary/article by H.A. Bethe, from "Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of The Royal Society"
"Lawrence and Oppenheimer" [Simon & Schuster, 1968] by Nuel Pharr Davis
http://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Oppenheimer-Robert-Davis-Pharr/dp/B000K5OKSI/
 | "The Story of J. Robert Oppenheimer" [1969] by Denise Royal St. Martin's Press hardcover [1969] out of print/used |
"Oppenheimer: Illustrated" [1969]
Essays by I.I. Rabi, Robert Serber, Victor F. Weisskopf, Abraham Pais & Glenn T. Seaborg
Scribner 9½x6 hardcover [1/69] out of print/used
"The Swift Years: The Robert Oppenheimer Story" [Dodd Mead, 1969]
by Peter Michelmore ISBN 0-396-06024-2
"The Advisors: Oppenheimer, Teller & The Superbomb" [Stanford Univ Press, 1976] by Herbert York
http://www.amazon.com/Advisors-Oppenheimer-Superbomb-Stanford-Nuclear/dp/0804717133/
 | "Oppenheimer: The Father of The Atom Bomb" [B.B.C. Consumer Publng, 1980] by B.B.C. editor Peter J. Goodchild Ariel Books mass pb [2000] out of print/used | |
 | "J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer of Worlds" [1981] by B.B.C. editor Peter J. Goodchild Houghton Mifflin pb [5/81] out of print/used Fromm Intl 9½x7¼ pb [9/85] out of print/used Houghton Mifflin hardcover [5/85] out of print/used | |
 | "Oppenheimer: The Years of Risk" [1982] by James W. Kunetka Book focuses primarily on the critical years of Oppenheimer's career, from 1939 to 1954, discussing his scientific achievements, the development of the atomic bomb, and the significant issues that shaped his life Prentice Hall hardcover [10/82] out of print/used | |
 | "The Oppenheimer Years: 1943-1945" booklet [1983] Compiled by Rocket Science Institute, Inc. several pages of public domain documents 19-page Rocket Science Institute booklet [1983] out of print/SOLD OUT ! |
"Oppenheimer and The Atomic Bomb" [1989] by Rebecca Larsen
http://www.amazon.com/Oppenheimer-Atomic-Bomb-Rebecca-Larsen/dp/0531106071/
"Atomic Dawn: A Biography of Robert Oppenheimer" [1989] by John E. Driemen
http://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Dawn-Biography-Robert-Oppenheimer/dp/0875183972/
"Robert Oppenheimer: Dark Prince" [Facts On File, 1992]
by Jack Rummel ISBN 0-8160-2598-3
 | "Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos During The Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945" [1993] by Lillian Hoddeson, Paul W. Henriksen, Roger A. Meade & Catherine L. Westfall Cambridge Univ Press 9x6 pb [2/2004] for $53.95 Cambridge Univ Press 8¾x6 hardcover [5/93] for $160.00 |
"Oppenheimer and The Bomb" [1998] by Paul Strathern
http://www.amazon.com/Oppenheimer-Bomb-Paul-Strathern/dp/009923792X/
 | "Robert Oppenheimer, 1904-1967" [1999] by Robert F. Bacher Los Alamos Historical Society 9¼x6 pb [12/99] for $10.00 | |
 | "In the Shadow of The Bomb: Oppenheimer, Bethe & The Moral Responsibility of The Scientist" [2000] by Silvan S. Schweber
Princeton Univ Press 9½x6½ pb [4/2000] for $34.15 |
"Fallout" graphic novel about Szilard & Oppenheimer [2001] by Jim Ottaviani
http://www.amazon.com/Fallout-Jim-Ottaviani/dp/0966010639/
"Robert Oppenheimer" [mass pb Jun 20, 2002] by Michel Rival /202053438X/
"In The Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Security Clearance Hearing" [Cornell Univ, 2002]
Edited by Richard Polenberg ISBN 0-8014-3783-0 978-0801486616
http://www.amazon.com/Matter-Robert-Oppenheim-Mermaid-Dramabook/dp/0809012154/
http://www.amazon.com/Matter-Robert-Oppenheimer-Clearance-Paperbacks/dp/0801437830/
http://www.amazon.com/Matter-J-Robert-Oppenheimer-Self-Defense/dp/0275944298/
http://www.amazon.com/Matter-J-Robert-Oppenheimer-Documents/dp/B000IWWON6/
 | "Brotherhood of The Bomb: The Tangled Lives & Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence & Edward Teller" [2002] by Smithsonian historian Gregg Herken behind-the-scenes account based on a decade of research, interviews, and newly-released Freedom of Information Act documents and Russian documents Kindle Edition from Henry Holt & Co. [9/2002] for $11.99 Holt Paperbacks 8½x5½ pb [9/2003] for $29.99 Henry Holt & Co. 9½x6½ hardcover [9/2002] out of print/used |
 | "Oppenheimer: Portrait of An Enigma" [2004] by Jeremy Bernstein
Ivan R. Dee 8c5¼ pb [8/2005] for $10.17 Ivan R. Dee 8¾x5¾ hardcover [4/2004] for $16.50 |
 | "J. Robert Oppenheimer and The American Century" [2004] by Prof. David C. Cassidy
Kindle Edition from Plunkett Lake Press [4/2017] for $9.99 Johns Hopkins Univ Press 9x6 pb [8/2009] for $18.67 Pi Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [8/2004] for $27.37 "The Captivating Story of The Rise and Fall of One of America’s Greatest Scientists" [C-SPAN2's Book TV Oct 2004] Prof. Cassidy speaks at the New York Public Library; no entry found on IMDb watch full lecture [4/2017 upload; 1:20:30] online at YouTube |
"The Teflon Scientist: An Unorthodox View of The Oppenheimer Case" [2004] by Stanley Bowes
http://www.amazon.com/Teflon-Scientist-Unorthodox-View-Oppenheimer/dp/1413442455/
"Reappraising Oppenheimer: Centennial Studies & Reflections" [Univ of CA, 2005]
by Cathryn Carson ISBN 0-9672617-3-2
http://www.amazon.com/Reappraising-Oppenheimer-Centennial-Studies-Reflections/dp/0967261732/
"Giants of Science: J. Robert Oppenheimer" [2005] by Toney Allman
http://www.amazon.com/Giants-Science-J-Robert-Oppenheimer/dp/1567118895/
"Oppenheimer and The Manhattan Project: Insights Into J. Robert Oppenheimer, Father of The Atomic Bomb"
[2005] by Cynthia C. Kelly
http://www.amazon.com/Oppenheimer-Manhattan-Project-Insights-Robert/dp/981256599X/
 | "109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer & The Secret City of Los Alamos" [2005] by Jennet Conant S&S 8½x5½ pb [5/2006] for $10.78 S&S 9½x6½ hardcover [4/2005] for $16.98 Audioworks ABR audio CD [4/2005] for $18.87 Audioworks ABR audio [4/2005] for $17.16 | |
 | "The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer & The Birth of The Modern Arms Race" [2005] by Priscilla J. McMillan Book provides details of the effort to discredit Oppenheimer, occurring at the height of the blacklist era and sanctioned by a misinformed President Eisenhower - a chilling tale of McCarthy-era machinations that poisoned American politics for decades and created dangers that haunt us today Kindle Edition from Johns Hopkins Univ Press [3/2018] for $12.99 Johns Hopkins Univ Press 9x6 pb [3/2018] for $32.00 Penguin Books 8½x5½ pb [3/2006] out of print/used Viking 9¼x6½ hardcover [7/2005] for $16.35 | |
 | "Oppenheimer: The Tragic Intellect" [2006] by Charles Thorpe
professor of sociology uses events in Oppenheimer's wartime & postwar life to illustrate the struggles over the role of the scientist in relation to nuclear weapons, the state, and culture Kindle Edition from Univ Chicago Press [9/2008] for $24.99 {sic} Univ Chicago Press 9x6 pb [10/2008] for $34.00 Univ Chicago Press 9x6½ hardcover [12/2006] out of print/used Univ Chicago Press hardcover [1/2007] out of print/used | |
 | "J. Robert Oppenheimer: A Life" [2006] by Abraham Pais, with Robert P. Crease Oxford Univ Press hardcover [4/2006] for $18.90 |
"J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Brain Behind The Bomb (Inventors Who Changed the World)"
[2007] by Glenn Scherer & Marty Fletcher
http://www.amazon.com/J-Robert-Oppenheimer-Inventors-Changed/dp/1598450506/
"Oppenheimer Is Watching Me" [Univ of Iowa Press, 2007] Jeff Porter ISBN 1-58729-616-0
http://www.amazon.com/Oppenheimer-Watching-Me-Memoir-Sightline/dp/1587296160/
"U.F.O. Secrecy and The Fall of J. Robert Oppenheimer" [Sep 24, 2008]
by Donald R. & Mollie L. Burleson
http://www.amazon.com/UFO-Secrecy-Fall-Robert-Oppenheimer/dp/0964958066/
"The Redemption of Oppenheimer" [Oct 21, 2008] by Robert Montagnese new: $14.49
http://www.amazon.com/Redemption-Oppenheimer-Robert-Montagnese/dp/1438915152/
"A Life In Twilight: The Final Years of J. Robert Oppenheimer" [Nov 11, 2008] by Mark Wolverton
http://www.amazon.com/Life-Twilight-Final-Robert-Oppenheimer/dp/0312374402/
 | "Einstein and Oppenheimer: The Meaning of Genius" [2008] by Silvan S. Schweber Harvard Univ Press 9x6¼ hardcover [4/2008] for $19.77 | |
 | "J. Robert Oppenheimer, The Cold War & The Atomic West" [2009] by Jon Hunner Univ OK Press 8½x5¾ hardcover [10/2009] for $17.96 | |
 | "Trinity: A Graphic History of The First Atomic Bomb" [2012] by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm powerful renderings that showcase J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Gen. Leslie Groves Kindle Edition from Hill & Wang [11/2023] for $9.99 
Hill & Wang 9x6 pb [5/2013] for $15.49 Hill & Wang 9¼x6¼ hardcover [6/2012] out of print/used | |
 | "An Atomic Love Story: The Extraordinary Women In Robert Oppenheimer’s Life" [2013] by Shirley Streshinsky & Patricia Klaus well-researched limited biography featuring Oppenheimer's relationships with Jean Tatlock, wife Kitty Harrison Oppenheimer, and married Ruth Sherman Tolman Kindle Edition from Turner Publng [9/2013] for $9.99 Turner Publng 9¼x6¼ hardcover [9/2013] for $20.17 | |
 | "Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside The Center" [2013] by Prof. Ray Monk
Kindle Edition from Anchor Books [5/2013] for $10.99 Anchor Books 9¼x6 pb [3/2014] for $20.00 Vintage 7¾x5 pb [11/2013] out of print/used Random House 9½x6½ hardcover [5/2013] out of print/used | |
 | "Oppenheimer: Father of The Atomic Bomb" [2023] by A.J. Kingston  four 'books' in 312 pages: Book 1 = "Oppenheimer: The Scientific Visionary Behind The Atomic Bomb"; Book 2 = "Los Alamos Chronicles: J. Robert Oppenheimer and The Manhattan Project"; Book 3 = "The Trinity Test: Oppenheimer and The Birth of The Atomic Era"; and Book 4 = "Unveiling Shadows: Oppenheimer's Legacy In Hiroshima and Nagasaki" Kindle Edition from Pastor Publng Ltd. [5/2023] for $7.99 Pastor Publng Ltd. 9x6 pb [5/2023] for $39.95 | |
 | "J. Robert Oppenheimer: His Life and Times In A Coloring Book" [ages 8 & up; 2023] by Luella Inskeep 62-page indep 11x8½ pb [7/2023] for $8.49 | |
 | "Oppenheimer: The Atomic Intelligence - Inside The Brilliant Mind of Robert Oppenheimer, Father of The Atomic Bomb" essay [2023] by Edgar Wollstone 64-page A.J.S. 8x5 pb [7/2023] for $6.79 | |
 | "A Brief History of Robert Oppenheimer: From Quantum Mechanics To The Atomic Bomb - A Journey Through The Manhattan Project and Beyond" [ages 8-18; 2023] by 'Albert Neutron' A succinct yet richly-detailed biography, from Oppenheimer's early academic pursuits, through the clandestine corridors of the Manhattan Project in World War II, to the historical Trinity Test in the austere expanse of New Mexico, and further into the frosty period of the Cold War 104-page Kindle Edition from indep [7/2023] for $4.99 102-page Alex Gibbons 9x6 pb [8/2023] for $11.99 102-page indep 9x6 pb [7/2023] for $14.36 102-page indep 9x6 hardcover [7/2023] for $24.99 | |
 | "Pioneering Minds: J. Robert Oppenheimer - Beyond The Blast: A Deep Dive Into His Life's Triumph, Facing Tragedy, and Legacy {J.R.O. Legacy Series}" [2023] by Julian R. Stonebridge meticulously-researched Oppenheimer biography; NOTE: awkward wording of some titles and text suggest that the author may be an E.S.L. person Kindle Edition from indep [8/2023] for $5.99 indep 8x5 pb [8/2023] for $13.99 indep 8½x5½ hardcover [8/2023] for $20.99 | |
 | "Robert Oppenheimer: The Biography" [2023] by Clarie Myman
65-page Kindle Edition from indep [8/2023] for $3.00 119-page indep 9x6 pb [8/2023] for $10.30 |
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The J. Robert Oppenheimer Lecture "Anticipating A New Golden Age" [U.C. Berkeley March 2010]
delivered by Nobel-laureate Frank Wilczek, professor at M.I.T.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=914jzZ4LXcU 1:20:01
"Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside The Center" book tour lectures by Ray Monk
May 2013 public lecture at the Institute for Adanced Study [est. 1930] in Princeton, New Jersey
watch full lecture [2/2014 upload; 2:13:46] online at YouTube
Jan 2014 public lecture at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna
watch full lecture [2/2016 upload; 1:22:04] online at YouTube
Fiction About J. Robert Oppenheimer
 | "Oh Pure and Radiant Heart" [2005 fantasy novel] by Lydia Millet A shy librarian in Santa Fe, New Mexico discovers that three atomic scientists watching the Trinity Test in 1945 – Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard & Enrico Fermi – have transported sixty years into the future, where they must re-examine their legacy. Harvest 7¾x5¼ pb [7/2006] for $10.20 Soft Skull Press 9½x6½ hardcover [6/2005] for $19.00 publisher bookpage • author website | |
 | "Trinity: A Novel" [2018] by Louisa Hall A kaleidoscopic novel about Robert Oppenheimer - father of the atomic bomb - as told by seven fictional characters Kindle Edition from EccoPress [10/2018] for $13.99 EccoPress 8x5¼ pb [7/2019] for $10.99 EccoPress 8¼x5½ hardcover [10/2018] for $20.23 French-language Kindle Edition from Editions Gallimard [2/2020] for $17.99 French-language Editions Gallimard 8x5½ pb [2/2020] for $38.35 | |
 | "The Oppenheimer Alternative" sci-fi novel [2020] by Robert J. Sawyer Edward Teller’s research leads to the terrifying discovery that by the mid-XXIst Century, the sun will eject its outermost layer, destroying the entire planet Earth; Robert Oppenheimer, director of the secret Manhattan Project, combines forces with physicists Albert Einstein, Hans Bethe, Freeman Dyson, Enrico Fermi, Richard P. Feynman, Leo Szilard, John von Neumann, and Kurt Gödel - plus rocket scientist Wernher von Braun - in a race against time to save our planet; book won Helicon, Hugo, and Nebula awards Kindle Edition from SFwriter.com, Inc. [6/2020] for $4.99 Caezik SF & Fantasy 9x6 pb [6/2020] for $11.49 SFwriter.com, Inc. 9x6 pb [6/2020] out of print/used |
Motion Pictures & Television
J. Robert Oppenheimer credits [since 1949] at Internet Movie Database
see more Atomic Cinema (B.B.C. & I.T.V. documentaries, dramatizations, animated films, etc.)
on Spirit of America's Atomic Film Festival Pages
"The Beginning or The End" [M.G.M. Feb 1947]
 | Billed as a docudrama; the story of the atomic bomb; film's U.S. theatrical trailer masqueraded as an M.G.M. short subject with the title 'The Inquiring Reporter' • Produced by Samuel Marx; directed by Norman Taurog; written by Robert Considine & Frank Wead; art direction by Cedric Gibbons & Hans Peters; starring Brian Donlevy {as Gen. Groves}, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Beverly Tyler, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn {as J. Robert Oppenheimer}, Hurd Hatfield, Joseph Calleia {as Enrico Fermi}, Godfrey Tearle {as Pres. Roosevelt}, Victor Francen, Richard Haydn, Jonathan Hale {as Vannevar Bush}, John Litel, Henry O'Neill, Warner Anderson, Barry Nelson {as Paul Tibbetts Jr.}, Art Baker {as Pres. Truman}, Ludwig Stössel {as Albert Einstein}, John Hamilton, Frank Ferguson {as James B. Conant}, Tom Stevenson, John Gallaudet {as Leo Szilard}, Nella Walker, Edward Earle, Moroni Olsen, Norman Lloyd, Jim Davis, Charles Trowbridge, Frank Wilcox, Henry Hall, Paul Harvey, James Bush {as Ernest O. Lawrence}, Trevor Bardette, Blake Edwards, Bobby Jordan, Tommy Kelly, Patricia Medina, Chris-Pin Martin, Guy Williams {as bombardier on the Enola Gay}
Warner Archive Collection b&w DVD-R [9/2015] for $16.38 full credits at IMDb • watch official 'Inquiring Reporter' trailer [1/2014 upload; 5:05] online at YouTube |
"A Conversation With J. Robert Oppenheimer" [aired Jan 1955]
Season 4, Episode 18 of the "See It Now" documentary TV series [CBS-TV 1951-58]
 | 26-minute interview inside Robert Oppenheimer's office at the Institute for Adanced Study [est. 1930] in Princeton, New Jersey • Co-produced by Fred W. Friendly; co-produced, written & hosted by Edward R. Murrow [1908-65]; directed by Don Hewitt; featuring Robert Oppenheimer
full credits at IMDb • watch full episode [2/2014 upload; 25:49] online at YouTube episode transcript at the 'Famous Trials' website |
"Oppenheimer: The Decision To Drop the Bomb"
[NBC-TV White Paper Jan 1965]
 | NBC-TV "White Paper" report on the 135 days from April 1945 to the bombing of Japan in August 1945 90-minute documentary executive producer Irving Gitlin; co-produced, written & co-directed by Fred Freed; co-produced & co-directed by Len Giovannitti; reported by Chet Huntley; consultant Michael Amrine; featuring physicist Leo Szilard, Gen. Leslie Groves, President Truman, Sec. of War Henry L. Stimson, John McCloy, James F. Byrnes, McGeorge Bundy; Japanese figures Koichi Kido, Col. Toshio Hayashi, Sec. Shiramizu, LtGen Seizo Arisue, Sunesu Wachi?; R. Gordon Arneson, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, James B. Conant, physicist Arthur Compton, chemist Glenn T. Seaborg, Navy Sec. Ralph Bard, chemist George Kistiakowsky, physicist Edward Teller, Groves deputy MajGen Thomas Francis Farrell, engineer Vannevar Bush, Kenneth T. Bainbridge, chemist Donald Hornig, USAAF navigator Theodore Van Kirk, NBC historian Michael Beschloss partial credits at IMDb • no entry at Wikipedia • DVD/Blu-ray not available watch full movie with ads [1:26:59] online at YouTube |
  | "The Decision To Drop the Bomb: A Political History" [1965] |
"Oppenheimer: Father of The Atomic Bomb" TV mini-series
[B.B.C./WGBH-TV = U.K. Oct 1980, USA May 1982]
 | 7-episode color TV mini-series about the American physicist who led the top-secret 'Manhattan Project' to develop the atomic bomb during World War II. After the bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki, he suffers increasing ambivalence about the effect of his life's work, which leads to suspicion as a security risk during the McCarthy 'red scare' oppression of the 1950s • Directed by Barry Davis; written by Peter Prince; narrated by John Carson; starring Sam Waterston {as Oppenheimer}, Jana Shelden, David Suchet, Manning Redwood, Christopher Muncke, Edward Hardwicke, Matthew Guinnes, Bob Sherman, John Morton, Garrick Hagon & Peter Marinker; won 3 BAFTA Awards
full credits at IMDb • series entry at Wikipedia B.B.C. Warner widescreen color DVD [9/2008] 3 disks - out of prodn/SOLD OUT! 11/2015 fan-made clip/trailer for DVD [2:21] online at YouTube |
watch Episode 1 [7/2023 upload; 58:07] online at YouTube = blocked by B.B.C. Studios (2023)
watch Episode 1 [7/2023 upload; 57:31] online at YouTube = blocked by B.B.C. Studios (2023)
watch Episode 2 [7/2023 upload; 57:08] online at YouTube = blocked by B.B.C. Studios (2023)
episode 3 is not available at YouTube, reason unknown (8/2023)
watch Episode 4 [7/2023 upload; 1:00:18] online at YouTube = blocked by B.B.C. Studios (2023)
watch Episode 5 [7/2023 upload; 1:01:22] online at YouTube = blocked by B.B.C. Studios (2023)
watch Episode 6 [7/2023 upload; 1.00.00] online at YouTube = blocked by B.B.C. Studios (2023)
watch Episode 7 [7/2023 upload; 1:08:33] online at YouTube = blocked by B.B.C. Studios (2023)
"The Day After Trinity" documentary feature [KTEH-TV/PBS Jan 1981]
  | Co-produced, co-written & directed by Jon Else; co-written by David Webb Peoples & Janet Peoples; narrated by Paul Frees; featuring Hans Bethe, Holm Bursom, Haakon Chevalier, Stirling Colgate, Freeman Dyson, Susan Evans, Francis Fergusson, Elizabeth Ingram, Robert Krohn, Dave MacDonald, Dorothy McKibben, Frank Oppenheimer, Isidor Isaac 'I.I.' Rabi, Robert Serber, Francoise Ulam, Stanislaw Ulam, Jane Wilson, Robert R. Wilson, with archive footage of
Leslie Groves, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Harry S. Truman; nominated for Best Documentary Oscar, won A.C.E. & Peabody awards
Image Ent. color DVD [5/2002] for $21.99 Pyramid Home Video color VHS [8/91] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia watch shortened movie in 3 parts [8/2016 upload; total 1:30:02] online at Internet Archive watch Italian-dubbed movie [12/2014 upload; 1:54:45] online at Internet Archive |
"Day One" TV movie [Spelling Ent./CBS-TV March 1989]
  | Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard leaves Europe and with the help of Albert Einstein, he persuades the government to build an atomic bomb. The project is given to no-nonsense Gen. Leslie Groves who selects physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to head the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where the bomb is built. As World War II draws to a close, Szilard has second thoughts about atomic weapons, and policy makers debate how and when to use the bomb • Exec produced by Aaron Spelling & E. Duke Vincent; directed by Joseph Sargent; teleplay by David W. Rintels, based on the 1985 book by Peter Wyden; starring Brian Dennehy {as Gen. Leslie Groves}, David Strathairn {as J. Robert Oppenheimer}, Michael Tucker {as Leo Szilard}, Hume Cronyn {as James F. Byrnes}, Richard Dysart {as Pres. Truman}, Hal Holbrook {as Gen. George Marshall}, Barnard Hughes {as Henry Stimson}, John McMartin {as Dr. Arthur Compton}, David Ogden Stiers {as Pres. Roosevelt}, Anne Twomey {as Kitty Oppenheimer}, Ron Frazier {as Col. Pash}, Olek Krupa {as Edward Teller}, Gary Reineke {as Dwight D. Eisenhower}, John Seitz {as Ralph A. Bard}, Tony Shalhoub {as Enrico Fermi}, Peter Boretski {as Albert Einstein}, Patrick Breen {as Richard Feynman}, Vlasta Vrana {as Hans Bethe}, Lorne Brass {as spy Klaus Fuchs}, Alan Scarfe, Ester Spitz, Ron White, George Popovich, Lawrence Dane, Bernie McInerney, John Pielmeier, Ken Pogue, Stephan/István Bálint, Michael Sinelnikoff, Graham Haley, Fritz Buchinger, Kliment Denchev, Diana Fajrajsl, Timothy Webber, Harry Standjofski, Lia Sargent, David Gow, Michael Farrell, Isabelle Mejias, Jonathan Wise, George R. Robertson, Dee McCafferty, Tom Butler, Robert Morelli, Jon Baggaley, David Bolt, David Ferry, Heinar Piller, François Klanfer, Joel Miller, Michael J. Reynolds, Ed McGibbon, Nicholas Kilbertus, Joe Cazalet, Scott Thomson, Bob Clout, Roland Hewgill, Stan Gibbons, Terrence Labrosse, Frederick Neumann; won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia 140-minute C.B.S. Home Ent. color DVD [12/2016] for $22.99 |
 | "Day One: Before Hiroshima and After" [1985] by Peter H. Wyden
author Wyden skillfully weaves together all the strands, stories, and characters, including the scientific, political, moral, military, and human viewpoints, and provides a full understanding of how the bomb was created, why it was used, and what the aftermath of those decisions has been Simon & Schuster 8x5 pb [4/2014] for $26.99 Warner Books pb [1985] out of print/used Simon & Schuster hardcover [1985] for $19.95 Simon & Schuster hardcover [1985] out of print/used |
 | "Hiroshima: 60th Anniversary" DVD Box Set [History Channel 2005] Five 50-minute episodes from diverse History Channel series: "Hiroshima: The Decision To Drop The Bomb" {IMDb}; "Tech Effect: Hiroshima" {IMDb}; "J. Robert Oppenheimer: Father of The Atomic Bomb" {IMDb}; "Man, Moment, Machine: Oppenheimer & The Atomic Bomb" {IMDb}; and "Modern Marvels: The Manhattan Project" {IMDb} A&E 4-hour-plus DVD set [undated] 2 disks - out of prodn/used |
"American Experience: The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer" docudrama
[P.B.S. airdate 26 Jan 2009]
 | 2-hour combination of archive footage, interviews, and dramatization of Oppenheimer's testimony based on the official 1954 hearing transcript • Co-produced, co-written & directed by David Grubin; co-written by Charles Olivier; narrated by Campbell Scott; featuring David Strathairn {as J. Robert Oppenheimer}, actor Michael Cumpsty {as prosecutor Roger Robb}, physicist Harold Agnew, Jeremy Bernstein, physicist Robert Christy, Freeman Dyson, Boyd Gaines {voice of Chairman Gray}, actor Daniel Gerroll {as Col. Pash}, physicist Roy J. Glauber, physicist Marvin L. Goldberger, actress Ellen Katz {as stenographer}, Priscilla McMillan, Richard Rhodes, historian Martin J. Sherwin, Michael Stuhlbarg {as Edward Teller}, physicist Herbert F. York, with archive footage of J. Robert Oppenheimer & Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and J. Edgar Hoover
full credits at IMDb • second credits at IMDb without Strathairn ! • P.B.S. official movie site P.B.S. Home Video widescreen color DVD [3/2009] for $24.49 watch official trailer [0:30] online at P.B.S. watch 'Behind The Scenes' video [5:54] online at P.B.S. watch full color movie [7/2023 upload; 1:50:03] online at YouTube |
"Oppenheimer vs Heisenberg" [National Geographic Channel June 2015]
Episode #6 of the "American Genius" TV mini-series
 | A look at two physicists during World War II - J. Robert Oppenheimer and Werner Heisenberg [1901-76] - on opposite sides of the race for the first atomic bomb. • Directed by Richard Lopez; written by Chelsea Coates & Ted Poole; narrated by Jeff Wilburn; starring Ryan Wesley Gilreath {as Oppenheimer}, Yosef Podolski {as Heisenberg}, Dan Brennan {as Leslie Groves}, David Mitchum Brown {as President Truman}, Tom Myers, Nicholas Augusta, Joanna Burke, Lawrence Derx, Craig Wesley Divino, Justin Gardner, Riva Gijanto, Debbie Hartner, Jamie Hodge, John S. Howell Sr., Nick Lakey, Mike Marunde, Chaz Riddle, Vivian Thompson, Paul Wallis, Allen Williamson, Mark Falvo
episode credits at IMDb • series credits at IMDb watch full episode [8/2017 upload; 58:40] online at YouTube Fox widescreen color DVD [10/2015] 2 disks - SOLD OUT ! Amazon Instant Video [2015] HD episode purchase $1.99 each, HD season purchase $11.99 {saves $3.93} |
"Oppenheimer: Destroyer of Worlds" documentary [People Profiles July 2023]
 | Produced by People Profiles channel which seeks funding on Patreon Co-produced & directed by Ned Elliott; narrated by Alexander McConnell not listed at IMDb • DVD/Blu-ray not yet available watch 7/2023 full docufilm [1:01:29] online at YouTube |
"Oppenheimer: Father of The Bomb" documentary [History City July 2023]
 | Narrated by Jack Murphy; written & edited by Jase Mayhugh not listed at IMDb • DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • watch full movie [58:54] online at YouTube |
"Oppenheimer: The True Story of The Man Behind The Atomic Bomb"
documentary [Informed Facts July 2023]
 | female narrator; credits not found not listed at IMDb • DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • watch 7/2023 full multi-part movie [58:55] online at YouTube |
"The Enigmatic Story of J. Robert Oppenheimer"
documentary short film [July 2023]
 | male robotic narrator; credits not found not listed at IMDb • DVD/Blu-ray not available watch 7/2023 short film [5:14] online at YouTube |
"Oppenheimer: The Real Story" documentary film
[Reel 2 Reel Films/Trinity streaming July 2023]
 | 97-minute documentary film examines Oppenheimer's life from his early years to his involvement with nuclear physics and his later advocacy for nuclear weapons controls, featuring brand new interviews and insights from those who knew him and those impacted by his legacy • Produced by Jason Fenwick; written, directed & edited by Robin Bextor; featuring authors Kai Bird & Ray Monk, archive footage •
bare credits at IMDb
Trinity Creative DVD [10/2023] for $9.99 Amazon Instant Video [7/2023] HD rental $4.99, HD purchase $9.99 watch 7/2023 official trailer [1:33] online at YouTube |
"Oppenheimer: Genius or Madman?"
documentary [Wownow Ent. July 2023]
 | Directed by Mitch Carterfield; narrated by Chris Harvey not yet listed at IMDb • Wownow Ent. color DVD [7/2023] for $13.99 watch full movie [42:36] free online at tubiTV |
"To End All War: Oppenheimer & The Atomic Bomb"
TV docufilm [NBC News Studios July 2023]
 | 87-minute exploration of how one man's brilliance, hubris, and relentless drive changed the nature of war forever Co-produced & directed by Christopher Cassel; author Kai Bird, Ellen Bradbury Reid, Alan B. Carr (senior historian, Los Alamos National Laboratory), author Jennet Conant, David Eisenbach (Columbia Univ), filmmaker Jon Else, author Gregg Herken, theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku, writer-director Christopher Nolan, science educator Bill Nye, grandson Charles Oppenheimer, author Richard Rhodes, nuclear security expert Dr. Mareena Robinson Snow-den, nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein; with archive footage of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein, Gen. Leslie Groves (voice), Adolf Hitler, Joseph McCarthy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, Lewis Strauss, Edward Teller, Harry S. Truman, Judy Woodruff (voice) • full credits at IMDb • official movie site DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • watch 7/2023 official MSNBC/Peacock trailer [1:01] online at Vimeo |
Christopher Nolan’s "Oppenheimer" biopic [Universal Pictures July 2023]
Christopher Nolan’s "Oppenheimer" has become the highest-grossing film set during World War II, passing "Dunkirk" and "Saving Private Ryan"
with a historic $500+ million global box-office haul (per C.N.N. 8/2023).
  | Announced 9/2021: Universal Pictures acquired rights to finance & distribute the film to be written & directed by filmmaker Christopher Nolan; announced 11/2021: Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr. & Emily Blunt are in talks to join Cillian Murphy in the film about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist whose Manhattan Project led to the invention of the atomic bomb; location filming in Los Alamos & Abiquiu in New Mexico, and in California & New Jersey • 3-hour IMAX-format movie; co-produced by Charles Roven & Emma Thomas; co-produced, written & directed by Christopher Nolan; based on the 2005 book "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird & Martin Sherwin; music by Ludwig Göransson; starring Cillian Murphy {as Robert Oppenheimer}, Emily Blunt {as Kitty Oppenheimer}, Florence Pugh {as Jean Tatlock}, Kenneth Branagh {as Niels Bohr}, Robert Downey Jr. {as Lewis Strauss}, Gary Oldman {as Harry Truman}, Gustaf Skarsgård {as Hans Bethe}, Matt Damon {as Gen. Leslie Groves, Jr.}, Michael Caine {cameo in trailer only}, Jack Quaid {as Richard Feynman}, Michael Angarano, Rami Malek, Jason Clarke, James D'Arcy, Josh Hartnett {as Ernest Lawrence}, David Dastmalchian, Josh Peck, Tony Goldwyn, Dane DeHaan, Olivia Thirlby, David Krumholtz {as Isidor Rabi}, Matthew Modine {as Vannevar Bush}, Alex Wolff, Benny Safdie {as Edward Teller}, Matthias Schweighöfer {as Werner Heisenberg}, James Remar, Alden Ehrenreich, Máté Haumann {as Leo Szilard}, Tom Conti {as
Albert Einstein},
Hap Lawrence {as Lyndon Johnson}, Christine Heneise {as Lady Bird Johnson}, Troy Bronson {as Joseph W. Kennedy}, Ryan Stubo {as Paul Dirac}, Scott Grimes, Emma Dumont, Devon Bostick, Louise Lombard, Dylan Arnold, Christopher Denham {as spy Klaus Fuchs}, Danny Deferrari {as Enrico Fermi}, David Rysdahl, Josh Zuckerman, Guy Burnet, Gregory Jbara, Harrison Gilbertson, Trond Fausa, Olli Haaskivi, Tom Jenkins, James Urbaniak {as Kurt Gödel}, Casey Affleck, Kurt Koehler, John Gowans, Macon Blair, Harry Groener, Ted King, Tim DeKay, Steven Houska, Rory Keane, Jessica Erin Martin, Sadie Stratton, Jefferson Hall, Britt Kyle, Michael Andrew Baker, Jeff Hephner, Brett DelBuono, Ronald Auguste, Jack Cutmore-Scott, Will Roberts, Pat Skipper, Steve Coulter
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia watch 1/2022 IMDb "All About ..." episode [1:49] at YouTube watch 4/2022 official trailer [1:11] at YouTube watch 5/2023 official trailer [3:06] at YouTube watch 7/2023 excerpts video [5:11] at YouTube watch 7/2023 'Pushing The Button' featurette [6:25] at YouTube |
 | "Oppenheimer: The Complete Screenplay" [2023] by Christopher Nolan The complete screenplay of Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" movie, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 2005 book "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin; script is written in first person viewpoint of Oppenheimer 150-page Faber & Faber pb [8/2023] out of print/used | |
 | "Unleashing Oppenheimer: Inside Christopher Nolan's Explosive Atomic-Age Thriller" [2023] by Jada Yuan, Foreword by Christopher Nolan Big coffee-table book that traces the creation of Nolan’s latest film from script to screen through exclusive interviews with the director and his cast & crew, plus electrifying visuals from the film including on-set photos, concept art, research materials, and storyboards Kindle Edition from Insight Editions [7/2023] for $17.99 Insight Editions 10x11 hardcover [10/2023] for $50.99 |
"Fandango Big Stars" podcast [est. 4/2008] with Jacqueline Coley
7/2023 episode "The ‘Oppenheimer’ Cast on Filming the Trinity Test, Immersing Themselves in Their Characters & More"
watch full podcast with ads [29:36] online at YouTube
"Stream Wars: Making of ‘Oppenheimer’" docufilm [2023]
Best Of Behind The Scenes & Set Visit With Christopher Nolan | UPI
watch 7/2023 full podcast with ads [16:49] online at YouTube
The 'Barbenheimer' phenomenon of Summer 2023
 | The simultaneous theatrical release of very different potential blockbusters "Barbie" [Warner Bros. Pictures] and "Oppenheimer" [Universal Pictures] on 21 July 2023 caught the attention of internet bloggers who coined the term 'Barbenheimer' and created posters and other merchandise for the combination. Rather than causing a competition, the conversation swirled around seeing both films on the same day (which one first?, etc) and some theater venues even had special dual-ticket pricing. Both films received critical acclaim and exceeded box-office expectations: their joint opening weekend was the fourth-largest ever at the American box office, and both rank among the highest-grossing films of 2023. The films earned a combined 21 nominations at the 96th Academy Awards; both films were nominated for Best Picture, which "Oppenheimer" won. |
"Oppenheimer: The Atomic Alchemist"
documentary [Clear I.A.S. Aug 2023]
 |
tagline: 'The Real Story of J. Robert Oppenheimer'; female narrator has strong Bengali? accent, which includes mis-pronouncing surname as 'oh-pen-HAY-mer'; the ClearIAS company of Kerala, India streams educational courses, including for civil service exams
credits not found, not listed at IMDb • DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • watch 8/2023 full movie [59:02] free online at YouTube |
"Oppenheimer, Technology, and Today"
podcast [The Nation Magazine Sept 2023]
 | featuring Kai Bird - the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer & author of "American Prometheus" [2005], the book that inspired the hit film "Oppenheimer" - in conversation with Editorial Director & Publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel and London-based editor D.D. Guttenplan of The Nation Magazine on topics J. Robert Oppenheimer, the context of the Manhattan Project and the Cold War, and how and why Oppenheimer’s legacy remains relevant today
not yet listed at IMDb • DVD/Blu-ray not available |
"Oppenheimer: Father of The Atomic Age - with Kai Bird" [podcast Sept 2023]
Season 14, episode 54 of astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk Radio Show podcast series [since 2009]
 | host Neil deGrasse Tyson interviews historian Kai Bird, co-author of the "American Prometheus" 2005 biography • bare credits at IMDb watch 9/2023 full episode [52:19] online at YouTube |
Stageplays, Other Media
 | "Bhagavad Gita (Divine Song): A Timeless Guide To Inner Wisdom" Hindu scripture [2nd Century B.C.E.] by Vyasa (Krishna Dvaipayana) Prakash Books 6x5 deluxe hardcover [11/2019] for $11.50 Oppenheimer cover & illustrations by Sankalp Sadekar Kindle Edition from indep [7/2023] for $2.99 new translation by W.J. Johnson Oxford Univ Press 7½x5 pb [9/2009] for $8.95 translation by Franklin Edgerton of Harvard [1952] Kindle Edition from Harvard Univ Press [1972 edition] for $30.40 {sic} Harvard Univ Press 8½x5½ pb [1972] for $28.80 Harvard Univ Press hardcover [1972] out of print/used 1952 edition Part I available as free online flip-book at Internet Archive 1952 edition Part II available as free online flip-book at Internet Archive |
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  | "In der Sache J. Robert Oppenheimer" ("In The Matter of ...") [1964 stageplay] by Heinar Kipphardt of Germany Oppenheimer was angry about the play and threatened to sue Kipphardt. "The whole damn thing [his security hearing] was a farce, and these people are trying to make a tragedy out of it." • stageplay entry at German Wikipedia Hill & Wang 8x5 pb playscript [6/68] for $16.00 Hill & Wang 8x5 pb playscript [2/69] out of print/used Hill & Wang English-language 8¼x5¾ hardcover [1968] out of print/used Hill & Wang 8¼x5¾ hardcover [2/69] out of print/used Rowohlt Taschenbuch German-language edition pb [1998] out of print/used Harcourt Brace Jovanovich German-language edition pb [8/72] out of print/used Gontheir/Denoel French-language mass pb [12/81] import/scarce |
"In der Sache J. Robert Oppenheimer" bei Heinar Kipphardt, mit Fritz Schröder-Jahn, Hans Nielsen
listen to 4-part audio recording [11/2021 upload; total 1:59:51] online at Internet Archive
"In der Sache J. Robert Oppenheimer" bei Heinar Kipphardt, directed by Amido Hoffmann, mit Josef Offenbach, Hanns Ernst Jäger,
Hans Stöckl, Paul Dattel, Hans-Helmut Dickow, Alfons Hörckmann, Rudolf Hammacher, Walter Kiesler, Wolfgang Rottsieper,
Joachim Ernst, Alfons Hoffmann, Peter Pöschl, Johannes von Spallart, Erwin Parker, Amido Hoffmann
listen to audio recording [11/2020 upload; 1:51:00] online at Internet Archive
"In der Sache J. Robert Oppenheimer" [German TV Jan 1964]
Directed by Gerhard Klingenberg; written by Heinar Kipphardt; credits at IMDb
"In der Sache J. Robert Oppenheimer" remake [German TV 1981]
Directed by Dieter Giesing; written by Heinar Kipphardt; credits at IMDb
® ®
"The Oppenheimer Affair: A Political Play In Three Acts" [1968]
by Joseph Boskin
Glencoe Press pb [1968] out of print/used
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"The Love Song of J Robert Oppenheimer" [2004 stageplay] by Carson Kreitzer
2009 performance at Custom Made Theatre Company in San Francisco, CA
2009 rehearsal video from performance at Le Chat Noir in Augusta, GA
2009 performance at Mother Road Theatre Company in Albuquerque, NM
Dramatists Publng hardcover playscript [1/2006] out of print/used
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 | "Oppenheimer: Meet The Father of The Atomic Bomb" stageplay [2015] by Tom Morton-Smith new play that takes us into the heart of the Manhattan Project, revealing the personal cost of making history; performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2015 in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until it transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End in March-May 2015; American premiere at Rogue Machine Theatre in West Hollywood, California in Oct-Dec 2018, directed by John Perrin Flynn Kindle Edition from Oberon Modern Plays [1/2015] for $9.99 96-page Oberon Modern Plays 8¼x5½ pb [9/2015] for $16.95 stageplay entry at Wikipedia • author's stageplay homepage watch 2/2015 Royal Shakespeare Co. official trailer [1:43] online at YouTube |
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"Doctor Atomic: The Opera" [San Francisco Opera Oct 2005] Focuses on Robert Oppenheimer, his wife Kitty, and Gen. Leslie Groves before and after the Trinity bomb test in 1945. Music by John Adams, libretto by Peter Sellars that quotes from declassified historical documents as well as the Bhagavad Gita, songs of the Tewa Indians, and poetry of Charles Baudelaire, John Donne & Muriel Rukeyser. Premiered in San Francisco in October 2005; restaged for Netherlands TV in June 2007 • full credits at IMDb • entry at Wikipedia Directed by Peter Sellars, starring Gerald Finley, Kristine Jepson or Jessica Rivera & Eric Owens Opus Arte widescreen color Blu-ray [3/2009] for $26.99 Opus Arte widescreen color DVD [9/2008] for $39.99 Nonesuch symphony CD [7/2009] for $13.99 |
 |
"Wonders Are Many: The Making of Doctor Atomic" [ITVS May 2008] 92-minute documentary tracing a 'dazzling double-helix trajectory': one thread follows composer John Adams and director Peter Sellars; the second thread recounts the actual historical events Directed by Jon Else • full credits at IMDb Docurama color DVD [2/2009] for $24.49 |
more details (synopsis, 2009 symposium, books & ebooks, links, merchandise) on Spirit of America Bookstore's
Los Alamos, NM & The Manhattan Project Page / Stageplays Section
"Doctor Atomic: J. Robert Oppenheimer - The Man, The Manager, The Physicist" at C.U.N.Y. symposium 11/2008
The opera "Doctor Atomic" is about J. Robert Oppenheimer, pioneer in quantum mechanics and the key scientist behind the first atom bomb;
brilliant, driven,
and controversial, he lost his security clearance during the McCarthy hysteria of the early 1950s. Historians Robert Crease and David Cassidy join physicist Jeremy
Bernstein, a former student of Oppenheimer, to consider Oppenheimer as a scientist and as a man; moderated by NYU Prof. Emeritus Benjamin Bederson
watch full lecture/panel [1/2009 upload; 1:31:43] online at YouTube
± ±
 | "Ploughshares Fund Podcast: Pop Culture In The Atomic Age" [Sept 2023] episode guests include nuclear weapons historian Alex Wellerstein and John Pope (Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists) listen to 9/2023 audio episode [11:46] free on Soundcloud Ploughshares Fund [] official website • Ploughshares Fund Facebook page | |
 | "Ploughshares Fund Podcast Special Episode: The Shadow of Oppenheimer" [Oct 2023]
featuring grandson Charles Oppenheimer and Dr. Emma Belcher audio episode will broadcast on October 3rd |
Image Gallery
looking for: eerie J.R. Oppenheimer oil portrait by Scott Donaldsen, in the private collection of James Bristol of Santa Fe, New Mexico
Family & Friends & Colleagues
J. Robert Oppenheimer was born in April 1904 in New York City; he graduated summa cum laude at Harvard College in three years; he studied at Cambridge and then the University of Göttingen, receiving his PhD at age 23; he taught at Harvard and CalTech and U.C. Berkeley; he was director of the Manhattan Project's secret weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico from 9/1942 to 10/1945; after World War II, he became director of the Institute for Advanced Study [est. 1930] in Princeton, New Jersey. Oppenheimer testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in June 1949; his security clearance was suspended in December 1953, ending his government service; he was diagnosed with throat cancer in late 1965, underwent unsuccessful treatment & chemotherapy late in 1966, and died at his home in Princeton, New Jersey in February 1967 at age 62. He is known as 'the father of the atomic bomb'.
father Julius Oppenheimer [d. 1937]
mother Ella Friedman Oppenheimer [d. 1931]
wife Katherine Vissering 'Kitty' Puening Ramseyer Dallet Harrison Oppenheimer [1910-72] - married 11/1940, widowed 1967
daughter Katherine 'Toni' Oppenheimer Silber [1944-77]
son Peter Oppenheimer [b. 1941]
http://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/peter-oppenheimer
grandson Charles Oppenheimer
granddaughter Dorothy Oppenheimer Vanderford
granddaughter Ella Oppenheimer
girlfriend Estelle Caen Weymouth Barrett [1909-95] in the 1930s
piano prodigy, educator & sister of San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen [1916-97]
girlfriend Jean Tatlock [1914-44] - together 1936-39
daughter of a Berkeley literature professor and a student at Stanford University School of Medicine;
she wrote for Communist Party newspaper The Western Worker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Tatlock
lover Mrs. Ruth Sherman Tolman [1893-1957], 1945
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Sherman_Tolman
brother Frank Oppenheimer [1912-85]
entry at Wikipedia
 | "Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens: Frank Oppenheimer and The World He Made Up" [2009] by K.C. Cole Mariner Books pb [9/2010] price not defined - sign up to be notified Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 9x6 hardcover [8/2009] for $17.82 |
Colleagues
nuclear physicist Hans Bethe [1906-2005]
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967
German physicist Max Born [1882-1970], teacher at Univ of Görttingen, Germany during 1926
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954
fellow students there included Werner Heisenberg [1901-76], enrico fermi [1901-54], Edward Teller [1908-2003]
Percy williams Bridgman [1882-1961] - teacher at Harvard Univ
physicist Freeman Dyson, FRS [1923-2020]
physicist Albert Einstein [1879-1955], 1950s
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921
Verna Hobson [1923-2004]
Robert Oppenheimer’s secretary at Institute for Advanced Study, 1954-56
http://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/verna-hobson
http://www.manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/verna-hobsons-interview-part-1
http://www.manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/verna-hobsons-interview-part-2
http://www.manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/verna-hobsons-interview-part-3
diplomat & political analyst George F. Kennan [1904-2005], fellow at I.A.S. 1956-2005
Willis Lamb [1913-2008], 1938 doctoral student
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955
Ernest O. Lawrence [1901-58]
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for the invention of the cyclotron
theoretical physicist Tsung-Dao Lee [b. 1926] - fellow at I.A.S. and theoretical physicist Chen Ning Yang [b. 1922] - fellow at I.A.S. since 1949
awarded joint Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957 for their discovery of parity non-conservation
Dorothy Scarritt McKibbin [1897-1985]
the 'Gatekeeper' at 109 E. Palace Avenue and close friend & confidante of Oppenheimer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_McKibbin
close colleague physicist/historian Abraham Pais [1918-2000], fellow at I.A.S. 1947-63
Linus Pauling [1901-94], circa 1928
awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962
colleague and close confidante physicist Isidor Rabi [1898-1988]
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944
Ernest Rutherford [1871-1937] - nobel in chem 1908, teacher at cavendish laboratory, Cambridge Univ
physicist Henry DeWolf Smyth [1898-1986]
personal enemy theoretical physicist Edward Teller [1908-2003], known as 'the father of the hydrogen bomb'
Hans Bethe, Henry Smyth, and George Kennan gave moving eulogies - summaries of Robert Oppenheimer's life & career - at Oppie's funeral
Residences
ranch near Los Pinos in northern New Mexico, circa 1930s & 1940s - which he named Perro Caliente, literally 'hot dog' in Spanish
described by Oppie as "about three thousand meters high ... fifty-five miles by a very rough and terrible trail from there to Los Alamos"
The Oppenheimer House in Los Alamos, NM, resident 4/1943-10/1945
watch short 7/2018 video history [1:29] at YouTube
I.A.S. director's house at Olden Farms in Princeton, New Jersey - resident 1947-66
starting in 1954, the Oppenheimers lived for several months of the year on the island of Saint John in the U.S. Virgin Islands; in 1957,
he purchased a 2-acre (0.81 ha) tract of land on Gibney Beach, where he built a spartan home right on the beach
L i n k s
J. Robert Oppenheimer entry at Wikipedia
J. Robert Oppenheimer credits [1949-2010] at Internet Movie Database
search for books by Robert Oppenheimer {returns 13 titles} at Amazon
browse incomplete J. Robert Oppenheimer Store {returns only 4 titles} at Amazon
listed #48 on Atlantic Monthly's "100 Most Influential Americans" (12/2006)
Oppenheimer article on the Los Alamos National Laboratory website
Oppenheimer Centennial Exhibit [2004] at U.C. Berkeley
J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize [1969-84] given by University of Miami in Florida
here on the J. Robert Oppenheimer [1904-67] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore
top of page • short profile • writings & lectures • works about J. Robert Oppenheimer • movies & TV + 2023 "Oppenheimer" biopic •
other media • image gallery • family & friends • links
Spirit of America Bookstore's Los Alamos, NM & The Manhattan Project Pages
Spirit of America Bookstore's Atomic U.S.A. Pages
Spirit of America Bookstore's Atomic U.S.A. Books Page
Atomic Film Festival Pages at Spirit of America Bookstore
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