Oppenheimer picked the spot because of that. Yahoo fait partie de Verizon Media. Your comment will be published after validation. I remember as a kid coming across a video on YouTube where a guy named J Robert Oppenheimer talked about a bomb and how he remembered the line from a Hindu scripture "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." Make sure to familiarize yourself with our rules and guidelines before participating. There exactly right. This is a somewhat more serious subreddit compared to many others. I recently watched the "Untold History of the U.S." on Netflix and it covers this exact topic and mentions the exact quote. That phrase that came to mind then, taken from the sacred Hindu book Bhagavad Gita, has survived until today as his most celebrated quotation. Cookies help us deliver our Services. I hope you watched the same Rogan Clip I watched about this. Thanks! Vous pouvez modifier vos choix à tout moment dans vos paramètres de vie privée. The Manhattan Project was started in 1942. Nos partenaires et nous-mêmes stockerons et/ou utiliserons des informations concernant votre appareil, par l’intermédiaire de cookies et de technologies similaires, afin d’afficher des annonces et des contenus personnalisés, de mesurer les audiences et les contenus, d’obtenir des informations sur les audiences et à des fins de développement de produit. Oppenheimer’s words are often remembered as an illustrative synthesis of the vital process of a scientist who devoted his talent to developing the deadliest weapon ever invented by humans, and then embarked on a pacifist crusade that would last until the end of his days. /r/History is a place for discussions about history. The scientists just get used when the lawyers need a bigger club to fight with. Fun fact: the bomb was developed at Los Alamos in New Mexico because Oppenheimer used to go to the New Mexico mountains to go on multi-week horseback trips. The day the bomb dropped, he betrayed no hint of regret: Oppenheimer and his team were, in fact, jubilant. What I don't know is whether or not Oppenheimer ever regretted making the bomb on a moral level. It was never considered a "force multiplier" before we understood it. The bomb (like all other weapons science the club or sharp stick) is just one tiny aspect of the science involved and was created by lawyers and politicians at war. Neither did he say these words at that moment. Rewatching that video made me wonder whether or not this was the case, and if Truman pressured him into making it anyway. The film went back two decades to dissect the historical moment in which the decision was made to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. He did regret the horror of war after the bomb was dropped, and when work began on the H bomb he spoke out against it as he didn’t see a point to it’s creation, he had his life ruined by the government because of that. They picked up souvenirs. Truman didn't take office until April of 1945. Truman didn't know anything about the Manhattan Project for most of its existence. The bomb itself and ending the war he was ok with, but the militarism on auto-pilot that led the US to just cranking out vast number of bombs and then the development of the hydrogen bomb - he was very much against that and actually lost his security clearance over his opposition to the development of the hydrogen bomb. The first hour will tell you everything you need to know. He did not arrogate the role of a god. Was there really one? This commitment, coupled with his political convictions, led him to testify in 1954 before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, during the so-called witch-hunt promoted by Senator Joseph McCarthy. "Truman's War" is also a good read. didn't von neumann say something along the lines of, to take blame for the atomic bomb is also another way to take credit for it? He did not live to see World War I and the damage that dynamite could wreak. Julius Robert Oppenheimer, né le 22 avril 1904 à New York et mort le 18 février 1967 à Princeton (New Jersey, États-Unis), est un physicien américain qui s'est distingué en physique théorique puis comme directeur scientifique du Projet Manhattan. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Very informative book. À cause de son rôle éminent, il est régulièrement surnommé le « père de la bombe atomique » [17]. Two months later he would tell President Harry S. Truman that blood was on his hands. Looks like you're using new Reddit on an old browser. As a result, his security privileges were revoked and he was condemned to political ostracism. For all this, it is curious that in his final years Oppenheimer affirmed that, had he been able to go back, he would have done everything exactly the same, and that he did not regret having contributed to the success of the bomb. He was Arjuna, the prince destined to fulfill that unavoidable duty, a terrible test for a pacifist who had always been one, both before and after the bomb. Oppenheimer, from the Atomic Bomb to Pacifism. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. But the truth is that in more than two decades working for nuclear peace, the physicist never once said that he regretted building the bomb or recommending its use against Japan. *Your comment will be reviewed before being published, The Internet is not the Answer, but the Big Question, The Horses that Saved us From the "Strangling Angel", Obtaining human embryonic stem cells thru' therapeutic cloning, Ventana al Conocimiento (Knowledge Window), Three Benefits that Came from the Atomic Bomb, Enrico Fermi, the Architect of the Nuclear Age, Herd Immunity, a Double-Edged Idea Against the Pandemic, Wegener and His Theory of Continental Drift That Broke With Geologists. They have not prevailed. The Robert Oppenheimer line, from the Hindu sacred text the Bhagavad-Gita, has come to define the father of the atomic bomb, but its meaning is more complex than many realise Check out Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History episode “destroyer of worlds”. You’ll learn a lot. This shows how much we knew about fall-out back then. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Great book: “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” by Rhodes. The atomic bomb has spelled them out for all men to understand. Witnesses to the first result of that work, the Trinity test, reported that Oppenheimer’s reaction during the test was simply that of relief and satisfaction, and that he exclaimed: “It worked!” But only 11 days after the bombing of Hiroshima, on August 17, 1945, he expressed in writing to the US government his desire for nuclear weapons to be banned. Thank you for collaborating with the OpenMind community! Oppenheimer, Hijiya concluded, did not see himself as Vishnu. It seems that there has been an error in the communication. Receive the OpenMind newsletter with all the latest contents published on our website. If there's an expert here, or someone who just knows more than me, I'd love to know. A graduate of Harvard, his passing through Europe, Caltech and the University of California at Berkeley left a trail of valuable work in a broad spectrum of fields of theoretical physics; but there was also a flirtation with leftist organizations that put him in the spotlight. They're shown standing by the melted tower that held the bomb. A superficial interpretation would speak of remorse and the search for redemption. Other men have spoken them, in other times, of other wars, of other weapons. This field cannot be empty, Please enter your comment. And Oppenheimer and Gen. Leslie Groves were photographed at the Trinity site the day after the first atomic bomb was detonated. Oppenheimer was the first and brilliant offspring of a wealthy Jewish family in New York, not religious but firmly rooted in the principles of ethical culture. The site may not work properly if you don't, If you do not update your browser, we suggest you visit, Press J to jump to the feed. In the full quotation, Oppenheimer uttered that phrase by explaining its context: “Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ ” In 2000, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth history professor James A. Hijiya wrote a lucid essay trying to explain how Oppenheimer interpreted that passage: Vishnu wants to convince Prince Arjuna that he must go to war, something that he refuses because it would involve killing his own relatives and friends. https://www.netflix.com/title/80127995. This shows how much we knew about fall-out back then. How is Oppenheimer’s metamorphosis to be understood? It was never considered a "force multiplier" before we understood it. They're shown standing by the melted tower that held the bomb. Emotional, Oppenheimer remembered July 16, 1945, the day of the Trinity test, the first-ever nuclear explosion, which he had contributed to creating. But Vishnu convinces him that he cannot shun that duty greater than heâit is his obligation, and it is not in his hand to choose. Oppenheimer recognized no affiliation with any communist organizations, but there was some sympathy on his part. Atomic science is over two thousand years old and its uses are endless. Pour autoriser Verizon Media et nos partenaires à traiter vos données personnelles, sélectionnez 'J'accepte' ou 'Gérer les paramètres' pour obtenir plus d’informations et pour gérer vos choix. No, he never spoke of regret. In one of his last interviews in 1965 he recalls his reactions towards hearing about the first nuclear bomb being dropped in 1945. Informations sur votre appareil et sur votre connexion Internet, y compris votre adresse IP, Navigation et recherche lors de l’utilisation des sites Web et applications Verizon Media. In the end, Arjuna goes to war. When in 1942 he was recruited for the Manhattan Project to make the atomic bomb as the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, the FBI had already been investigating his political activities for a year. Feel free to submit interesting articles, tell us about this cool book you just read, or start a discussion about who everyone's favorite figure of minor French nobility is! Découvrez comment nous utilisons vos informations dans notre Politique relative à la vie privée et notre Politique relative aux cookies. “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” In 1965, in the middle of the Cold War and with nuclear tests at their peak, NBC television broadcast the documentary The Decision to Drop the Bomb.