Director J. Robert Oppenheimer, who ran through the desert of New Mexico with a tremendous flash of light. manhattan project He developed the world’s first atomic bomb and became the most famous scientist of his generation.
The piercing light dimmed, revealing a terrifying fireball growing over the Los Alamos Proving Ground in July 1945, ushering in the atomic age. A physicist, polymath, and mystic, Oppenheimer was a self-taught Sanskrit learner of the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, quoting the verse “Now I am death, the destroyer of the world.” I remember saying hello to the mushroom cloud.
Manufacture of atomic bombs and subsequent destruction of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki A new era has begun, ending World War II and turning Oppenheimer into a historical icon. But his remorse for what he had built and his opposition to its further development drove him into conflict with the US military, and the government revoked his security clearance on the grounds of his communist sympathies. Oppenheimer eventually died bruised.
Ahead of the July 21 release of Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer, Live Science spoke with Oppenheimer biographer and Oppenheimer co-author historian Kai Bird. heard. “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” (Knopf, 2005), the Pulitzer Prize-winning book that inspired the film.
We discussed the rise and fall of Oppenheimer, the development of the bomb, and how he changed human history forever.
Live Science: The Manhattan Project was a lot of work. Thousands of scientists worked tirelessly during the war to complete it, costing the modern equivalent of $24 billion. To what extent did Oppenheimer contribute to building the bomb? What was his motivation for building it?
bird: Well, he became the head of the Manhattan Project’s science lab, and his idea was to have a major lab in Los Alamos to build bombs. He spent his two-and-a-half years building this gadget, and everyone we interviewed who worked on it said it would never have happened if Oppenheimer hadn’t been the director. I was. He urged people to work hard and solve all the various engineering problems associated with the production of bombs in a timely manner.
His motives were very clear.When he was young, he studied quantum physics Worked under Max Born in Germany. While there, he was taking lectures such as: [Werner] Heisenberg — famous German theorist of quantum mechanics uncertainty principle And he knew that Heisenberg and other German scientists could understand as much about the physics of the atomic bomb and the potential for weapons of mass destruction as he did, so by 1942 the Germans probably had 18 months. I feared that I was getting ahead of myself. A competition to make this weapon.
Politically, he was a leftist.he was afraid fascism And German scientists gave this weapon of mass destruction to Hitler, who feared he might use it to win the war. It was his worst nightmare.
Live Science: But by the time they built and successfully tested the bomb, his motives had become obscure. You write that he was smoking his pipe anxiously and repeatedly calling the citizens of Hiroshima “those poor little people.” That same week, however, he gave the military precise instructions on how to detonate the bomb with maximum efficiency.
bird: I’m glad you understand that. This is a very poignant anecdote that gives a sense of the ambivalence of this man, his complexity, and what he was doing.
[1945年の春までに、この装置の製造に熱心に取り組んでいたロスアラモスの科学者全員が、ヨーロッパでの戦争が終わったことを知っていました。では、なぜ彼らはそんなことをしたのでしょうか？彼らは実際にこの難しい政治問題を話し合うために会合を持ちました。オッペンハイマー氏も出席した。彼は部屋の後ろに立って議論を聞き、それから前に出て引用した。ニールス・ボーア。
ボーアは 1943 年の最後の日にロス アラモスに到着しました。彼はオッペンハイマーに「ロバート、本当に十分な広さですか？」と挨拶しました。 彼は、この装置がすべての戦争を終わらせるのに十分な大きさになるかどうかを知りたかったのです。
オッペンハイマーはロスアラモスにいる両義的な科学者たちにこの主張をした。 彼は、この兵器は現在知られており、物理学の背後に秘密はなく、この兵器の威力と恐ろしさをこの戦争で実証する必要があると語った。 そうしないと、次の戦争は核武装した敵によって行われ、ハルマゲドンで終わることになるでしょう。 それが議論だった。 興味深い議論でした。 それは合理化でもありました。
ライブサイエンス：戦後、オッペンハイマーは核兵器の最も声高な批判者となり、より強力な水素爆弾を製造する取り組みに抵抗し、核兵器による大規模な戦略爆撃に関する空軍の計画を虐殺的だと言及した。 この逆転は何が原因で、軍や諜報機関はどう反応したのでしょうか?
鳥： これが彼の没落につながるのです。 なぜなら、広島の直後、妻のキティが友人に宛てて書いた手紙から、オッペンハイマーが深い鬱状態に陥っていたことがわかっているからです。 彼は非常に不機嫌になった。
それから彼はワシントンに戻り、1945 年 9 月に日本軍が降伏にどれほど近づいていたかをさらに学びました。そして彼はまた、この新しい兵器に対するワシントンの人々とトルーマン政権の態度についても学びました。さらに多くの兵器を製造し、米国の国家安全保障をこれらの兵器の膨大な量に完全に依存させることになる。
オッペンハイマー氏はこれは間違いだと考えている。 1945年10月にはすでにフィラデルフィアで演説し、これらの兵器は侵略者のための兵器であると述べた。 これらはテロ兵器であり、防衛のための兵器ではないため、米国はその拡散を防ぐための国際管理メカニズムを構築する方法を見つける必要がある。
彼は、我々が防衛のためにこれらの兵器に頼るべきだという考えに反対していました。 そしてそれは、これらの兵器をより多く入手するためにより大きな予算を望んでいた陸軍省、陸軍、海軍、空軍にとって直接の脅威でした。
そこでオッペンハイマーは脅威となった。 そしてこれこそが、1953年末、彼の機密保持許可を剥奪し、カンガルー法廷で裁判にかけ、公の場で屈辱を与えるという第一歩を踏み出すきっかけとなったのだ。
ライブサイエンス：オッペンハイマーを知る人の中には、彼の仲間の物理学者で友人のイシドール・ラビの言葉を借りると、彼は「決して統合された人格にはなれない」人物だと感じていた人もいた。 そしてアインシュタインはイディッシュ語の「ナール」（愚か者）を使って彼のことを呼んだ。 彼らはこれらの発言で何を言いたかったのでしょうか？
鳥： オッペンハイマーは博学者であり、やや神秘家でもあり、ヒンズー教の神秘主義に惹かれていましたが、ラビはそれが統合されていない性格の表れであると考えていました。 しかし、ラビは何かを感じていたと思います。 そしてアインシュタインも。
1954年の裁判の前に、オッペンハイマーはアインシュタインを訪ね、これからワシントンに行くことを説明する。 彼はプリンストン高等研究所を欠席すると告げる [where Oppenheimer served as director from 1947 to 1966] He’s due to be tried at the security hearings this time around, so we’ll have to wait a few weeks.
And Einstein turned to him and said, ‘But Robert, why bother when they don’t need you or your advice anymore? You’re Mr. Atomic. .” Oppenheimer replied, “Oh, you don’t get it, Albert. I need to use my position and position to influence and advise policy makers in Washington. They I don’t understand this technology, and I have to take advantage of my celebrity’ good intentions. ”
In fact, Oppenheimer was fighting the security hearings because he wanted to be a player. He wanted to enter the facility. He wanted to roam Washington’s halls of power and meet the president in the Oval Office. He was drawn to all of them, from which he found it difficult to move away. So, after Oppenheimer left the room, Einstein said to his secretary, “Nahr is coming.”
Certainly he was politically naive and naive. He had no idea what he was about to do. All security hearings in Washington were rigged against him. He had made a very strong political opponent in Washington and was to be destroyed. Einstein was right in calling him Gnar.
Live Science: Oppenheimer’s legacy is linked to deadly weapons we’ve avoided using in war again. Let’s say you fly 100 years into the future. How do you think people will remember him?
bird: It depends on what happens and how well we can coexist with bombs. Suppose another nuclear war occurs within the next few years or decades. Oppenheimer would also be seen as the scientist responsible for that.
Amazingly, we will still be talking about him 100 years from now. Humanity is becoming more and more immersed in technology.we will be working on artificial intelligence. You might think we are asking the right questions of scientists and technology experts about how to integrate all science into our daily lives without destroying humanity.
Despite this, many people seem to have an innate mistrust of scientists and expertise. I trace some of it back to the roots of Oppenheimer’s public humiliation in 1954. This incident sent a message to scientists around the world: never get out of your narrow path, never become a public intellectual, and never speak out about politics and policy.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what we need. We need more Oppenheimers willing to tell the hard truths about how to integrate science and make it an empathetic part of human existence, not a destructive one.
Editor’s Note: This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
