AMERICAN PROMETHEUS: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of the greatest biographies ever written, about one of the greatest minds of our time. Just the title alone had me itching to read it, and the Nolan movie was the extra push I needed to get moving. It’s a behemoth — took me a few solid months to burn through— but what a story, and what a life.

To summarize, this book covers Oppenheimer the self-conscious student, Oppenheimer the star physicist, Oppenheimer the steadfast atomic bomb leader, Oppenheimer the accomplished celebrity, and Oppenheimer the regretful political martyr. At times, I found it hard to imagine so much historical importance could happen to one person. Finding himself in one of those ‘Forest Gump’ type roles, Oppenheimer seemed to be in proximity to influential people and influential events throughout the mid-twentieth century, and went on to influence many of both himself. Reading about someone so important, someone who left a lasting mark we still feel today, is so riveting.

The aspect that really stuck with me, besides the intense build-up toward the world’s first atomic bomb, was how prescient men like Oppenheimer were about the impending world order. Like most of the scientists working on such a massive project, Oppenheimer knew the danger they had created for the planet and humanity almost immediately. And he did everything he could to reverse its effects. He and his colleagues were unable to successfully set-up a proper authority on atomic weapons and energy before the military ran away with it, and I can’t help but think how different our world might be today if they had succeeded.

Oppenheimer and his team’s creation changed the world in severe ways. Reading this extremely well-detailed and documented retelling of those days makes it clear society changed forever the day of the first bomb test, and we’ll never be able to go back to the way it was before. Are we the better because of this new technology? Or are we worse? Would the military have been so keen to create the industrial complex that has become the crux of our country’s existence the last sixty years without such an ‘unbeatable” weapon like that? Would scientists have been able to maintain their prestige and freedom to speak out without becoming political targets? Would the United States have a better relationship with Russia — and inherently, the world — if we had warned them about our new toy and decided not to use it unnecessarily? These are the things Oppenheimer understood before almost anyone else. These are the things that kept him up at night.

It’s easy to see why the creation of the bomb has been so frequently explored in movies and games and literature since. It’s hard to think of an event that has affected everyone on Earth simultaneously like the Trinity test did, whether they knew it or not. All of Oppenheimer’s life before the test was just a lead up to that pivotal moment, and he spent the rest of his life afterward reckoning with it. A genius, a polymath, an imperfect leader, and a man at the center of the universe. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about the man who brought about the age of mutually assured destruction, and if you’ve ever wanted some excellent background knowledge on maybe why the world is the way it is — this book is the answer.