Oppenheimer: Portrait of an Enigma
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.10 (706 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1566636663 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 238 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-03-06 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
As a former colleague of Oppenheimer's, Jeremy Bernstein has written a biographical profile that is both personal and historical, bringing the reader close to the life and workings of an extraordinary and controversial man. Without Oppenheimer's totally remarkable leadership at Los Alamos, the atomic bomb would not have happened, and World War II would have ended very differently. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.. Bernstein, combining the grace of a New Yorker writer with the insight of a theoretical physicist, draws a fine and fascinating portrait
Insight into an enigma Jeremy Bernstein obviously admires J. Robert Oppenheimer. This is not surprising. Almost everyone who came in contact with his sparkling intellect idolised him. In the 1930s, as a Professor at Berkeley, his students were so awestruck by him, that they could frequently be seen imitating his mannerisms. There were a few who loathed him for his high brow attitude and sharp tongue. In fact, people who met him could roughly be divided into the above two categories. However, the latter formed an exception. The result is that he is generally considered by everyone who had known him, whether it was the janitor at L. Loves to Knit said An insider's view of an enigmatic man. Everytime I think I've read all there is on the life of JR Oppenheimer, I discover another book to read. This one is a more intimate,insider's view of the man who directed Los Alamos Labs during the creation of the atmoic bomb, ushewring in the world-wide atomic age. Bernstein is a physicist and knows the subject matter first hand- the physics and the players. He's a good writer too. I'm gald to have it on my shelf along with "Lawrence and Oppenheimer" and "109 East Palace Street.". "Interstitial Material" according to Tim R. Niles. This book has supplied insights and information which none of my readings on the topic of Oppenheimer or the Manhattan Project or Los Alamos (where I spent part of my childhood, hence the interest) has provided.This is not a massive tome with large quantities of detail related to any one specific area of Oppenheimer's life, but provides information that tends to hold the massive amounts of data which has been written about him at a more personal level.All in all, a readable, cogent, human book about a man whose life seems filled with contradictions and disparate interests.
From Publishers Weekly In his preface to this portrait, Bernstein (Cranks, Quarks, and the Cosmos, etc.) is up front with his intentions; "I make no pretense of trying to write a 'definitive' biography of Oppenheimer." Bernstein, a physicist who was a staff writer at the New Yorker for 39 years, is known for his profiles of top scientists, and this book is best understood as an extended magazine profile rather than an exhaustive portrait of the controversial J. Bernstein's characterization of this as the New Yorker profile he never wrote may indicate its audience—curious general readers, not those steeped in science history. . Robert Oppenheimer. The author hits all the high (and low) points of Oppenheimer's life, from his role as director of the Los Alamos team that developed the atomic bomb to hi