NATS 1775 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Thermonuclear Weapon, Klaus Fuchs, J. Robert Oppenheimer
25 Jan 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Lecture four: science, technology and ideology in the united states (con"t) Oppenheimer was a famous and well known american physicist. He studied at harvard, in britain and in germany. One of the few people who could actually understand the work done with quantum physics. In his early life, he was not unsympathetic to the ideas of communism. He had many friends in the socialist and communist circles. During the great depression, many people switched their political ideas because they were seeking change. When wwii started, oppenheimer would be the leader of the manhattan project. Oppenheimer was one of the few people who completely supported the dropping of the bombs on japan from the beginning. When the war was over, he was greatly rewarded for these efforts. He gained political and social status after the war was over. He became the chairman of the general advisory committee of atomic energy.
