Darya Silman's Reviews > American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

My own benefit from American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin is debunking the myth that Einstein was directly involved in the A-bomb's development. As a non-American, I'd never heard the phrase 'the father of the atomic bomb' until reading the book, and, for me, Einstein was the epitome of progressive physics as well as a refugee from Nazi Germany. Of course, that proved incorrect.

It's unnecessary to speak at length about the book so well-known and so well-advertized by the 2023 movie (which I have yet to see, by the way). It was highly enlightening in general and particularly in its part dealing with the frenzy behind the arms race. The Cold War hysteria was born at the dawn of atomic energy: If we didn't do it first (create the first bomb, then stockpile bombs, then make a more powerful H-bomb), 'they' would have the advantage over us. Oppenheimer and many physicists insisted on sharing all available information with the Russians. It was a utopian plan - Stalin wouldn't have reciprocated - but still admirable from hindsight.

Also, from hindsight, Oppenheimer's days as an innovative theoretical physicist seemed over after the Manhattan Project. He gained the undisputed reputation of a genius, yet political squabbles with the FBI had murked up his Princeton years.

As one reviewer noted, such a comprehensive biography running up to 721 pages, including indexes and a bibliography, needs more depth in parts concerning pure physics. The authors emasculated the text to make it readable for every audience member at the expense of those who would be okay with little bits of science. With respect to the amount of research on which the book is mounted, I still gave it five stars.