Biographical Memoirs Volume 71 (1997) / Chapter Skim
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J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER
J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER
Pages 175-220
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l. More than any other man, he was responsible for rising American theoretical physics from a provincial acIjunct of Europe to world leaclership.
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176 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS the mincI. He attenclec!
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EARLY SCIENTIFIC WORK Oppenheimer was most fortunate to enter physics in 1925, just when moclern quantum mechanics came into being.
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Even today this is a complicated calculation, beyond the scope of most quantum mechanics textbooks. Naturally, his calculations were later improver!
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a lasting influence on Oppenheimer. As the frontier shifted from ordinary quantum mechanics to the relativistic quantum mechanics of
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In 1933, cosmic radiation yielded the first new particle: Car! Anderson at CalTech discovered the positron which Oppie had almost
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to calculate the cross section for procluction of positrons at low energy, with his student Milton Plesset. His great knowIecige of the continuous spectrum wave functions in the Coulomb field!
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component' of cosmic rays, i.e. that which penetrates to sea-level, might consist of mesons which, being much heavier than electrons, wouIc!
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then clecay into gamma rays, thus giving rise to the soft component of cosmic rays. In ~ 947 he postulates!
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in everything, en c! in one afternoon they might discuss quantum electroclynamics, cosmic rays, electron pair procluction and nuclear physics.
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Among his students was Leonard Schiff who incorporated much of Oppenheimer's spirit into his excellent textbook on quantum mechanics. New problems were constantly introduced into the quantum mechanics lectures.
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In 1941 he was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences. In 1940 Oppenheimer married Katherine Harrison.
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how an atomic bomb conic! be user!
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immediate applicability in WorIc! War II, for the remote possibility of an atomic bomb.
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There were other wartime laboratories of high achievement, like the Metallurgical Laboratory at Chicago, the Racliation Laboratory at M.I.T., en c! others, both here en c!
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The slowing down of neutrons in matter and the theory of explosions and implosions under completely novel conditions had to be investigated. Nuclear physicists had to become experts in fields of technology unknown to them such as shock waves and hydrodynamics.
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solution. This free interchange of icleas was entirely contrary to the organization of the Manhattan District as a whole.
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be deeply concerned with the ominous implications of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer was one of the most concerned, en c!
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by Uncler-Secretary of State Dean Acheson caller! for the creation of an international authority to control all atomic-energy work.
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were Oppenheimer, members of the other wartime laboratories of the Manhattan District, en c! several elcler-statesmen scientists.
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I regret that tape-recorclings were not macle of these eloquent summations of our cleliberations, for I believe that these wouIc! provide fascinating historical material.' The first task of the GAC en c!
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with the proper application of atomic weapons in warfare. Its membership was half civilian, half military.
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At the enc! of January 1950 President Truman cleciclec!
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That Robert Oppenheimer wouIc! be one of the victims was foreshaclowoc!
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for the most clelicate atomic energy work. One of the members of the AEC in 1947 was Lewis Strauss who, in 1954, wrote the majority opinion of the AEC against him.
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that you are here today to receive formal recognition for your many contributions to theoretical physics and to the advancement of science in our nation. Your leaclership in the clevelopment of an outstanding school of theoretical physics in the
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always incluclec! prominent physicists: Albert Einstein hac!
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Yet, when asked directly, he explained willingly. Abraham Pais writes of his influence at the Institute: 'He could convey to young men a sense of extraordinary relevance of the physics of their day and give them a sense of their participation in a great adventure, as for example in the Richtmyer lecture: "There are rich days ahead for physics, we may hope, I think, to be living in one of the heroic aces of nhv~ical science, whereas, in the past, a vast new J 1 ~ -- at r -- J~ -- -- - ~ -- -field of experience has taught us its new lessons and its new order." 'He could define and thereby enhance their dedication, by words such as these: "People who practice science, who try to learn, believe that knowledge is good.
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For this meeting Oppenheimer wrote the outline of topics for discussion entitles! "The foundations of quantum mechanics".
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' Pals remarks: 'They reflect the sense of optimism of the late forties, especially the expectation that with the new theoretical tools other than electromagnetic interactions wouIc! soon give sensible results.' Oppenheimer continued to play a leading role in the Conferences, which from then on clevelopec!
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all of particle en c! theoretical physics with avidity, en c!
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He worrier! about the increasing gap between specialized knowledge and common sense, the increasing gap between neighbouring sciences, en c!
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He cliscussec! the decision to cirop the atomic bomb, international control of atomic energy, en c!
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Stucly to a leacling centre of theoretical physics uncler his directorship, en c! his efforts to promote a more common unclerstancling of science.
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14, 261 -262. On the quantum theory of the autoelectric field currents.
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35, 939-947. Selection rules and the angular momentum of light quanta.
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56, 1066-1067. In behaviour of high energy electrons in cosmic radiation by C
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The high energy soft component of cosmic rays.
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Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Discovery and application of sources of nuclear energy.
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Princeton University Graduate Council Talk.
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Princeton University, Graduate College Forum.
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Princeton University Graduate College Forum. Secretary Stimson and the atomic bomb.
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Bulletin of Atomic Scientists under title 'A Talk in Chicago'. Niels Bohr memoir for Year Book, American Philosophical Society; Niels Bohr and his times, Pegram Lectures, Brookhaven.
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Talks at a Washington meeting of the American Physical Society, April 1967. Published Physics Today, 20, No.
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