Robert Oppenheimer is the creator of the atomic bomb, an American physicist. When he found out that his bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and what suffering it caused to people, he called himself the "destroyer of the worlds." Below you can find out in more detail who Robert Oppenheimer was.
"Father of the atomic bomb" in the early years
He was a very conscientious man, and after applying the nuclear bomb he created, he urged scientists around the world to no longer create weapons of destructive force. Oppenheimer went down in history as the "father of the atomic bomb" and as the discoverer of black holes in the universe.
From early childhood, Oppenheimer was seriously called a child prodigy. He learned to write and read very early, even before entering school he was interested in many sciences: art, history, literature, mathematics, etc. His parents were Jews, immigrants from Germany, who settled in New York in 1888.
My father owned a successful business, his mother was a famous artist. Parents always encouraged their son's craving for knowledge and they had a huge library at home. Robert was admitted to the best school in New York, where teachers immediately noted the boy's talent. He studied easily, quickly learned the Greek language, then began to study Sanskrit - the oldest literary Indian language. The boy was very interested in medicine and mathematics.
In 1922, the young man entered one of the most prestigious universities in the United States - Harvard University. After 3 years, he received a diploma with honors. Further, Robert was sent for an internship in Europe with the famous English physicist Ernest Rutherford. It was there that he began to study atomic phenomena. Further, the still very young Oppenheimer, together with the professor of the University of Gottingen, physicist and mathematician Max Born, developed a part of quantum theory. Today, this knowledge is known as the “Born-Oppenheimer method."
Teaching and the atomic bomb
When Oppenheimer turned 25, he returned to the United States, published a scientific paper and at the same time became a doctor of science. He became famous in the scientific world of Europe and America. Several American universities immediately offered him the best conditions for research and teaching. Robert chose California Tech in Pasadena to teach in the spring semester, and Berkeley for the fall-winter season. In the latter, he also taught quantum mechanics. Unfortunately, students did not understand his theories well, and therefore teaching activities brought little pleasure to Oppenheimer.
In 1939, fascist Germany managed to split the atomic nucleus. Some eminent scientists, including Oppenheimer, have guessed that we are talking about getting a controlled reaction, which is the key to getting destructive weapons. The famous Einstein, Oppenheimer and other scientists wrote a letter to US President Franklin Roosevelt, where they expressed their observations and concerns. The signal was received and the United States immediately began to develop its own atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer became the supervisor of the entire process.
