Assistant professor Global Affairs at trinity washington university. Since 2011. He also served as an assistant of research at the Nuclear Studies institute. His primary research and teaching areas are modern u. S. History and u. S. Foreign policy, focusing on Nuclear Weapons policies and cold war diplomacy. But he also believes in making education more accessible to people outside of universities. So he works to give public presentations on wide ranging topics like the cultural of road trips throughout american, the rise of the american suburbs, the gilded age, the role prohibition played in shaping the 1920s. The history of food, dining in the United States. Reexamining the cuban missile crisis. Or like this, what im looking at oppenheimer and the atomic age, alan, is also the author of Norman Cousins peacemaker in the atomic age. Now. So excited to have alan here with us this evening so without any further ado, please join me in welcoming alan petrova. Hello everyone. Thank you, heather, for very generous introduction. I am very excited to be here tonight because as you heard the long list of topics i present on but Nuclear Weapons is actual area of expertise, so im excited to talk to you about Julius Robert oppenheimer and there are a number of different ways that could look at the life of this and his sort of moment in time in american and global history. We can look at oppenheimer course as father of the atomic bomb director of the national lab. We could look at oppenheimer as a University Professor and to a generation of physics students who many of whom would go on to win prizes of their own. We look at oppenheimer as a public political figure after the war we could look at him as his friends saw him as a brilliant of unique intellect. Or we could look at him. His foes saw him as a cross stick, arrogant man with, no social skills, and yet we could look at oppenheimer as serial marital cheater and sort of terrible father. Whose neglected firstborn son into a quiet life as a rancher and whose daughter ended up committing suicide. But to explore all of that and well try to weave all of this in tonight where i actually to begin is on one of the most impact full days of oppenheimers like a day that would haunt the rest of his days and to put us in the right mindset to understand oppenheimer and this moment in history, i first need to start back. In august 1945. And i want to tell you a story because tail gunner bob karan had been counting seven, eight, nine. He is 26,000 feet above japan and hes crammed into a shoulder wide compartment at, the back of the aircraft operating a gun at the rear of his b29 superfortress bomber. Now, on any other mission would have had some help in defending the aircraft. Usually a b29 is equipped with ten heavy machine guns. But on that morning, all but one of them has been stripped off the plane to save weight, order to accommodate the inner miss bomb that theyre carrying it keeps counting. 2120 223. The engines roar vibrate motions pulsed through the polished aluminum body and upon reach their target. Karen had started counting the moment the bomb, the plane, and despite confined to the claustrophobic compartment at the back of the plane, he knew precisely when happened because freed from 9,700 pounds weight, the b29 shot up in the air like a bull trying to buck a rider. 3630 738 first officer colonel paul tibbets a tight grip on the controls and executed an evasive maneuver that was designed to get the aircraft as far away from the shock wave that the blast would produce as quickly as possible because. No one, not even physicists responsible for creating the worlds first atomic bomb, could entirely be sure what would happen when the shockwave of the blast got up and hit the aircraft because it traveled that 2 to 3 times. The speed the aircraft is. Traveling 40, 41, 42. When the brightness slowly receded from karins eyes he came to witness what they had just done in a split second the city of hiroshima had been decimated and copilot robert louis, after watching part of the city disappear in an instant, reportedly said, quote, my god, what have we done. Now on this day . Back on the other side of the world in los alamos, Robert Oppenheimer was also troubled. The fbi, who had secretly tailing him, reported that after he learned of the successful bombing of hiroshima, he was, quote, a nervous wreck and quote, and he was heard those poor Little People those poor Little People, in fact, he and his wife, kitty, soon left los alamos and escaped to their ranch for a week and near the image on your screen, is this the little cabin that oppenheimer owned up in the mountains in, new mexico and at the ranch, he started writing to his friends. In one letter, he wrote, quote, we are at the ranch now in an earnest search. Sanity, there seems to be some great headaches ahead. And shortly thereafter, he wrote another friend. He said, quote, we have made a thing a most terrible that has altered abruptly and profoundly the nature of the world a thing, that by all standards of the world we grew up in is evil thing. And quote. And then robert returned to los alamos and shortly thereafter resigned as the director of the Manhattan Project. Well get to that. But this story, this of this in his own words this evil thing that oppenheimer to create the story actually begins way back in the year 1895, nine years before oppenheimer was born. And to understand, man, we first need to understand a little bit about the moment. And it begins in 1895, when a german engineer named wilhelm rontgen discovered a new type ray. And because didnt know what they were called, he named them the mathematical symbol for the unknown. He called them x rays, you know about these . Youve probably had one before and what he specifically discovered was that these could go through other elements, but that their energy would burn, in an image onto a piece of photographic paper. And so he did what i suspect any good scientist would do, he said, you know, honey, he calls his wife into the lab and, he tells her to hold her hand up right where he promptly shoots these rays at her. And he x rays her hand. You can see the image of her wedding ring there. Now, the following year, another scientist in the similar field in paris announces that he had discovered that the natural element uranium was radial, that this element was so energy dense that it radiated its energy just by existing that you didnt need to charge it externally like a battery, you didnt need to combust it, react it in some way before gave off energy. It radiated it. And let me focus on this for a minute. Lets do a little bit of science. It helps us understand atomic weapons, everything essentially on earth has density measured in mega per kilogram. Wood has 16 mega joules per kilogram. How do you know that it burned when you combust it and it releases its energy, the form of heat and light and some byproducts go glass has energy. 0. 035, but almost nothing right by because glass burn very easily. Its hard to get it to release its energy coal has 24 mega joules per kilogram gasoline, which, you know, probably the most common thing you use 46 mega joules per kilogram. Heres the thing. They discover that uranium. Has 3. 9 million mega joules per kilogram of Energy Density in or misleading powerful again unlike wood or coal or gasoline in which you have to combust before releases its Energy Uranium radiates it on its own. And there were some people at the time, in the years that followed this moment in 1895, 1896, focused the research on the good that this discovery could bring. They developed medical treatments there is what, a piece of uranium looks like. So if you see this, the park, if youre out for a hike, do not pick up. It looks like a colorful little rock in certain forms, but some people focused on the good that uranium other sort of rays do Xray Technology for example to treat wounded in world war one saves countless lives. But there were others who knew almost immediately that if we could find a way to harness this energy and get uranium to release it all at once, wed also have an enormous. But my point here is, in that last decade of the 1800s and the first decade of the 1900s, science in general is on a tear. It initiates an absolute revolution in human life. A nation on horseback is transformed by the internal Combustion Engine that same generation was astonished. The advent of aircraft powered human flight in 1903, something men had dreamed of for the centuries. And then one of the most revolutionary free scientific theories of all time hits. In 1905, albert introduces his special theory of relativity equals empty square. This thing we all sort of know as this cliche, but let me put it really, really, really what einstein discovered is that when youre dealing with vast distances and time, when youre dealing across outer space for example, physics works a little bit differently than you would expect under the earths using newtons law. And what that revelation sparked other scientists to ask was, okay, if its different that the laws of physics apply differently across vast spaces, what about very, very, very small things . What about things at an level the atoms, the smallest unit of matter, would that behave differently than we expect . And the answer is yes. And once you know that, once einstein theory sort of sparks this new thinking, you now have the key to unlock things that were not possible before what is born is the field of quantum physics or Quantum Mechanics as they called it the study of atoms and tiny things. Now, why am i giving you this physics . Its because in this moment of and exciting science discovery, Robert Oppenheimer palmer is born in april 1904, a year before opens. Scientists and pure oppenheimer is one of those natural born geniuses. But it also is the fact that he happened to be born in the right place at the right time to put that genius to work, or rather, i might even argue for a moment that was born maybe at the right time, but maybe in the wrong place hes born in new york city. But all of this exciting science was happening in europe. The best Scientific Research being carried out in germany and france and england. Einstein then was living in switzerland when he came up. The theory of relativity, a america is a backwater at that time. We do not care about science. We spend very little on it the us nationwide at this has only for Industrial Research labs that would become over a thousand after world war one when we rely im sorry World War Two when we realize that the science stuff is maybe kind important for society. But before the war the u. S. Is just not really on the scientific stage. What oppenheimer can be credited with is he goes to and almost single handedly brings the study of quantum physics back to america because without quantum physics we dont get an atomic bomb. But if we turn away from science for a minute and start at oppenheimers life, maybe you know, a minute ago i said he was born in the place, but maybe he actually was born in the right because hes born in new york city to an extreme, supremely wealthy family. For that era, his father owned a thriving clothing company. And oppenheimer grew up with all the comforts of the era. They had a large apartment on Riverside Drive in new york. This the picture of the apartment here they lived on the 11th floor. But let me put this in context. At that time, there were just two apartments per floor. They had this building. The family had living maids. They had a nanny. They had personal, private tutors. They had a chauffeur, packard touring car, which they would take on the weekends to their 22 room summer home on allen long island. That we see here at their summer home they docked there 40 foot long sailing yacht. And when oppenheimer turned 16, his dad bought him a Birthday Gift of his own to six foot sailboat that he could tool around it. So needless to say Young Oppenheimer grows in total luxury, uncommon luxury. But hes also very smart. He skipped ahead several grades. But what this meant is like some kids who advanced academically too quickly what had in intellectual power the absolutely lack in social skills a Young Oppenheimer is weird hes is hes arrogant hes selfabsorbed hes mean and because this he doesnt have a lot of close in his school years growing up for college enrolls at harvard and while an undergraduate student hes weird hes is centric hes arrogant and mean and he doesnt have a lot of Close Friends and. So as an undergraduate, robert is bored harvard because most of all hes reading about whats happening over in europe and he wants to do that. Harvard is doing physics in that way. Theyre researching stuff in europe that americans havent even heard of yet. Oppenheimer really is that its an unusual time and he wants to be part of what he can see. Its going be a great revolution in he sort of has this perception of whats coming. So he asks a harvard professor of his to write a of recommendation to go study cambridge in england. The problem is oppenheimer despite being smart he is an ultra cautious student. Former professors write that his work is sloppy its full of mistakes. He just doesnt care or that hes smart and he knows hes smart, which leads him into trouble a lot because he acts like hes hes above everyone else into trouble. Such during lectures, for example, would constantly interrupt the professor or worse, hed go up to the and wipe off the professors work and explain how. He thought it could be done better. His own way. And so hes just disruptive as a student. His other former classmates really talk about him as negative way that he was awful in and so because of all this is harvard professor did write him a letter of recommendation probably just to get rid of him and this is this is my favorite part. This is one of these richly ironic moments in history. He writes in his letter this. He says, quote, it appears to me that this is a bit of a gamble as to whether oppenheimer will ever make any real contributions of an important character and quote, i just i love that this guy is terrible. Hell never amount to anything. But he follows up in the next sentence by saying, quote, but if he does make any good at all, i believe he will be a very honest success. Ernest rutherford, the guy at cambridge, he really wanted to study under rejected him, but he passed him off to colleague and so oppenheimer does at cambridge studying not the thing he wanted to study. But it was still a time of excitement in the world. Physics, the late 1920s, which is now an oppenheimer, is there and sees a series of extraordinary breakthroughs, some of which are young. Oppenheimer helps contribute to, but he also struggles. Hes really bad in laboratory settings, which is where they put him. Hes clumsy, he breaks things and he most of all does not have the patience to set up a complex experiment and then see it through to the end later. Those who knew said that his work was messy and fast that hed get interested in something die. Then do it. Do important calculations. And then hed get bored and move on to Something Else that he never took the time to develop these ideas. He had. It took einstein. Nine years of work come up with the theory of relativity. Oppenheimer he doesnt have that patience, but his great talent was his ability to synthesize his massive amounts of information. Do the calculations on the main factors of a new idea basically prove that was theoretically possible and as a result, he opened the door before, he got bored and left. And there were so many breakthroughs that later on, sometimes decades later, other scientists would his initial research to walk through this door. He opened up, and more than a few of them would go on to win nobel prizes. Based on the work that oppenheimer had first explored before he got bored and moved on to Something Else. So when he graduates or rather before he graduates, his output is unbelievable. He ends up going to germany to study there. He publishes in just four years six steam scientific papers. That is astonishing. He is a 23 year old graduate student impresses everyone around him with his intellect. And so when he graduate in 1928, he receives ten job offers and he chooses come back to berkeley to sort of launch the Quantum Physics Lab as a professor there at as a young professor he is an experienced hes bad at it by all reports when hes teaching he sort of terrorizes his students quite cruel his lectures are basically incomprehensible but then something changes he learned he grew he got a mentor. He got and within just a few years, his students come to love him. They adore this professor is an excellent mentor and in addition to transforming his teaching, it is at berkeley, where oppenheimer finally transforms himself, sort of creates himself. He his home he transformed from in his younger. This awkward means prodigy into a sophisticated and, charismatic intellectual, according to many he had this like vibrant life force about him. He just radiated the kind of guy you wanted to be around. He really pulled people in. Hes one of those people when hes speaking with you, you feel like you are the only in the world matters to him. Later, when he was recruiting people for the Manhattan Project. One woman would write later. I never met a person with a magnetism. Hit you so fast, so completely as did his. I didnt know him or what he did for work, but i thought that even if he was recruiting me to dig ditches, i would love to work with him, end quote. And that magnetism, that radiant magnetism especially, well with women, hes hes a handsome guy, right and but hes still a little bit awkward. Hes a little bit shy and distant and reserved. Hes not a womanizer by any means. But he tended to attract female attention. And it was around this time when he started dating a woman named jean tat locke, a young woman studying psychology. And she also happened to be active in the communist party, which, to be clear, was not uncommon in the context of the Great Depression. It now is the political uphe