Julius Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Overview

• Helped Invent the atomic bomb• Born in New York in 1904• In charge of the Manhattan Project• Died in 1967• More background at

http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/oppenheimer.html

Schooling

• Graduated from Harvard• Went to study at Cambridge• Received a PhD in Germany

Atomic Bomb Explosion

Values

• He opposed fascism• He had family in Nazi Germany• Supported Communism

Harvard Logo

Manhattan Project

• Started in 1941• Begun to create powerful weapons• Response to Germany splitting the atom• Oppenheimer appointed director in June 1942• Created atomic bomb• More Manhattan Project at

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX65.html

Atomic Bomb

• Extremely powerful bomb• Worked on at Los Alamos• Los Alamos in New Mexico• Many physicists worked on it• Took four years to develop

“Little Boy”

How It Works

• Needs enriched uranium• Fission occurs • Neutron is fired at atom• Huge amount of energy released• How it works at

http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/abomb/physics.htm

Explosion

• Atomic bomb detonated in July, 1945• Dropped on Japan• First in Hiroshima• Second in Nagasaki• Ended WWII

Atomic Bomb Explosion

Unhappy Ending

• Chairman for Atomic Energy Commission• Oppenheimer opposed the hydrogen bomb• Trial for treason• Too long identifying Soviet Spies• Cleared of charges• Removed from Atomic Energy Commission

Hydrogen bomb

Conclusion

• Atomic bomb was important invention