The Personal Life of Robert Oppenheimer
The Personal Life of Robert Oppenheimer
First things first, people argue his name. Some say that the “J.” at the beginning of his name means Julius because his fathers’ name is Julius. Others argue it is simply a “J.” that stands for nothing. To tell the truth nobody really knows the truth about what it stands for. Well, since that’s cleared up that’s that. J. Robert Oppenheimer was born on a cold spring evening April 22, 1904 in New York. When Oppenheimer was five he went on a trip to Germany to visit his grandfather Ben who gave him a dozen minerals that were labeled in German. This is where Oppenheimer first got into minerals. Oppenheimer went to college at Harvard. He finished college in three years instead of the usual four years. During his career he meets and befriends many Noble Prizewinners and worked with many others. Oppenheimer was bad at laboratory work at first but eventually became better. He learned many languages during his time. He lived in Europe while learning more physics. Oppenheimer was known for being more shy than snobbish while in Europe. Up until the 1930’s Oppenheimer was not into politics. He didn’t even own a radio or a telephone. At one point in his life he was leaning towards the communist party but then showed distaste for the communist party. Oppenheimer and Katherine Puening Harrison were married in 1940 and had a son in 1941. During Oppenheimer two and a half years at Loa Alamos he was a dedicated worker who worked six days a week on 20-hour days. For all the time he lived he was a dedicated family man. At the age of 62 he died on February 18, 1967 in Princeton, New Jersey.
PROFESSIONAL LIFE
For five years after Oppenheimer graduated he kept up his studies. When he finished his studies he was appointed to the physics department at University of California at Berkley. At the same time he was appointed to the physics department at Caltech at Pasedena. Oppenheimer later was the target of the governments need. The need was for someone to supervise the atomic bomb research. He agreed to become the coordinator of atomic research at the Office of Scientific Research and Development. This was...