J Robert Oppenheimer opinions of atomic bomb?

Answer 1

J. Robert Oppenheimer is not really the only "father" of the atomic bomb. Although his research and discoveries were significant, the bomb could have been invented in about the same time if he had not been part of the Manhattan Project. His fellow scientists remembered him as a visionary and capable leader at Los Alamos, while his security hearing brought to light foolish mistakes in judgment and human relationships.

J. Robert Oppenheimer led the scientific efforts which produced the first atomic bomb for the United States, in 1945. Despite his brilliant achievements at the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer's misgivings about atomic weaponry in general led to his isolation from government weapons research in the years following the war.

After witnessing the first test at Trinity, Oppenheimer wrote that some laughed, some cried, and through his mind floated a line from the Bhagavadgita: "I am become death: the destroyer of worlds." His ambivalance towards the use of science for military ends led to his opposition to the development of a hydrogen bomb after the war. Unfortunately for him, the Soviet Union exploded its own atomic weapon in 1948, creating tremendous pressure for the US to develop the even larger fusion weapon.

Answer 2

J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who led the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb, had mixed feelings about its use. He initially supported its development as a means to end World War II, but later expressed regret and moral concerns about its destructive power. Oppenheimer famously quoted the Bhagavad Gita, saying "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds," after witnessing the first successful test of the bomb.