‘Oppenheimer‘ is all the rage right now given that the Christopher Nolan-directed star-studded movie is slated to release in theatres on 21st July 2023. But who was the man Oppenheimer in real life and which seminal work of his could have fetched him a Nobel Prize?
Julius Robert Oppenheimer was born in Manhattan in 1904 and was a Harvard-educated experimental physicist. He oversaw the infamous Manhattan Project, which resulted in the development of the atomic bomb. His success in developing nuclear weapons is still considered the most advanced technological invention of all time.
Oppenheimer’s Connection To The Manhattan Project
After the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, various scientists including Albert Einstein warned the US government of the consequences if the Nazis were to build the first nuclear bomb. It was at this time that Oppenheimer started to figure out a method to separate uranium-235 from natural uranium and determine the critical mass of uranium required to build an atomic bomb.
The US government ordered in August of 1942 to organize British and US scientists in order to determine the process of making a nuclear bomb. This is the infamous Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer was given the responsibility to establish and lead a laboratory to carry out the Manhattan Project.
He chose the plateau of Los Alamos near Santa Fe, New Mexico as the site of this assignment in 1943. The joint effort of a group of scientists led by Oppenheimer led to the first nuclear explosion on July 16, 1945, at the Trinity site near Alamogordo near New Mexico.
Oppenheimer resigned from his post in October 1945 and then proceeded to become the head of the Institute of Advanced Study. He also served as the chairman of the General Advisory Committee for the Atomic Energy Commission from 1947 until 1952, an organization that opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb in 1952.
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Why Didn’t Oppenheimer Win A Nobel Prize Despite Getting Nominated Three Times?
Oppenheimer was nominated for a Nobel Prize in Physics thrice, first in 1946, then in 1951, and again in 1967. He, however, never achieved the accolade of a Nobel laureate. Everyone, including him, wondered about the reason behind this snub. No one knows the exact reason why he was never awarded the highest honor by the scientific community.
One simple explanation is that, prior to the Second World War, Oppenheimer’s work was not that significant. Neither did he make an important discovery nor prove any noteworthy theory. Even the atomic bomb, according to Oppenheimer in a 1949 Life article, was more inventive than it was scientific.
Winning the prize is a matter of evidence as much as it is about the remarkable idea. According to the American Prometheus, the first time Oppenheimer was nominated for the Nobel Prize, the committee didn’t award him because of his close association with the atomic bomb.
Many scientists argue that Oppenheimer’s scientific focus was always shifting, and he never studied any one area for a long enough period of time to make any significant discoveries. Whatever the reason for his lack of a Nobel Prize, there is no doubt that what Oppenheimer and his colleagues accomplished changed the course of history and science.
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