Why did oppenheimer join the manhattan project

Oppenheimer's inner moral conflict shows that even in death, he never resolved his own moral dilemma. He chased after absolution and resolution until the bitter end, proud of having served his country but regretting the destruction his work may bring someday. His legacy, though, can be summarized as a simple question: will the bomb be the bringer of life through nuclear power and sustainable energy, or will Oppenheimer in death ultimately become the destroyer of our world?

The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author. Bethe, "J. Hijiya, "The Gita of J. Robert Oppenheimer," P. Hart, "J. Health 47 , Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer: They were not doing this. They were doing something else and we wondered if they saw some way with slow neutrons to make something. But you cannot, of course, and we just worked on it long enough to reassure ourselves.

Groueff: Now one question that I can get from other people is what would be a typical working day for you at Los Alamos? That is one where did you live? Oppenheimer: We lived about a third of a mile from the laboratory. I would try to get to the laboratory on normal days about eight or something like that and take our son, who was around, to the nursery school on the way. Oppenheimer: We would just walk there and I would usually break for a little while between twelve and one because there was nowhere to eat, no food.

And I would come home and then get back and I worked until six. And perhaps two or three times a week or four times a week, I would go back in the evening. Oppenheimer: After dinner. And we often found it possible to go off on our horses Saturday or Sunday, usually not both days. And of course, not in the dead of winter. My wife did a little skiing. Once every two or three months, we would spend Saturday night in Santa Fe and feel somewhat more human.

And then I went to Washington occasionally. My opinion being that this is probably one of the greatest performances or achievements of this system. Oppenheimer: Well, I am not the man to answer that question. I do not know what it took to produce the hundred thousand airplanes that Roosevelt asked for but it was certainly not trivial.

Oppenheimer: Well, it was certainly sui generis —it was the first thing of just that kind. Groueff: We do not in history have many examples of such intense and condensed in time. Groueff: Novel. I would like to ask you several things but when I sit down and write, if I can ask you some [other things]. Skip to main content. You are here Home. Robert Oppenheimer's Interview. In this rare interview, J.

Robert Oppenheimer talks about the organization of the Manhattan Project and some of the scientists that he helped to recruit during the earliest days of the project. Oppenheimer discusses some of the biggest challenges that scientists faced during the project, including developing a sound method for implosion and purifying plutonium, which he declares was the most difficult aspect of the project.

He discusses the chronology of the project and his first conversation with General Leslie Groves. Oppenheimer recalls his daily routine at Los Alamos, including taking his son Peter to nursery school. Robert Oppenheimer's Profile. Manhattan Project Location s :. Chicago Met Lab. Los Alamos, NM. Gun Site. Trinity Site. Princeton University.

Santa Fe, NM. University of California-Berkeley. Date of Interview:. Location of the Interview:. Stephane Groueff. A few months before the Manhattan District and decision to go— J.

Groueff: After Pearl Harbor? Oppenheimer: Before Pearl Harbor. Groueff: Before Pearl Harbor. Groueff: You were a professor at Berkeley? Groueff: Who said that, the Englishman? Groueff: That was a meeting where? Oppenheimer: In Schenectady, actually. Groueff: Schenectady. Oppenheimer: Maybe in October. I do not have the date. Groueff: So you came after this meeting with—?

Oppenheimer: After the discussion. Groueff: After the discussion with Lawrence. Was that [Mark] Oliphant? Oppenheimer: You will have to provide the name because I will not. Groueff: Okay.

Groueff: That was in Chicago. Oppenheimer: In fact, I was not officially working at all. Groueff: You were helping. Groueff: I see. Not so much in the separation. Oppenheimer: No, except for some help to do the California project. Groueff: Do you remember the circumstances of your first meeting with Groves?

Groueff: I think he said it was on the train. The next time we met was in Chicago and he asked me to travel with him—probably Nichols. Groueff: Marshall probably.

Groueff: But was it then that you were assigned with—? A letter was sent by Groves and Conant to me establishing the laboratory and me as its Director and it is published in— Groueff: I saw this. Oppenheimer: Well, in the nature of things, I am not an expert on it. Groueff: And so from there? Groueff: That was your big contribution [laughing]? Groueff: Yes. Groueff: At that time, it existed a little bit—? So I had been there but— Groueff: And that helped in the selection of the site?

Groueff: So it turned out to be the good site, the ideal site for the project. Groueff: I visited. Groueff: And you kept them at Los Alamos? Groueff: From university to university? Groueff: Without knowing where the site was? And also, Chicago group— Oppenheimer: There was quite a lot that was interesting in this so that people wanted to do it if they could. Groueff: But you built it so it was not built at once but little by little. Oppenheimer: No, I think our population doubled every four months.

Groueff: Doubled? Oppenheimer: Well, he was at that time in Princeton. Groueff: He must have been a kid. Oppenheimer: He was. Oppenheimer: Have you read the technical history of Los Alamos? Groueff: The history? Oppenheimer: Technical history. Groueff: Is that the one in two volumes by—? Oppenheimer: Hawkins. Groueff: Hawkins, yes. Oppenheimer: That is a good place to find this out. Oppenheimer had a chance to display his persuasive abilities early when he had to convince scientists, many of them already deeply involved in war-related research in university laboratories, to join his new organization.

Complicating his task were initial plans to operate Los Alamos as a military laboratory. Oppenheimer accepted Groves's rationale for this arrangement but feared that the military chain of command was ill-suited to scientific decision making and soon found that scientists objected to working as commissioned officers.

The issue came to a head when Oppenheimer tried to convince Robert F. Bacher and Isidor I. Neither thought a military environment was conducive to scientific research. At Oppenheimer's request, Conant and Groves wrote a letter explaining that the secret weapon-related research had presidential authority and was of the utmost national importance. The letter promised that the laboratory would remain civilian through , when it was believed that heightened security needs would require militarization of the final stages of the project in fact, militarization never took place.

Skip to main content. Robert Oppenheimer. Early Life Oppenheimer was born on April 22, Later Years After the war Oppenheimer became an advisor of the Atomic Energy Commission, lobbying for international arms control.

Load more. Gallery J. Robert Oppenheimer as a young man J. Groves and J. Robert Oppenheimer after the successful Trinity test J. Robert Oppenheimer J. Robert Oppenheimer and Gregory Breit. Ernest Lawrence, Glenn Seaborg, and J. Robert Oppenheimer John von Neumann, J. Related Profiles Leroy M Hartmann.