American Prometheus

Triumph and Tragedy of Robert Oppenheimer

By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin

Write A Review

Paperback | 11 April 2006

At a Glance

Paperback
784 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.5 x 12.5 x 4.5

Paperback

$30.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $7.75 with

or

In Stock and Ships next day

J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress.

In this magisterial, acclaimed biography twenty-five years in the making, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin capture Oppenheimer’s life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War. This is biography and history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative.

About the Authors

Kai Bird is the author of The Chairman: John J. McCloy, The Making of the American Establishment and The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy, Brothers in Arms. He coedited with Lawrence Lifschultz Hiroshima’s Shadow: Writings on the Denial of History and the Smithsonian Controversy. A contributing editor of The Nation, he lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and son.

Martin J. Sherwin is the Walter S. Dickson Professor of English and American History at Tufts University and author of A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and Its Legacies, which won the Stuart L. Bernath Prize, as well as the American History Book Prize. He and his wife live in Boston and Washington, D.C.

Industry Reviews

"The definitive biography. . . . Oppenheimer's life doesn't influence us. It haunts us." -Newsweek"A masterful account of Oppenheimer's rise and fall, set in the context of the turbulent decades of America's own transformation. It is a tour de force." -Los Angeles Times Book Review"A work of voluminous scholarship and lucid insight, unifying its multifaceted portrait with a keen grasp of Oppenheimer's essential nature. . . . It succeeds in deeply fathoming his most damaging, self-contradictory behavior." -The New York Times"There have been numerous books about Oppenheimer but they can't touch this extraordinary book's impressive breadth and scope." -The Miami Herald"The first biography to give full due to Oppenheimer's extraordinary complexity . . . Stands as an Everest among the mountains of books on the bomb project and Oppenheimer, and is an achievement not likely to be surpassed or equaled."-The Boston Globe

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $0.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

More in Biographies

Fighting for Country

The extraordinary life of Reg Saunders, Australia's first Indigenous military officer, hero of two wars

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$23.99

31%
OFF

The Big Steal

How steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta fooled Australia and the world

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$21.00

43%
OFF

Great and Unfortunate Things

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF

Home Again

My life and times in a band called Shihad

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$29.99

14%
OFF

Fires Which Burned Brightly

A Life in Progress

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF

Grand Ambition

Paul Keating's global vision for Australia

Hardcover

RRP $49.99

$38.75

22%
OFF

First of Her Kind

From Afghanistan to the Australian Air Force, one young woman's determination reshapes what's possible

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF

A Suitable Man

The Eccentric Empire of Fletcher Jones

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$21.00

43%
OFF

Queens and Kings

An Unusually Personal History

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$28.75

18%
OFF

More

The follow-up to the #1 Sunday Times bestseller

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$25.00

32%
OFF

Living with Freddie

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$28.75

18%
OFF

In the Realm of the Last Man

FROM THE GLOBALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE END OF HISTORY AND THE LAST MAN

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF

Reckoning

A Memoir

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF

Buckets of Hope

A framework for navigating life's darkest moments

Paperback

RRP $35.99

$27.75

23%
OFF

Susie

Hardcover

RRP $69.99

$55.00

21%
OFF

Eleven

We Burn Them in the Sun

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$28.75

18%
OFF

Life Without Limits

An Antarctic journey through pain and possibility

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$23.99

31%
OFF

100 Ways I Almost Died

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$23.99

31%
OFF

The Spinster Cookbook

Culture, politics and pleasure in the single woman's kitchen

Hardcover

RRP $34.99

$29.99

14%
OFF

Well Well Well ...

My wellness odyssey from psychics to psychedelics and beyond

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$24.99

32%
OFF

Holding on to Happiness

An ordinary man's extraordinary story of love, loss and what matters in life

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF

Lionel Messi

5-Minute Genius Stories

Hardcover

RRP $24.99

$15.75

37%
OFF

SIGNED COPY

What It Takes

Hardcover

RRP $45.00

$35.75

21%
OFF

Reckless

The Saga of Australian Crawl

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$21.99

37%
OFF

Preface	p. ix
Prologue	p. 3

"He Received Every New Idea as Perfectly Beautiful"	p. 9
"His Separate Prison"	p. 29
"I Am Having a Pretty Bad Time"	p. 41
"I Find the Work Hard, Thank God, & Almost Pleasant"	p. 56
"I Am Oppenheimer"	p. 68
"Oppie"	p. 80
"The Nim Nim Boys"	p. 94

"In 1936 My Interests Began to Change"	p. 111
"[Frank] Clipped It Out and Sent It In"	p. 128
"More and More Surely"	p. 143
"I'm Going to Marry a Friend of Yours, Steve"	p. 153
"We Were Pulling the New Deal to the Left"	p. 166
"The Coordinator of Rapid Rupture"	p. 179
"The Chevalier Affair"	p. 195

"He'd Become Very Patriotic"	p. 205
"Too Much Secrecy"	p. 223
"Oppenheimer Is Telling the Truth ..."	p. 236
"Suicide, Motive Unknown"	p. 249
"Would You Like to Adopt Her?"	p. 255
"Bohr Was God, and Oppie Was His Prophet"	p. 268
"The Impact of the Gadget on Civilization"	p. 277
"Now We're All Sons-of-Bitches"	p. 290

"Those Poor Little People"	p. 313
"I Feel I Have Blood on My Hands"	p. 323
"People Could Destroy New York"	p. 336
"Oppie Had a Rash and Is Now Immune"	p. 351
"An Intellectual Hotel"	p. 369
"He Couldn't Understand Why He Did It"	p. 391
"I Am Sure That Is Why She Threw Things at Him"	p. 406
"He Never Let On What His Opinion Was"	p. 416
"Dark Words About Oppie"	p. 431
"Scientist X"	p. 454
"The Beast in the Jungle"	p. 462

"It Looks Pretty Bad, Doesn't It?"	p. 487
"I Fear That This Whole Thing Is a Piece of Idiocy"	p. 498
"A Manifestation of Hysteria"	p. 523
"A Black Mark on the Escutcheon of Our Country"	p. 538
"I Can Still Feel the Warm Blood on My Hands"	p. 551
"It Was Really Like a Never-Never-Land"	p. 566
"It Should Have Been Done the Day After Trinity"	p. 574
Epilogue: "There's Only One Robert"	p. 589
Author's Note and Acknowledgments	p. 593
Notes	p. 601
Bibliography	p. 685
Index	p. 700
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

American Prometheus

Triumph and Tragedy of Robert Oppenheimer

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Biographies

Fighting for Country

The extraordinary life of Reg Saunders, Australia's first Indigenous military officer, hero of two wars

The Big Steal

How steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta fooled Australia and the world

Great and Unfortunate Things

Home Again

My life and times in a band called Shihad

Fires Which Burned Brightly

A Life in Progress

Grand Ambition

Paul Keating's global vision for Australia

First of Her Kind

From Afghanistan to the Australian Air Force, one young woman's determination reshapes what's possible

A Suitable Man

The Eccentric Empire of Fletcher Jones

Queens and Kings

An Unusually Personal History

More

The follow-up to the #1 Sunday Times bestseller

Living with Freddie

In the Realm of the Last Man

FROM THE GLOBALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE END OF HISTORY AND THE LAST MAN

Reckoning

A Memoir

Buckets of Hope

A framework for navigating life's darkest moments

Susie

Eleven

We Burn Them in the Sun

Life Without Limits

An Antarctic journey through pain and possibility

100 Ways I Almost Died

The Spinster Cookbook

Culture, politics and pleasure in the single woman's kitchen

Well Well Well ...

My wellness odyssey from psychics to psychedelics and beyond

Holding on to Happiness

An ordinary man's extraordinary story of love, loss and what matters in life

Lionel Messi

5-Minute Genius Stories

What It Takes

Reckless

The Saga of Australian Crawl

This product is categorised by