Author(s): Kai Bird & Martin Sherwin

Biography & Memoir

Physicist and polymath, 'father of the atom bomb' J. Robert Oppenheimer became the most famous scientist of his generation. One of the iconic figures of the 20th century and the embodiment of modern scientific man's Faustian compact, Oppenheimer confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. Already a notable young physicist before WWII, during the race to split the atom, 'Oppie' galvanized an extraordinary team of international scientists while keeping the FBI at bay.Years later, haunted by Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer became a staunch opponent of plans to develop the hydrogen bomb. It was a battle he was to lose, faced by powerful advocates for massive nuclear profusion. In response, the US Atomic Energy Commission and the FBI worked behind the scenes to have a hearing find that Oppenheimer could not be trusted with America's nuclear secrets."American Prometheus" is a compelling portrait of a brilliant, ambitious and flawed man, and of the major events of the twentieth century. It is at once biography and history, and essential to our understanding of our recent past - and our future choices.