Post archives
Filtering for posts tagged with ‘J. Robert Oppenheimer’
2023
July 2023
2022
December 2022
21
Meditations
2020
July 2020
16
Meditations
If the first nuclear weapons test had been a flop, would the world be better or worse off?
2019
December 2019
3
Redactions
In 1953, an eminent US scientist lost the "secret of the H-bomb" under bizarre circumstances. Read the documents behind the tale.
2017
May 2017
2
Redactions
Was the first history of the atomic bomb biased towards physics to avoid public associations with chemical weapons? My take on a recent article.
2015
December 2015
11
Redactions
Who killed J. Robert Oppenheimer's Communist lover?
November 2015
6
Visions
The popular version of Oppenheimer at Los Alamos is one of infinite competence, confidence, and charm. The reality is far more complex.
October 2015
30
Redactions
One of the most unusual, curious, and controversial members of the Manhattan Project was their in-house newspaperman from the New York Times.
13
Visions
Some notes on doing historical consulting for the period-piece, neo-noir drama, "Manhattan."
September 2015
4
Redactions
Did "Big Science" pioneer Ernest Lawrence believe that Japan should have been warned before Hiroshima?
July 2015
17
Visions
What does the Trinity test signify, in the broad sweep of human history?
May 2015
11
Redactions
Along with almost getting hit by a car, he made important contributions to the atomic bomb's design.
March 2015
6
Redactions
In 1945, some scientists thought we should "demonstrate" the bomb to Japan before dropping it on a city. Others disagreed. Who was right?
January 2015
16
Redactions
What do the newly released Oppenheimer transcripts tell us about the security hearing, and its original redaction?
9
Redactions
In October 2014, the lost Oppenheimer security hearing transcripts were released. This is the story behind the story.
2014
August 2014
8
Redactions
Did Truman fundamentally misunderstand the atomic bomb because of a debate over its use?
June 2014
6
Meditations
Most of Feynman's stories about the bomb are about his hijinks. But what did he really do on the Manhattan Project, and what did he think about the bomb?
May 2014
23
Visions
What did Oppenheimer mean when he famously said, "Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds"? A foray into the Bhagavad-Gita.
2013
November 2013
8
Meditations
A portrait of a year in flux, when the possibilities of a new order moved from the limitless to the concrete.
September 2013
20
Redactions
How did an article about the work at the Los Alamos laboratory come to be published in March 1944?
6
Redactions
During World War II, the United States didn't just fear a German atomic bomb, but also a German dirty bomb. But secrecy made acting on such fears difficult.
August 2013
9
Meditations
Why was a second bomb used against Japan, so soon after Hiroshima? A review of several theories.
July 2013
30
Visions
Two new photoessays about the first atomic bomb and its creators.
May 2013
17
Meditations
Of the $2 billion spent on the Manhattan Project, where did it go, and what does it tell us about how we should talk about the history of the bomb?
April 2013
12
Meditations | Redactions
Blacking something out is only a step away from highlighting its importance, and the void makes us curious.
March 2013
29
Meditations
How many ways are there to talk about secrecy? Quite a few.
January 2013
22
Visions
The U.K. Atomic Energy Authority's bizarre coat of arms, and more H-bomb drawings from George Gamow.
2012
November 2012
15
Redactions
What would make a nuclear bomb attack even worse? How about a nuclear attack that generates its own thunderstorm?
October 2012
18
Redactions
Did Truman know about the radiation effects of the atomic bombs before they were used? Does it matter?
September 2012
28
Redactions
A debate by Leo Szilard and Edward Teller on the moral responsibility of the scientist just before the bombing of Hiroshima.
