Comments on: Oppenheimer Centennial

Oppenheimer Centennial

jjray — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 08:17:40 -0800

J. Robert Oppenheimer Centennial: It is telling that the first atomic test would be named in reference to a poem by John Donne ("Trinity") and the next series of tests would be labeled simply alphabetically according to military protocol ("Able," "Baker," "X-ray," "Yoke," and "Zebra"). It is indicative of the changing of hands of the bomb, moving from the responsibility of intellectual eclectics like Oppenheimer into the protocols of military rank and policy. See also the Oppenheimer Affair. Via Science NetWatch.

By: jbrjake

jbrjake — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 08:54:56 -0800

It appears that the John Donne poem in question is Holy Sonnet XIV. Despite how English teachers love it so, I've never been fond of that poem...But this definitely gives it some cachet.

By: falconred

falconred — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 09:05:32 -0800

It also appears that he really was a communist.

By: shotsy

shotsy — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 09:55:07 -0800

May I reccomend Brighter Than A Thousand Suns ? It is a fantastic read that really gets into the stickiness of the Oppenheimer/Communism stuff.

By: Lazlo

Lazlo — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 13:29:31 -0800

What I wanna know is, when is there gonna be a DVD release of that Oppenheimer mini-series PBS aired about a million years back? Sam Waterston as Oppie! Jim Ottaviani's Fallout covers the Oppenheimer story in graphic novel format, in fact all of his comics on the history of science are good reads.