6.+John+Oppenheimer 




 * John Oppenheimer**

Aim:

The aim of John Oppenheimer was none other than to be a nuclear, theoretical physicist. To create and display things that either were in the making of, or hadn't been thought of yet. He put time, effort, and work into everything he did, and his brother followed in the same suit. Together they were a massively unstoppable team of brothers. It became clear in wherever he went his aim, as it did shine light a very bright light as he presented. "Boyish-looking Robert Oppenheimer stole the show at the Joint Atomic Energy Committee's hearing. For 2½ hours, the cropped-haired scientist set forth the intricacies of atomic science, gave sure, rapid-fire facts" (Time). This enforces his aim massively as it shows just how much effort he threw into his work and presentation, and that article was from 1949. His aim and purpose had only room to increase until his death in 1967. John Oppenheimer was a man who had a goal and set to it, deliberated it, created it, and delivered it. His overall aim was to create something no one had before- and through that he became the father of the atomic bomb. He was death, the destroyer of worlds.

Cultural:

The way John Oppenheimer was regarded culturally was either as a hero, or as a villain. Some saw the atomic bomb as the quantum gateway to the future, opening new doors for not only a weaponized future but a levitating future. A changing future. Others saw Oppenheimer as the destroyer of worlds, the one who would one day essentially destroy the world by making such a monsterous machine that kills innocent people and poisons the ground in where it detonates. John Oppenheimer had to live with this emotional side-swaying for his whole life. His whole life he had people that would undoubtedly hate him, and those who would undoubtedly love him. For all the wrong reasons. To add onto this, John Oppenheimer was in the circle of the political realm. He knew secrets and had access to them, and when he starting expressing interest in showing the public, things went a bit haywire. "In due course, Eisenhower authorized an AEC investigation into Oppenheimer’s loyalty, and ordered the attorney general to erect “a blank wall” to keep Oppenheimer away from classified material. In November 1953, Oppenheimer was presented with a formal list of the charges against him and informed that his security clearance was suspended" (Valiunas). It was gone, his security clearance. All that he worked for, drained. Because of an action and the sheer fear of communism that the government holds. The cultural shift now went from hate to guilt, though his life wasn't ruined as he went back to study at the university attracting physicists around the world. Culturally, John Oppenheimer had to remain strong because of the challenges he faced.

Historical:

Historically, the average eye will notice that J. Robert Oppenheimer's legacy did not die. Though the average American citizen couldn't say exactly who J. Robert Oppenheimer was- those that do know about him know very much. They know of his struggles, his efforts, and his achievements. Historically, the legacy of John Oppenheimer still lives on because of what he was pushing for in his ending years. That is how scientists will allow others to use their work and how they can effectively regulate the usage of it. "When Oppenheimer was ejected from his position of political influence in 1954, he symbolized for many the folly of scientists thinking they could control how others would use their research. He has also been seen as symbolizing the dilemmas involving the moral responsibility of the scientist in the nuclear world" (Thorpe). This made John Oppenheimer essentially the beacon for moral scientific usage and the control that scientists have over others and their work. They are the scientists, they are the future. And that's what John Oppenheimer still says, rolling in his grave today. The scientists have the power, because the scientists are the power.

Audience:

Put simply, the audience of John Oppenheimer sort of started patriotic. The arms race is really what drew Oppenheimer in, the science of it all is what made him stay. Through this, his audience became American politicians themselves. While he was focused more on the aspect of the bomb itself, how it works, the purpose of it, and how he can effectively use it-- the American politicians thought differently. How do they destroy the enemy, when is he going to be done, why is it that he seems it is so important to safeguard his work. His audience then shifted once again, nearing his ejection from political landscape, back to the scientists, which is what it should've started with. It should've always been about the science and it seemed that with John Oppenheimer it might've shifted a little towards the non-science side as he progressed with the project. This became clear as he "had been following Oppenheimer since before the war, when he showed Communist sympathies as a professor at Berkeley and had been close to members of the Communist Party, including his wife and brother. He had been under close surveillance since the early 1940s, his home and office bugged, his phone tapped and his mail opened" (Stern). His audience should have never been the politics, because politicians will eat every scientist up and spit them out with no use for them, which is exactly what hoover did. His audience should've always stayed with the science.

[|Stern 1969] , p. 2

Time Magazine//.// "John Oppenheimer". //Time.// Web. 1 April 15.

The New Atlantis. "The Agony of the Atomic Genius". //Publications.// Web. 1 April 15.

Foreign Affairs. "The Ruin of J Robert Oppenheimer" //Articles.// Web. 1 April 15.

H Bomb. "H Bomb Book". //John Oppenheimer.// Web. 1 April 15.