J. Robert Oppenheimer
Julius (or J. for short) Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and the leader of the Manhattan Project, which was the project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II. He was born in New York City to a wealthy family and attended Harvard University, where he studied physics. After graduating from Harvard, he went on to study at the University of Göttingen in Germany, where he worked with some of the leading physicists of the day. There, he met some of the men that he would work with during the Manhattan Project. In 1933, he returned to the United States and joined the University of California, Berkeley faculty.
In 1942, Oppenheimer was recruited by the United States government and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to lead the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was a massive undertaking that involved thousands of scientists and engineers from all over the world, all of whom with a goal in mind: to beat the Germans to build an atomic bomb. Oppenheimer was tasked with ensuring that development occurred and that everything went off without a hitch. He was a brilliant and charismatic leader who helped to usher in a new era in the world.
The Manhattan Project ultimately succeeded, and the United States detonated the first atomic bomb in a remote testing site in Los Alamos, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945. Oppenheimer was present at the Trinity test, and he later said that he felt "the wrath of God" when the bomb exploded. After the war, Oppenheimer continued to work on nuclear weapons, but he also became a vocal advocate for nuclear disarmament. He believed nuclear weapons were too dangerous to exist, and he worked tirelessly to prevent their use. In an infamous interview, Oppenheimer said, "I am become death, destroyer of worlds," reflecting his dissatisfaction with his role in developing the atomic bomb and the potential harm atomic bombs could bring to the world.
Oppenheimer was a complex and controversial figure. He was a brilliant scientist who significantly contributed to the development of the atomic bomb. However, he also became a symbol of the dangers of nuclear weapons. He died in 1967 at the age of 62, a disgraced man.
Edward Teller
Edward Teller, who has been dubbed the "father of the hydrogen bomb," was one of the most important scientists who played a part in the Manhattan Project. Teller was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1908 but fled to the United States in 1933 after Hitler started to prosecute the Jewish people. Teller was invited by J. Robert Oppenheimer to the Manhattan Project in mid-1942. He worked on the project, on which he was a valued but troubled leader, until its end in 1945.
Teller believed that the atomic bomb should only be used on human beings as a last resort. Prior to dropping the bomb on Japan in 1945, he felt that the bomb's power should be demonstrated to the Japanese before using it. His concern with the atomic bomb, which he felt destroyed too much, led him to spearhead the development of the hydrogen bomb.
Leo Szilard
Leo Szilard was born in Hungary to Jewish parents. He studied physics in Hungary but immigrated to Germany, where he worked with some of the leading scientists of the time. Like Edward Teller, Szilard fled Nazi Germany in 1933 because of Jewish prosecution.
Szilard was the man who inspired U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to start the Manhattan Project because of a letter in 1939. In his letter, Szilard warned Roosevelt that the Nazis were working on an atomic bomb and that the United States should start working on one themselves. Szilard also worked on the Manhattan Project, where he helped develop the nuclear chain reaction theory. President Truman asked Szilard for advice before using the atomic bomb on Japan in August 1945.
Like Oppenheimer, Szilard became a vocal advocate for nuclear disarmament after the war. He believed nuclear weapons were too dangerous to exist, and he worked tirelessly to prevent their use.
Leslie Groves
Leslie Groves was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who was the director of the Manhattan Project. Groves was a brilliant but demanding leader. He was able to assemble a team of the best scientists and engineers in the world to build the atomic bomb, and he was able to get them to work together effectively, something which often proved difficult because of the scientist's unique and oftentimes quarrelsome personalities. He also had to deal with a number of challenges during the project, including keeping it secret and secure and ensuring that production remained on schedule.
Under Groves's leadership, the Manhattan Project proved to be successful. The first atomic bomb was tested in New Mexico in July 1945, and two atomic bombs were later dropped on Japan in August 1945, effectively ending World War II.
