Editing J. Robert Oppenheimer (section)

== Final years ==

{{Quote box
| quote = The frontiers of science are separated now by long years of study, by specialized vocabularies, arts, techniques, and knowledge from the common heritage even of a most civilized society; and anyone working at the frontier of such science is in that sense a very long way from home, a long way too from the practical arts that were its matrix and origin, as indeed they were of what we today call art.
| author = Oppenheimer
| salign = right
| source = "Prospects in the Arts and Sciences" {{nobr|in ''[[Man's Right to Knowledge]]''<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 27, 1954 |title=Text of Oppenheimer Lecture Ending the Columbia Bicentenary |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url-access=limited |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/12/27/84181413.html?pageNumber=10 |access-date=August 10, 2022 |archive-date=March 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327133740/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/12/27/84181413.html?pageNumber=10 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
| width = 30%
}}
Starting in 1954, Oppenheimer lived for several months of each year on the island of [[Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint John]] in the [[United States Virgin Islands|U.S. Virgin Islands]]. In 1957, he purchased a {{convert|2|acre|ha|sigfig=1|abbr=off|adj=on|spell=in}} tract of land on [[Gibney Beach]], where he built a spartan home on the beach.<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=566–569}}</ref> He spent considerable time sailing with his daughter Toni and wife Kitty.<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|p=573}}</ref>

Oppenheimer's first public appearance following the stripping of his security clearance was a lecture titled "Prospects in the Arts and Sciences" for the [[Columbia University Bicentennial]] radio show ''[[Man's Right to Knowledge]]'', in which he outlined his philosophy and his thoughts on the role of science in the modern world.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 27, 2004 |title=1954: Nuclear Scientist Speaks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/news/1954nuclear-scientist-speaks-in-our-pages100-75-and-50-years-ago.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718152028/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/news/1954nuclear-scientist-speaks-in-our-pages100-75-and-50-years-ago.html |archive-date=July 18, 2022 |access-date=July 18, 2022 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Pais|2006|p=291}}</ref> He had been selected for the final episode of the lecture series two years prior to the security hearing, though the university remained adamant that he stay on even after the controversy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 27, 1954 |title=Oppenheimer Sets Path for Mankind |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/12/27/84181342.html?pageNumber=10 |url-access=registration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402211451/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/12/27/84181342.html?pageNumber=10 |archive-date=April 2, 2023 |access-date=July 18, 2022 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

In February 1955, the president of the [[University of Washington]], [[Henry Schmitz]], abruptly canceled an invitation to Oppenheimer to deliver a series of lectures there. Schmitz's decision caused an uproar among the students; 1,200 of them signed a petition protesting the decision, and Schmitz was [[burned in effigy]]. While they marched in protest, the state of Washington outlawed the Communist Party, and required all government employees to swear a [[loyalty oath]]. [[Edwin Albrecht Uehling]], the chairman of the physics department and a colleague of Oppenheimer's from Berkeley, appealed to the university senate, and Schmitz's decision was overturned by a vote of 56 to 40. Oppenheimer stopped briefly in [[Seattle]] to change planes on a trip to Oregon and was joined for coffee during his layover by several University of Washington faculty, but Oppenheimer never lectured there.{{sfn|Sanders|1979|pp=8–19}}{{sfn|Wolverton|2008|pp=57–61}} Oppenheimer gave two lectures on the "Constitution of Matter" at [[Oregon State University]] during this trip.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Library of Congress |title=Condon lecture at Oregon State College |url=https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/55124841 |website=researchworks.oclc.org |publisher=Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress |access-date=January 24, 2024 |archive-date=January 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125000341/https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/55124841 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Oppenheimer was increasingly concerned about the danger that scientific inventions could pose to humanity. He joined with [[Albert Einstein]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Joseph Rotblat]], and other eminent scientists and academics to establish what would eventually, in 1960, become the [[World Academy of Art and Science]]. Significantly, after his public humiliation, he did not sign the major open protests against nuclear weapons of the 1950s, including the [[Russell–Einstein Manifesto]] of 1955, nor, though invited, did he attend the first [[Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs]] in 1957.<ref name="Bird&Sherwin, pp. 559-561" />

In his speeches and public writings, Oppenheimer continually stressed the difficulty of managing the power of knowledge in a world in which the freedom of science to exchange ideas was more and more hobbled by political concerns. Oppenheimer delivered the [[Reith Lectures]] on the [[BBC]] in 1953, which were subsequently published as ''Science and the Common Understanding''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ias.edu/people/oppenheimer |title=J. Robert Oppenheimer |access-date=March 11, 2011 |publisher=[[Institute for Advanced Study]] |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514213850/http://www.ias.edu/people/oppenheimer |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1955, Oppenheimer published ''The Open Mind'', a collection of eight lectures that he had given since 1946 on the subject of nuclear weapons and popular culture.<ref name="auto">{{harvnb|Wolverton|2008|pp=84–87}}</ref> Oppenheimer rejected the idea of nuclear [[gunboat diplomacy]]. "The purposes of this country in the field of foreign policy", he wrote, "cannot in any real or enduring way be achieved by coercion."<ref name="auto"/>

In 1957, the philosophy and psychology departments at Harvard invited Oppenheimer to deliver the [[William James Lectures]]. An influential group of Harvard alumni led by Edwin Ginn that included [[Archibald Roosevelt]] protested the decision.<ref name="auto"/> 1,200 people attended Oppenheimer's six lectures, "The Hope of Order", in [[Sanders Theatre]].<ref name="Bird&Sherwin, pp. 559-561">{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=559–561}}</ref> In 1962, Oppenheimer delivered the [[Whidden Lectures]] at [[McMaster University]], which were published in 1964 as ''The Flying Trapeze: Three Crises for Physicists''.<ref>{{harvnb|Wolverton|2008|pp=227–228}}</ref>

[[File:J. Robert Oppenheimer visit to Israel (997009326988305171) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|In April 1958, Oppenheimer spoke at the inauguration of the Nuclear Physics Institute in the [[Weizmann Institute of Science]], Israel. The bust is of Niels Bohr.|alt=Oppenheimer stands behind a large bust and gives a speech]]

Deprived of political influence, Oppenheimer continued to lecture, write, and work on physics. He toured Europe and Japan, giving talks about the history of science, the role of science in society, and the nature of the universe.<ref>{{harvnb|Wolverton|2008|pp=174–180}}</ref> Oppenheimer was warmly received during his three-week lecture tour in Japan in 1960, just 15 years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.<ref>{{harvnb|Wolverton|2008|pp=177–182}}</ref> He indicated interest in seeing Hiroshima, but the Japan Committee for Intellectual Interchange, which sponsored the tour, decided it would be best not to stop at Hiroshima or Nagasaki, and Oppenheimer never went to either city.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://discover.lanl.gov/publications/national-security-science/2023-summer/visit-to-japan/ | title=Oppenheimer's visit to Japan | first=Ian | last=Laird | work=National Security Science |  publisher=Los Alamos National Laboratory | date=Summer 2023 | access-date=June 23, 2024 }}</ref> In 1963 he spoke about the importance of studying the history of science at the dedication of the Niels Bohr Library and Archives of the [[American Institute of Physics]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holland |first=Sam |date=February 26, 2021 |title=In the Sky with Diamonds: Physics in the 1960s |url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/sky-diamonds-physics-1960s |publisher=American Institute of Physics |access-date=July 9, 2023 |archive-date=August 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804205954/https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/sky-diamonds-physics-1960s |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{YouTube |title=Niels Bohr Library Dedication Ceremony, American Institute of Physics, September 26, 1962 |id=V6pIkADY7x4 }}</ref>

Oppenheimer continued to visit academic institutions throughout his final years. He remained a controversial figure to students, faculty, and communities. In November 1955, Oppenheimer became the inaugural week-long visiting fellow at the [[Phillips Exeter Academy]] in [[Exeter, New Hampshire]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The visiting fireman |url=https://www.exeter.edu/news/visiting-fireman |access-date=November 2, 2023 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en |archive-date=November 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102230000/https://www.exeter.edu/news/visiting-fireman |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 1957, France made Oppenheimer an Officer of the [[Legion of Honor]],<ref>{{harvnb|Wolverton|2008|pp=105–106}}</ref> and on May 3, 1962, he was elected a [[Foreign Member of the Royal Society]] in Britain.<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Bethe | first1 = H. A. | author-link = Hans Bethe| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1968.0016 | title = J. Robert Oppenheimer. 1904–1967 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 14 | pages = 390–416 | year = 1968a |issn=0080-4606 | doi-access = free }} reprinted as {{cite journal | last = Bethe | first = Hans | author-link = Hans Bethe | title = J. Robert Oppenheimer 1904–1967 | journal = Biographical Memoirs | volume = 71 | pages = 175–218 |url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5737&page=175 | year = 1997 | access-date = March 5, 2011 | archive-date = October 10, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010232837/http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5737&page=175 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=List of Fellows of the Royal Society |url=http://royalsociety.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=4294972811 |format=PDF |publisher=Royal Society |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=November 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130205428/http://royalsociety.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=4294972811 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Enrico Fermi Award ===

In 1959, then-Senator [[John F. Kennedy]] voted to deny Lewis Strauss, Oppenheimer's greatest detractor in his security hearings, confirmation as [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]], effectively ending Strauss's political career. In 1962, Kennedy―now President of the United States―invited Oppenheimer to a ceremony honoring 49 Nobel Prize winners. At the event, AEC chairman [[Glenn Seaborg]] asked Oppenheimer whether he wanted another security hearing. Oppenheimer declined.<ref name="Fermi3"/>

In March 1963, the General Advisory committee of the AEC selected Oppenheimer to receive its [[Enrico Fermi Award]], an award Congress had created in 1954.<ref name="Fermi3"/> [[Kennedy's assassination|Kennedy was assassinated]] before he could present the award to Oppenheimer, but his successor, [[Lyndon Johnson]], did so in a December 1963 ceremony at which he cited Oppenheimer's "<!--for -->contributions to theoretical physics as a teacher and originator of ideas, <!--and for--> [and] leadership of the Los Alamos Laboratory and the atomic energy program during critical years."<ref name=bs574575/> He called the signing of the award one of Kennedy's greatest acts as president.<ref name="Fermi2"/> Oppenheimer told Johnson, "I think it is just possible, Mr. President, that it has taken some charity and some courage for you to make this award today."<ref name="Fermi2">{{cite news |title = Oppenheimer Gets Praise of Johnson with Fermi Prize |newspaper = [[The New York Times]] |first = John W. |last = Finney |date = December 2, 1963 |pages = 1, 22 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1963/12/03/archives/oppenheimer-gets-praise-of-johnson-with-fermi-prize-charity-and.html |url-access = subscription |access-date = August 19, 2023 |archive-date = August 18, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230818205835/https://www.nytimes.com/1963/12/03/archives/oppenheimer-gets-praise-of-johnson-with-fermi-prize-charity-and.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | title = Tales of the Bomb  | magazine= [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = October 4, 1968 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,838820-1,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114194627/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,838820-1,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 14, 2009 |url-access=subscription | access-date=May 23, 2008}}</ref>

Kennedy's widow, [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Jackie]], made a point of attending the ceremony so she could tell Oppenheimer how much her husband had wanted him to have the medal.<ref name=bs574575>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=574–575}}</ref> Also present were Teller, who had recommended Oppenheimer receive the award in hopes that it would heal the rift between them,<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2005|pp=348–349}}</ref> and [[Henry D. Smyth]], who in 1954 had been the lone dissenter from the AEC's 4–1 decision to define Oppenheimer as a security risk.

But congressional hostility to Oppenheimer lingered. Senator [[Bourke B. Hickenlooper]] formally protested Oppenheimer's selection just eight days after Kennedy was killed,<ref name="Fermi3">{{cite web |title=Johnson Awards AEC's Fermi Award to Oppenheimer, Once Branded Risk |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 29, 1963 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/11/30/89979687.html?pageNumber=8 |url-access=subscription |agency=United Press International |via=TimesMachine |access-date=August 18, 2023 |archive-date=September 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921154807/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/11/30/89979687.html?pageNumber=8 |url-status=live }}</ref> and several Republican members of the House AEC Committee boycotted the ceremony.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-upon-presenting-the-fermi-award-dr-j-robert-oppenheimer |first1=Lyndon B. |last1=Johnson |title= Remarks Upon Presenting the Fermi Award to Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer |date=December 2, 1963 |work=The American Presidency Project |publisher=[[University of California, Santa Barbara]] |access-date=August 20, 2023 |archive-date=August 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820071713/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-upon-presenting-the-fermi-award-dr-j-robert-oppenheimer |url-status=live }}</ref>

The rehabilitation represented by the award was symbolic, as Oppenheimer still lacked a security clearance and could have no effect on official policy, but the award came with a $50,000 tax-free stipend.<ref name="Fermi2" />