Editing J. Robert Oppenheimer (section)

== Legacy ==
[[File:Oppenheimer Marshall Conant Bradley and others at Harvard.jpg|alt=A group of men in uniforms, suits and academic dress sit for a formal group photograph|thumb|left|upright=1.5|Recipients of Harvard honorary degrees, June 5, 1947. Front row from left: Oppenheimer; [[Ernest Cadman Colwell]]; General [[George C. Marshall]], Harvard President [[James B. Conant]]; General [[Omar N. Bradley]]; [[T. S. Eliot]].]]

When Oppenheimer was stripped of his political influence in 1954, he symbolized for many the folly of scientists who believed they could control the use of their research, and the dilemmas of moral responsibility presented by science in the nuclear age.<ref name="Thorpe" /> The hearings were motivated by politics and personal enmities, and reflected a stark divide in the nuclear weapons community.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2005|pp=305–308}}</ref> One group passionately feared the Soviet Union as a mortal enemy, and believed having the most powerful weaponry capable of providing the most massive retaliation was the best strategy to combat that threat. The other group thought developing the H-bomb would not improve Western security and that [[Nuclear holocaust|using the weapon against large civilian populations]] would be [[genocide]]; they advocated instead a more flexible response to the Soviets involving tactical nuclear weapons, strengthened conventional forces, and arms control agreements. The first of these groups was the more powerful in political terms, and Oppenheimer became its target.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2005|pp=305–306}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Young|Schilling|2019|pp=154, 163–164}}</ref>

Rather than consistently oppose the "Red-baiting" of the late 1940s and early 1950s, Oppenheimer testified against former colleagues and students, before and during his hearing. In one incident, his damning testimony against former student Bernard Peters was selectively leaked to the press. Historians have interpreted this as an attempt by Oppenheimer to please his colleagues in the government and perhaps to divert attention from his own previous left-wing ties and those of his brother. In the end, it became a liability when it became clear Oppenheimer had really doubted Peters's loyalty, and recommending him for the Manhattan Project was reckless, or at least contradictory.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2005|pp=281–284}}</ref>

Popular depictions of Oppenheimer view his security struggles as a confrontation between right-wing militarists (represented by Teller) and left-wing intellectuals (represented by Oppenheimer) over the moral question of weapons of mass destruction.<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|2005|pp=1–10}}</ref> Biographers and historians have often viewed Oppenheimer's story as a tragedy.<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=3, 5, ''passim''}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hewlett|Holl|1989|p=xxii}}</ref><ref name="mcgeorge-316">{{harvnb|Bundy|1988|p=316}}</ref> National security advisor and academic [[McGeorge Bundy]], who worked with Oppenheimer on the State Department Panel of Consultants, wrote: "Quite aside from Oppenheimer's extraordinary rise and fall in prestige and power, his character has fully tragic dimensions in its combination of charm and arrogance, intelligence and blindness, awareness and insensitivity, and perhaps above all daring and fatalism. All these, in different ways, were turned against him in the hearings."<ref name="mcgeorge-316"/>

The question of scientists' responsibility toward humanity inspired [[Bertolt Brecht]]'s drama ''[[Life of Galileo]]'' (1955), left its imprint on [[Friedrich Dürrenmatt]]'s ''[[The Physicists]]'', and is the basis of [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]]'s 2005 opera ''[[Doctor Atomic]]'', which was commissioned to portray Oppenheimer as a modern-day [[Faust (opera)|Faust]]. [[Heinar Kipphardt]]'s play ''In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer'', after appearing on West German television, had its theatrical release in Berlin and Munich in October 1964. The 1967 Finnish television film ''[[Oppenheimerin tapaus]]'' (''The Case of Oppenheimer'') is based on the same play and produced by the [[Yleisradio]] company.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.episodi.fi/uutiset/suomessa-tehtiin-oppenheimerista-kertova-tv-elokuva-jo-vuonna-1967-loytyy-areenasta/|title=Suomessa tehtiin Oppenheimerista kertova tv-elokuva jo vuonna 1967: Löytyy Areenasta|first=Jussi|last=Huhtala|work=Episodi|date=October 9, 2023|access-date=October 10, 2023|language=fi|archive-date=October 10, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010124620/https://www.episodi.fi/uutiset/suomessa-tehtiin-oppenheimerista-kertova-tv-elokuva-jo-vuonna-1967-loytyy-areenasta/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://elonet.finna.fi/Record/kavi.elonet_elokuva_1555675|title=Oppenheimerin tapaus|website=[[Elonet]]|access-date=October 10, 2023|language=fi|archive-date=October 10, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010155851/https://elonet.finna.fi/Record/kavi.elonet_elokuva_1555675|url-status=live}}</ref> Oppenheimer's objections resulted in an exchange of correspondence with Kipphardt, in which Kipphardt offered to make corrections but defended the play.<ref>{{cite news |title=Playwright Suggests Corrections to Oppenheimer Drama |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 14, 1964 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F70B14FF39581B728DDDAD0994D9415B848AF1D3 |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 23, 2008 |archive-date=April 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404033844/https://www.nytimes.com/?res=F70B14FF39581B728DDDAD0994D9415B848AF1D3 |url-status=live }}</ref> It premiered in New York in 1968, with [[Joseph Wiseman]] as Oppenheimer. ''New York Times'' theater critic [[Clive Barnes]] called it an "angry play and a partisan play" that sided with Oppenheimer but portrayed him as a "tragic fool and genius."<ref>{{cite news |title=Theater: Drama of Oppenheimer Case |first=Clive |last=Barnes |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 7, 1968 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F00E14FE3E5E1A7B93C5A9178DD85F4C8685F9 |access-date=May 23, 2008 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=April 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404033942/https://www.nytimes.com/?res=F00E14FE3E5E1A7B93C5A9178DD85F4C8685F9 |url-status=live }}</ref> Oppenheimer had difficulty with this portrayal. After reading a transcript of Kipphardt's play soon after it began to be performed, Oppenheimer threatened to sue Kipphardt, decrying "improvisations which were contrary to history and to the nature of the people involved."<ref>{{cite news | title = The character speaks out |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830818,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308010408/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830818,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = March 8, 2008 | newspaper = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url-access=subscription |date = November 11, 1964 | access-date=May 23, 2008}}</ref> Later Oppenheimer told an interviewer:

{{blockquote|The whole damn thing [his security hearing] was a farce, and these people are trying to make a tragedy out of it. ...&nbsp;I had never said that I had regretted participating in a responsible way in the making of the bomb. I said that perhaps he [Kipphardt] had forgotten [[Bombing of Guernica|Guernica]], [[Coventry Blitz|Coventry]], [[Bombing of Hamburg in World War II|Hamburg]], [[Bombing of Dresden in World War II|Dresden]], [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]], [[Destruction of Warsaw|Warsaw]], and [[Bombing of Tokyo|Tokyo]]; but I had not, and that if he found it so difficult to understand, he should write a play about something else.<ref>{{cite news  | last = Seagrave  | first = Sterling  | title = Play about him draws protests of Oppenheimer  | page = B8  | newspaper= [[The Washington Post]]  | date = November 9, 1964 }}</ref>}}
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?194360-10/american-prometheus Presentation by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin on ''American Prometheus'', September 30, 2006], [[C-SPAN]]}}

Oppenheimer is the subject of many biographies, including ''[[American Prometheus]]'' (2005) by [[Kai Bird]] and [[Martin J. Sherwin]], which won the 2006 [[Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2006-Biography-or-Autobiography |title=The 2006 Pulitzer Prize Winners – Biography or Autobiography |publisher=The Pulitzer Prizes |access-date=March 5, 2011 |archive-date=August 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814140845/http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2006-Biography-or-Autobiography |url-status=live }}</ref> The 1980 BBC TV serial ''[[Oppenheimer (TV series)|Oppenheimer]]'', starring [[Sam Waterston]], won three [[BAFTA Television Awards]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/74400/The-Day-After-Trinity-Oppenheimer-the-Atomic-Bomb/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206180919/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/74400/The-Day-After-Trinity-Oppenheimer-the-Atomic-Bomb/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 6, 2009 |title=The Day After Trinity: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb (1980) |access-date=December 11, 2010 |first=Vincent |department=Movies & TV Dept. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |author-link=Vincent Canby |date=2009 |last=Canby}}</ref> ''[[The Day After Trinity]]'', a 1980 documentary about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb, was nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film#1980s|an Academy Award]] and received a [[Peabody Award]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Peabody Award Winners |publisher=University of Georgia |url=http://www.peabody.uga.edu/winners/PeabodyWinnersBook.pdf |access-date=December 11, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726163315/http://www.peabody.uga.edu/winners/PeabodyWinnersBook.pdf |archive-date=July 26, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080594/ |title=The Day After Trinity |publisher=[[IMDb]] |access-date=December 11, 2010}}</ref> Oppenheimer's life is explored in [[Tom Morton-Smith]]'s 2015 play ''[[Oppenheimer (play)|Oppenheimer]]'',<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |first=Michael |last=Billington |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/23/oppenheimer-review-rsc-atomic-bomb-drama-tom-morton-smith |date=January 24, 2015 |title=Oppenheimer five-star review – father of atomic bomb becomes tragic hero at RSC |access-date=May 1, 2015 |archive-date=April 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404074129/http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/23/oppenheimer-review-rsc-atomic-bomb-drama-tom-morton-smith |url-status=live }}</ref> and the 1989 film ''[[Fat Man and Little Boy (film)|Fat Man and Little Boy]]'', where he was portrayed by [[Dwight Schultz]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) |date=May 3, 2004 |publisher=Popmatters |url=https://www.popmatters.com/fat-man-and-little-boy-2496240254.html |access-date=August 1, 2022 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512182832/https://www.popmatters.com/fat-man-and-little-boy-2496240254.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Also in 1989, [[David Strathairn]] played Oppenheimer in the TV film ''[[Day One (1989 film)|Day One]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097159/ |title= Day One (1989 TV Movie) |publisher= Internet Movie Database |access-date= June 17, 2023 |archive-date= July 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230730195312/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097159/ |url-status= live }}</ref> In the 2023 American film ''[[Oppenheimer (film)|Oppenheimer]]'', directed by [[Christopher Nolan]] and based on ''American Prometheus'', Oppenheimer is portrayed by [[Cillian Murphy]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kroll |first=Justin |date=October 8, 2021 |title=Cillian Murphy Confirmed to Star As J. Robert Oppenheimer In Christopher Nolan's Next Film At Universal, Film Will Bow in July 2023 |url=https://deadline.com/2021/10/cillian-murphy-j-robert-oppenheimer-christopher-nolans-universal-film-july-2023-1234852888/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008180121/https://deadline.com/2021/10/cillian-murphy-j-robert-oppenheimer-christopher-nolans-universal-film-july-2023-1234852888/ |archive-date=October 8, 2021 |access-date=October 8, 2021 |publisher=[[Deadline Hollywood]] }}</ref> The film won [[Academy Award for Best Picture#2020s|the Academy Award for best picture]], and Murphy won [[Academy Award for Best Actor#2020s|for best actor]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Benjamin |date=March 11, 2024 |title=Oppenheimer wins best picture Oscar as Emma Stone pulls surprise win |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/10/oscars-best-picture-oppenheimer |access-date=March 23, 2024 |newspaper=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=July 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723031545/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/10/oscars-best-picture-oppenheimer |url-status=live }}</ref>

A centennial conference about Oppenheimer's legacy was held in 2004 at the University of California, Berkeley, alongside a digital exhibition on his life,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ohst.berkeley.edu/publications/oppenheimer/exhibit/index.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611004046/http://ohst.berkeley.edu/publications/oppenheimer/exhibit/index.html | archive-date = June 11, 2010 |title=J. Robert Oppenheimer Centennial at Berkeley |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |access-date=December 16, 2013}}</ref> with the conference proceedings published in 2005 as ''Reappraising Oppenheimer: Centennial Studies and Reflections''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ohst.berkeley.edu/publications/oppenheimer/oppenheimer.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125100243/http://ohst.berkeley.edu/publications/oppenheimer/oppenheimer.html | archive-date = January 25, 2012 |title=Reappraising Oppenheimer – Centennial Studies and Reflections |publisher=Office for History of Science and Technology, University of California, Berkeley |access-date=December 16, 2013}}</ref> His papers are in the [[Library of Congress]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/1998/ms998007.pdf |title=J. Robert Oppenheimer Papers |access-date=March 23, 2011 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018083519/http://memory.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/1998/ms998007.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

As a scientist, Oppenheimer was remembered by his students and colleagues as a brilliant researcher and engaging teacher who founded modern theoretical physics in the United States. "More than any other man", Bethe wrote, "he was responsible for raising American theoretical physics from a provincial adjunct of Europe to world leadership."<ref>Quoted in {{harvnb|Cassidy|2005|p=xvi}}</ref> Because his scientific attentions often changed rapidly, he never worked long enough on any one topic and carried it to fruition to merit the Nobel Prize,<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2005|p=175}}</ref> though his investigations contributing to the theory of black holes might have warranted the prize had he lived long enough to see them brought to fruition by later astrophysicists.<ref name="Gerjuoy" /> An asteroid, [[67085 Oppenheimer]], was named in his honor on January 4, 2000,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=67085+Oppenheimer |title=Small-Body Database Browser 67085 Oppenheimer (2000 AG42) |publisher=[[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] |access-date=February 27, 2011 |archive-date=January 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130121134/http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=67085+Oppenheimer |url-status=live }}</ref> as was the lunar crater [[Oppenheimer (crater)|Oppenheimer]] in 1970.<ref>{{harvnb|Anderson|Whitaker|1982|p=54}}</ref>

As a military and public policy advisor, Oppenheimer was a leader in the shift toward [[technocracy]] in the interactions between science and the military, and in the emergence of "[[big science]]". During World War II, scientists became involved in military research to an unprecedented degree. Because of the threat [[fascism]] posed to Western civilization, they volunteered in great numbers for technological, and organizational, assistance to the Allied effort, resulting in powerful tools such as radar, the [[proximity fuze]] and [[operations research]]. As a cultured, intellectual, theoretical physicist who became a disciplined military organizer, Oppenheimer represented the shift away from the idea that scientists had their "heads in the clouds" and that knowledge of esoteric subjects like the composition of the atomic nucleus had no "real-world" applications.<ref name="Thorpe">{{cite journal|author= Thorpe, Charles|title=Disciplining Experts: Scientific Authority and Liberal Democracy in the Oppenheimer Case |journal=[[Social Studies of Science]] |issn=0306-3127 |volume=32 |issue=4 |year=2002 |pages=525–562 |doi=10.1177/0306312702032004002|s2cid=144059198 }}</ref>

Two days before the Trinity test, Oppenheimer expressed his hopes and fears in a quotation from [[Bhartṛhari]]'s ''[[Śatakatraya]]'':<!--this is the article's eloquent epilogue-->

{{poemquote|
In battle, in the forest, at the precipice in the mountains,
On the dark great sea, in the midst of javelins and arrows,
In sleep, in confusion, in the depths of shame,
The good deeds a man has done before defend him.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollinger|2005|p=387}}</ref><ref>See {{harvnb|Wortham|1886|p=15}} for a different translation.</ref>}}