What Is Oppenheimer's Success As Citizen Scientists
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To reiterate, J. Robert Oppenheimer's virtue of unity is what most accounts for his success as a citizen-scientist. Some people, however, believe that what most accounts for Oppenheimer’s success is his patriotism. This view is understandable because Oppenheimer was deeply involved in the Manhattan Project to protect his country. However, throughout Oppenheimer's life, we can see him bringing together great minds in order to further the knowledge of science. Other people believe that what most accounted for Oppenheimer’s success was his passion for learning. This theory is possible seeing how Oppenheimer, in his childhood, was always interested in math and sciences. Even so, Oppenheimer at many points in his life paused his own studies to assist…show more content… Robert Oppenheimer’s virtue of unity is what most accounts for his success as a citizen-scientist. For example, when Oppenheimer spent his time as an assistant professor at Berkeley, he was in charge of teaching the students physics (Regents). Although he was known as a poor lecturer, he soon overcame his weaknesses and became especially renowned as a graduate advisor who would work with students from hours on end, fleshing out their scientific problems without taking over the project or taking credit for it later. Many people gathered into his office to discuss the research progress as an interest group, being exposed to a broad range of topics. Oppenheimer has reflected on this time in his life saying, “ I started really as a propagator of the theory which I loved, which was not well understood and which was very rich. The pattern was not that of someone who takes on a course and teaches students preparing for a variety of careers but of explaining first to faculty, staff, and colleagues and then to anyone who would listen. What had been learned, what the unsolved problems were"…show more content… In April of 1943, Oppenheimer brought a collection of energetic and talented scientists, all of whom shared a love of physics, patriotism, and a fear of the Nazi regime. He eventually began to supervise over 1,500 people to meet the demands of the military bureaucracy (Regents). They were able to solve an innumerable amount of theoretical and practical problems. For the most part, he lowered the emotional tension caused by the collision of powerful egos under the pressure of such a tremendous project (Carnes). Hans Bethe, one of the researchers Oppenheimer made the head of the theoretical division, spoke of Oppenheimer's role: “he was intellectually superior and understood everything that was going on in the laboratory whether it was a chemistry or theoretical physics”(Carnes). Oppenheimer realized that even if he was determined to succeed, he still would not be able to do as well as he did without being surrounded by an elite group of scientists much like