Oppenheimer’s evaluation

J. Robert Oppenheimer was born in 1904 in New York into a wealthy family. Due to the decline of his family and the rise of fascism, by the time he became a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, he was already a left-leaning and radical person in politics.

In 1942, Oppenheimer was selected by a group of physicists to evaluate the possibility of building an atomic bomb. Gen. Leslie R. Groves, who presided over the "Manhattan Project" of the U.S. government, was deeply attracted by Oppenheimer's ideas and talents. Over the objections of some of the security officials overseeing the Manhattan Project, he appointed Oppenheimer director of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

This new experimental institution had only a few hundred scientists when it was established in April 1943, but quickly developed into a "secret city" of 6,000 male and female experts

. Twenty-seven months later, these experts, under the leadership of Oppenheimer, whom they nicknamed "Opp", successfully created the world's first atomic bomb.

People in Los Alamos unanimously believed that without Oppenheimer's extraordinary leadership, it would have been impossible for the atomic bomb to be successfully tested and put into use before the end of the war

of. For Oppenheimer, who became the father of the American atomic bomb, this was a source of pride and a heavy burden.

Los Alamos, the "secret city" located in the wilderness of New Mexico, USA, is very large and dotted with many

low offices and laboratories. Oppenheimer either drove a military Jeep or his own large black Buick, driving between these offices and laboratories. Everywhere he went, he always sat at the back of the room, smoking non-stop and listening quietly to everyone's discussions. His presence can often activate people's higher imagination.

Physicist Victor Weisskopf said: "Whenever a new plan begins to be tried, or a new concept begins to be brewed, Oppenheimer Will appear in that laboratory or seminar. Most of the time, he will not provide his own insights or suggestions. His significant influence comes from other aspects. p>

It made us strongly feel that he was directly with us."

Hans Bethe, director of the Department of Theoretical Physics, recalled a symposium on the topic. The issue of containers for melting plutonium has been debated many times without reaching a conclusion. After listening to the debate, Oppenheimer stood up and made a summary. He did not directly say which opinion was correct, but when he left the meeting, everyone already understood what the final conclusion was.

At the end of 1944, six months after the Allied forces landed in Normandy, the situation became very clear: the war in Europe was coming to an end.

Los Alamos scientists began to think about the necessity of continuing to develop such weapons of mass murder from a moral perspective

Director of the Experimental Physics Department Robert Wilson had a long conversation with Oppenheimer on this issue.

He suggested that a formal conference be held to openly discuss the necessity of the atomic bomb. Wilson found Oppenheim silently embarrassed: "He suggested that we say something else because he didn't want the security personnel to come to trouble me.

"

Despite his deep respect for Oppenheimer, Wilson posted signs throughout Los Alamos announcing a public meeting

to discuss "the impact of the atomic bomb on civilization." "question.

Twenty people attended that meeting. To Wilson's surprise, Oppenheimer attended the meeting on time and listened to everyone's discussion. Wilson recalled: "We had a deep and lively discussion, and the topic of the discussion was: Why build an atomic bomb when victory is imminent?"

Young Explosion Technical physicist Louis Rosen remembers Oppenheimer's speech at a symposium titled "Is it right for the United States to use such weapons against human society?" Oppenheimer emphasized that as scientists, we have the same right to express opinions as ordinary citizens on issues such as how to use atomic bombs. Rosen said,

Oppenheimer was a "very eloquent and persuasive man."

Chemistry expert Joseph O. Hirschfelder also remembered a similar discussion, held

The location was a small wooden house in Los Alamos.

It was a cold Sunday evening in early 1945, and it rained heavily. Oppenheimer said that although we are all destined to live in perpetual fear, such a bomb could end all wars. Such a hope is quite convincing to many scientists who are assembling the atomic bomb.

On other occasions, Oppenheimer also said that if people in the world did not understand that such a new type of weapon had

come out, this war should not end. . If the atomic bomb remains a military secret, then the next war will be an atomic war and will be used for surprise attacks. Scientists have to be ahead of the curve, he explains, and base themselves on a place that has at least been tested.

On April 12, 1945, which happened to be the second anniversary of the establishment of Los Alamos Laboratory, news of President Roosevelt's death came.

Oppenheimer said at a meeting to mourn President Roosevelt that all of us have experienced great pain

and fear over the years. President Roosevelt gave hundreds of millions of people around the world confidence: We are fighting in this war. The sacrifices made in

will lead to the birth of a new world more suitable for human civilization. His conclusion was: "We should devote ourselves to this ideal,

so that this magnificent cause will not be suspended because of the death of President Roosevelt."

He always believed that President Roosevelt and him His subordinates knew that the use of this terrifying new weapon required a new approach. After the condolence meeting, he said to his assistant David Hawkins: "Roosevelt was a great architect. Now, maybe Truman will be a good craftsman."

Truman After entering the White House, the Pacific battlefield entered the bloodiest stage of killing. On the night of March 9, 1945,

Three hundred and thirty-four B-29 bombers dropped countless tons of napalm and high-explosive bombs on Tokyo. The high-temperature flames killed everyone

One hundred thousand people razed sixteen square miles of Tokyo to the ground. Such firebombing raids continued until July

. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians were killed, leaving only five cities untouched. This was a pure act of war, the bombing was no longer just targeting military installations, the Allied goal was to destroy entire countries.

The fire bombings were no secret to ordinary Americans. You can see specific reports in daily newspapers

. This strategy of destroying cities as a whole is bound to arouse people's moral reflection. Oppenheimer recalled what Secretary of War Henry Stimson said to him: "He told me that if no one rose up to protest our current attack on Japan, He did not say that we should stop bombing Japan, but he felt that no one in the United States stood up to protest. Something is wrong..."

On April 30, 1945, Hitler committed suicide. Seven days later, Germany surrendered. Physicist Emilio Segre's first reaction was "We started too late." He believed that the only purpose of building an atomic bomb was to bomb Germany.

Sigori’s ideas represent the opinions of most scientists at the Los Alamos Laboratory. He later said in his memoirs: "The atomic bomb can no longer be used against the Nazis, and everyone has doubts. This kind of doubts cannot be seen in the official report. We are This issue was discussed in various private settings."

On May 31, Oppenheimer attended an Interim Committee meeting organized by Stimson.

This was a special agency composed of government officials whose purpose was to advise the Secretary of War on future atomic energy programs.

Stimson was extremely powerful and controlled the power of public opinion and propaganda. However, there is no conclusion on whether the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. In fact, this is an issue that has already been decided, and the decision-maker is the White House, not the scientists who built the atomic bomb.

The Secretary of War told Oppenheimer and other scientists that he and other officials on the House Committee believed that the atomic bomb

"is not only a new type of weapon, but also makes man and nature A revolutionary change has taken place in the relationship", "The atomic bomb

is a scientific monster that may devour human beings." Stimson emphasized that the atomic bomb could consolidate world peace. The advent of the atomic bomb was "from every point of view far beyond the needs of the ongoing war."

Oppenheimer began to speak when Stimson asked about non-war uses of atomic energy. He first emphasized that at this stage, scientists are most concerned about how to shorten the war.

As basic knowledge of atomic physics spreads widely around the world, he pointed out that the wisest thing for the United States to do is to share the peaceful use of atomic energy with all countries. "If we can

disclose information on the use of atomic energy before the atomic bomb is actually used, the moral power of the United States will be greatly strengthened."

After lunch, the participants began to propose bombing Japan The problem of the atomic bomb. No official minutes of the meeting remain.

Even after the official meeting ended, people were still discussing the possible effects of the atomic bomb. It has been suggested that if an atomic bomb were dropped

the effect might look similar to the massive bombing of Japan since the spring. Oppenheim tacitly agreed with this statement. He added: "From a visual effect, the atomic bomb explosion is extremely deterrent." He said that the explosion will form a The high-brightness luminous object rises to a height of 3,000 to 6,000 meters.

Every life within a radius of one kilometer is in danger.

At this meeting, "all possible targets and all possible consequences" of dropping an atomic bomb were discussed in detail

Secretary of War Stimson summarized the opinions of the participants as follows: "...No advance warning can be given to Japan; no civilians can be targeted, but the largest possible number of casualties must be achieved to increase moral deterrence."

Stimson said that he agreed with the opinion of Harvard University President James Conant: "The most ideal goal

is a military factory employing a large number of workers, with nearby A large number of worker housing." In this way, the target of the world's first atomic bomb was roughly determined.

On June 16, 1945, the highest-level scientists of the "Manhattan Project" submitted a short opinion letter called

"Opinions on the Immediate Use of Nuclear Weapons." Oppenheimer signed it. The submission was revised and sent to Stimson

.

The submission is divided into two points. First, before using atomic bombs, Washington should inform Britain, Russia, France, and China about the fact that atomic bombs already exist, and welcome the four countries to cooperate with the United States and use this weapon as an opportunity to improve international relations.

Department. Second, scientists did not agree on how to use the atomic bomb. Some scientists directly involved in building the atomic bomb suggested that a drill be used instead of a real attack. "Scholars who propose replacing real attacks with purely technical exercises want to make the use of atomic bombs illegal. They worry that if the United States is the first to use atomic bombs, it will will be reprimanded in future negotiations." Oppenheimer knew that most of his colleagues advocated drills instead of attacks. But, he was on the other side. The argument on this side is that "the opportunity to save American lives with immediate military attack" cannot be given up.

In the spring of 1945, bloody battles in the Pacific region continued and became increasingly fierce. On April 6, the US military occupied Okinawa, and Japan responded with the most extreme means. The Japanese air force formed a kamikaze team and flew planes to attack US warships with their own flesh and blood. However,

however, after three months of ground war, the number of Japanese surrendered was as high as 7,400, indicating that the Japanese army's internal psychological defense line was beginning to collapse.

The Japanese government is still resisting. Japanese secret cables intercepted by the U.S. military showed that the emperor himself still expressed "opposition to surrender."

It wasn't until July that things turned around. Truman told Stalin that there was news that "the Emperor of Japan was asking for peace." The focus of the issue is the definition of "unconditional surrender." Tokyo wants a promise from Washington that the emperor will not be harmed or humiliated.

What aroused Truman's vigilance was Stalin's decision to join the war against Japan in order to force Japan to surrender early. The Soviet Union is scheduled to send troops to Japan before August 15th, while the United States plans to land the first wave of US troops in Japan around November 1st at the earliest.

In the early summer of 1945, President Truman was advised to use the atomic bomb to end the war early once it was ready, and to do so before the Soviet Union sent troops.

Oppenheimer and the scientists he led knew nothing about this until after the war.

In the summer of 1945, New Mexico was extremely dry and hot. Oppenheimer's strict supervision brought everyone's work intensity to the limit. In his report to General Groves, who presided over the "Manhattan Project", Oppenheimer required that a complete experiment must be conducted before the atomic bomb could be officially used. Oppenheimer said that since humans have no specific knowledge in this field, "it is blind to conduct such an explosion in enemy territory without testing."

A year ago, Oppenheimer drove a three-quarter-ton military truck in southern New Mexico for three days and three nights to prepare for the atomic bomb. I found a place for the experiment. That area is located 70 miles north of the small city of Eramogado and was called the "Journey of the Dead" by Spanish colonists. The Army moved some pastures there, created an experimental area eighteen miles long and twenty-four miles wide, and built a field laboratory and hundreds of sites for observing atomic bomb explosions< /p>

Fort. Oppenheimer named this place "Trinity".

Before the Potsdam Conference in mid-July 1945, President Truman signaled to Gorovs that he hoped to have the trump card of the atomic bomb in his hand at the beginning of the conference. Under repeated pressure from Goroffs, Oppenheimer finally agreed to set the date for the first test on Monday, July 16.

On July 11, when Oppenheimer said goodbye to his wife Katie, he told her that if the experiment was successful, he would send her a telegram: "You can change the sheets." "Katie gave her husband a piece of four-leaf clover found in the garden, which symbolizes luck.

Due to the failure of a small test, some testers began to worry that the test results might be a dud. Many people blamed explosive physics expert George Kistiakowsky. Kistenkoski recalled:

"Oppenheimer was a little nervous those days. I told him it was okay and made a bet with him. I would use one month's salary

Water bet him ten dollars that the explosion would be successful."

On the night two days before the explosion, Oppenheimer slept for four hours. An officer sleeping in a nearby bunker heard Oppenheimer coughing for much of the night.

On Sunday morning, an exhausted Oppenheimer got up as usual. He finally got the good news while eating breakfast.

Beshe, director of the Department of Theoretical Physics, called and told him that the cause of the small test that failed a few days ago was found to be a failed sensor. Bescher stressed that there was nothing wrong with Kistenkoski's design. Oppenheimer's spirit

was lifted. He immediately turned to worrying about the weather.

Meteorological expert Jack Hubbard warned that although it is now clear in the test area, the wind is

bringing in rain clouds and the weather will change. Oppenheimer immediately called Groves, who was about to arrive from California to observe the explosion, and told him that changes in weather might affect the conduct of the experiment.

On the eve of the test explosion, Oppenheimer stayed in the headquarters lobby waiting for dawn. He smoked cigar after cigar and drank black coffee one cup after another. Finally, he picked up a collection of poems by Charles Baudelaire and read quietly, accompanied by the sound of heavy rain hitting the iron roof.

A string of lightning pierced the night sky. Physicist Enrico Fermi couldn't help it. He proposed to Oppenheimer that the atomic bomb test should be rescheduled. The reason is very clear. If the explosion is carried out according to the original plan, strong winds will carry rain clouds contaminated with radioactive dust to other areas, "that will be a disaster."

However, meteorologist Hubbard insists that the storm will pass soon, and the test explosion only needs to be postponed by one hour

from four in the morning to five in the morning. Enough.

Gorovs pulled Oppenheimer aside and listed the reasons one by one, emphasizing the need for the trial to proceed as scheduled.

It was clear to both of them that the experts on the scene were exhausted. If the trial is postponed, it will almost certainly have to be restarted in two or three days.

Gorovs was worried that if any scientist became impulsive and came to Oppenheimer to ask for an extension of the experiment, Oppenheimer would be impressed.

Oppenheimer would be impressed. He simply took Oppenheimer and left the headquarters, and together they went to the shelter at the southern end of the test area to discuss the time of the test. This is only six miles away from the "Trinity" area where the test explosion took place.

The time was two-thirty in the morning, a strong wind of thirty miles an hour swept across the entire testing site, and the thunderstorm continued unabated. Only Hubbard and a few of his aides insisted that the storm would stop at dawn.

Oppenheimer and Goroffs came out of the bunker every few minutes to look at the sky. The two finally made a decision soon.

The test will be carried out at 5:30, and everything else will be left to fate.

An hour later, the heavy rain stopped, the wind weakened, and the sky became clear.

At 5:10, the voice of the central control room came from all the loudspeakers in the test site: "There are still twenty minutes until the test

The countdown begins.

”

The young physicist Richard Feynman was ordered to observe 20 miles away from the center of the explosion. He was afraid that

would not be able to see the explosion clearly, so he did not plan to use He climbed into a truck with the dark observation protective glass issued by the laboratory, and waited in the direction of Elamogado through the glass, but the first ray of light from the explosion hit him. He was so frightened that he immediately squatted down.

He saw that the first wave of dazzling white light quickly turned into yellow, and then an unusually bright one in the center. p>

The big orange-red ball rose slowly, slowly growing in size, and its edges turned into thin black. Only then did you realize that this was an extremely huge fireball. "

A full minute and a half later, a huge explosion followed by a long thunder came. Physics with Feynman

Jia Sebei ( Bob Serber said: "Twenty miles away, I still have a burning sensation on my face. "

Conant, the president of Harvard University who was at the scene, said that at the beginning there was a white flash that occupied the entire sky, "I thought

something must have gone wrong and the whole world was on fire. Get up."

Oppenheimer's brother, physicist Frank Oppenheimer, was also a member of the Los Alamos Laboratory.

He recalled: "The first light of the explosion was bright enough to penetrate closed eyes, followed by a huge,

bright purple mushroom cloud that rose. "He said that the temperature was much higher than everyone expected, and the loud noise of the explosion rolled back and forth among the distant mountains. "The most terrifying thing is the dazzling explosions hanging in the sky. Purple clouds and black radioactive dust seem to

devour people on the ground at any time."

Oppenheimer lay face down in the bunker of the control center. Countdown With two minutes left, he murmured: "God, this stuff hurts my heart..."

Gorovs' deputy Farrell The general was at Oppenheimer's side. He recalled: "As the countdown came to an end

Oppenheimer became more and more nervous. The last few seconds were counted, and then 'start'... He stared blankly until the explosion flash and loud sound came, and he suddenly relaxed. ”

Later, physicist Isidor Rabi saw Oppenheimer get out of the car and saw that the man who had accomplished his work was suddenly relieved and unknowingly used Walking with an abnormal gait, he was so uncomfortable that the skin all over his body tingled: "

He is like the heroic police sergeant in High Noon (the movie "The Midst of the Day" starring Gary Cooper) Such a high-minded and broad-minded person. He turned out to be like that! "

In the morning, William L. Laurence, the New York Times reporter designated by General Groves, came for an interview. Oppenheimer described it in poor words His feelings about the success of the explosion were "fearful" and "not without frustration

". After a pause, he said: "Many children face death before they grow up. "

No matter what Oppenheimer thought, the scientists at the scene were extremely excited. Lawrence described: "After the huge flash

a full hundred seconds passed. Bell, there was a loud explosion, which was the initial cry of the birth of a new world! Silence

The quiet and frozen scene suddenly came to life. The small group of people who had been hiding underground like desert plants suddenly began to dance. "After cheering for a while, everyone began to shake hands and congratulate each other. "Everyone patted each other on the shoulders and laughed

like children."

Kistenkoski found Oppenheim Mo, asked him for the ten dollars he had bet. The explosion was successful, and he won. Mo Mo took out his empty wallet and asked him to wait a moment. After that, Oppenheimer held a special ceremony and solemnly presented a signed ten-dollar note to Kistenkoski.

Out of control. At the center, Oppenheimer shook hands with his colleague Ken Bainbridge. Bainbridge looked into his eyes and said softly: "Now we are all bitches cursed by everyone. Raised. ”

Back at the base, Oppenheimer drank a glass of wine with his brother Frank and General Farrell respectively, and then informed

his confidential secretary to give his wife Kay Dee sent a telegram: "Tell her to change the sheets. ”

On August 6, 1945, a US military B-29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing 70,000 people.

Three days later, Another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. On August 15, Japan announced its unconditional surrender.

In 1947, Oppenheimer served as Dean of the Advanced Study Institute at Princeton University.

As chairman of the National Atomic Energy Commission's General Advisory Board, he warned the United States not to become entangled in a weapons development competition against the Soviet Union and opposed testing of more powerful hydrogen bombs. His enemies seized the opportunity to accuse him of disloyalty to the United States. After a hearing held by the Atomic Energy Commission in 1954, Oppenheimer was declared a politically unsafe figure and became the most famous victim of the anti-Red Terrorist Movement at that time. . At the same time, his pronouncements as "Father of the Atomic Bomb" became louder.

Oppenheimer died in 1962 at the age of sixty-two.