The inspiration for the major motion picture Oppenheimer, this is the definitive biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress. J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s. They declared that Oppenheimer could not be trusted with Americas nuclear secrets. In this magisterial biography twenty-five years in the making, which won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Biography, the authors capture Oppenheimers life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War.

J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress. In this biography twenty-five years in the making, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin capture Oppenheimer's life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War. --From publisher's description.

The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.

"Oppenheimer centers on the life of the "father of the atomic bomb." Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film stars Cillian Murphy as the man who led the effort, in the midst of a world war, to unleash the power of the atom. Christopher Nolan has fashioned a story of discovery bathed in the light of a thousand suns - but one that is darkened by government surveillance and the travesty of a trial to which Oppenheimer was subjected. In his introduction to the screenplay, Kai Bird, co-author of American Prometheus, praises Nolan's skill in taking an extremely complex life story and miraculously turning it into 'isual art that is faithful both to the history and the man.'"--

The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.