J. Robert Oppenheimer

American theoretical physicist (1904–1967)

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Lived 1904–1967, aged 63United States

United States ScientistsScientist

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105 languages
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Era
1904–1967
Aged 63
Known for
To End All War: Oppenh…
2023

Summary

Updated 2026-08-30

He ran the lab that built the first atomic bomb, then spent the rest of his life arguing against the weapons he'd made possible.

Biography

About

Born in New York City in 1904, Oppenheimer earned a chemistry degree from Harvard in 1925 and a physics doctorate from Göttingen in 1927 under Max Born. He joined Berkeley's physics faculty and became a full professor by 1936, contributing foundational work to quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, and astrophysics—including early theories of neutron stars and black holes. Briefed on weapon design in 1941, he was recruited to the Manhattan Project in 1942 and appointed director of Los Alamos Laboratory in 1943, overseeing development of the first nuclear weapons. On July 16, 1945, he watched…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer

said1960

It's not that I don't feel bad about it. It's just that I don't feel worse today than what I felt yesterday.

— Response to question on his feelings about the atomic bombings, while visiting Japan in 1960.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

said1956

Much has been said of the prospect that man, along with many other forms of life...would disappear as a species. In time, not a long time, that may come to be possible.

— Science and our Times, 1956

J. Robert Oppenheimer

said1955

There are no secrets about the world of nature. There are secrets about the thoughts and intentions of men.

— Interview with Edward R. Murrow, A Conversation with J. Robert Oppenheimer (1955)

J. Robert Oppenheimer

saidJul 1953

We may be likened to two scorpions in a bottle, each capable of killing the other, but only at the risk of his own life.

— "Atomic Weapons and American Policy", Foreign Affairs (July 1953), p. 529

J. Robert Oppenheimer

said6 Mar 1950

Our own political life is predicated on openness. We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism.

— "Encouragement of Science", an address at Science Talent Institute (6 March 1950), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 7, #1 (Jan 1951)

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