American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One of the few books I’ve listened to almost completely on audio. I am not an audio fan. Retention and reference are poor. Still, this was a fascinating book. Oppenheimer was a prodigy/genius, naïve at first to the political trends affecting his work. He seemed to have the gift of gab as well as abstract physics acumen – he could wow a grad school seminar, a parlor soiree at his home, and a congressional hearing.

Still, it is difficult to be hounded by the FBI for possible Communist sympathies, and to realize you have made possible the atomic bombing of tens of thousands, as you hear it on the radio. Oppie discovered this fire and opened a Pandora’s box that we still struggle to contain.

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