American Prometheus

Author:
ISBN-10: 1470824418
ISBN-13: 9781470824419
Contributor:
Review Date:

Full Title: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer was the leading scientist of the Manhattan Project which gave the United States atomic bombs near the end of WW2. While doubtless a brilliant physicist, it was equally his leadership skills that led to the achievement that he deemed both awesome and regretful at the same time. In American Prometheus, authors Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin provided a biographical study of Oppenheimer. Largely putting physics in the background, they focused on his upbringing, his personality, his personal and working relationships with others, and his leftist leanings that would ultimately bring him onto the world stage once again as he defended himself from accusations of being a communist. The author succeeded in presenting Oppenheimer's post-war pacifist ideologies, something that most books on him, focusing on the atomic research, often ignored. Meanwhile, while Oppenheimer was often known for his Manhattan achievements, his personal defects, everything ranging from adultery to his insensitive offering of drinks to sufferers of alcoholism, were also introduced to add dimension to the historical figure. Bird and Sherwin placed far too much emphasis on his leftist/communist hearings and made great efforts to defend his political position, however, thus leaning the book closer to an editorial than a work of history.

I had reviewed this title in its audio book format. Jeff Cummings did a fine job with the reading, but the book had some noticeable production problems. The foremost of these problems was that the reader's volume often jumped from one sentence or paragraph to the next, a sign that perhaps the audio engineering team failed to adjust the volume of recordings made at different times and/or different studios.

Due to the rather partial presentation and the content being rather light on physics, American Prometheus could hardly be considered a definitive biography. The book nevertheless offered a treasure trove of information on this politically and academically influential scientist, and I had learned a lot from these proverbial pages.



Back to Main | Back to Book Reviews Index




Você gostou deste artigo ou achou este artigo útil? Se sim, considere nos apoiar no Patreon. Qualquer valor já vai ajudar! Obrigado.

Por favor, ajude-nos a divulgar o site:

 Reddit
 Bluesky
 Mastodon

Fique atualizado com WW2DB:

 RSS Feeds


Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name 
Your Webite 
Your Email 
 Your email will not be published
Comment Type 
Your Comments 
 

Notes:

1. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.

2. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ.

Pesquisar WW2DB


More on American Prometheus
Related Person:
» Robert Oppenheimer

Affiliated Link:
» American Prometheus
Citação Famosa da 2ª GM
"You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terrors. Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival."

Winston Churchill


Apoie-nos

Por favor, considere nos apoiar no Patreon. Mesmo R$1 por mês já faz uma grande diferença. Obrigado!

Ou, por favor, nos apoie adquirindo alguns produtos do WW2DB na TeeSpring. Obrigado!