Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (11/29/89)
Really-From: tracyr@uunet.uu.net (jane smallberries) Someone posted about this recently, but I can't seem to find the original article... I too was surprised to hear Kate's comments about Oppenheimer during the BBC Radio 1 interview. When discussing the motivation for "Heads We're Dancing", she described the situation her friend found himself in (discovering later that the man he was seated next to was Oppenheimer). Kate said that her friend was appalled when he found out, because he hated Oppenheimer and "everything he stood for." It was my understanding that Oppenheimer was sort of forced into the position of project lead for the bomb, due to his scientific prowess. I thought that he resisted the whole time, and was even criticized (and later removed from the project lead position) for not wanting to drop the bomb in a populated area. In other words, I thought he was a good guy at heart, who was rather unwilling much of the time. Yet Kate (or her friend) implied he was Evil Incarnate. Do I stand corrected? Or was Kate missing some pieces of the whole situation? -Tracy uunet!sco!tracyr, tracyr@sco.com -- "What happens to the soul after death? How does it manage?" -- Woody Allen
hsu@eng.umd.edu (Dave "bd" Hsu) (11/29/89)
>Really-From: tracyr@uunet.uu.net (jane smallberries) >Do I stand corrected? Or was Kate missing some pieces of the >whole situation? Well, if so, this would hardly be the first time. skeptic for a day, -dave -- Dave Hsu UMd EE Computer Facility hsu@eng.umd.edu "A program is like a nose. Sometimes it runs, sometimes it blows."
Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (11/29/89)
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Subject: Oppenheimer and Kate
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From: Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU
Date: 28 Nov 89 19:14:04 GMT
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Really-From: tracyr@uunet.uu.net (jane smallberries)
Someone posted about this recently, but I can't seem to find
the original article...
I too was surprised to hear Kate's comments about Oppenheimer
during the BBC Radio 1 interview. When discussing the
motivation for "Heads We're Dancing", she described the
situation her friend found himself in (discovering later that
the man he was seated next to was Oppenheimer). Kate said that
her friend was appalled when he found out, because he hated
Oppenheimer and "everything he stood for."
It was my understanding that Oppenheimer was sort of forced
into the position of project lead for the bomb, due to his
scientific prowess. I thought that he resisted the whole time,
and was even criticized (and later removed from the project
lead position) for not wanting to drop the bomb in a populated
area. In other words, I thought he was a good guy at heart,
who was rather unwilling much of the time. Yet Kate (or her
friend) implied he was Evil Incarnate.
Do I stand corrected? Or was Kate missing some pieces of the
whole situation?
-Tracy
uunet!sco!tracyr,
tracyr@sco.com
--
"What happens to the soul after death? How does it manage?"
-- Woody AllenLove-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (11/29/89)
Really-From: ag@amix.commodore.com (Keith Gabryelski) In article <3923@scolex.sco.COM> tracyr@uunet.uu.net (jane smallberries) writes: >It was my understanding that Oppenheimer was sort of forced >into the position of project lead for the bomb, due to his >scientific prowess. I thought that he resisted the whole time, >and was even criticized (and later removed from the project >lead position) for not wanting to drop the bomb in a populated >area. In other words, I thought he was a good guy at heart, >who was rather unwilling much of the time. Yet Kate (or her >friend) implied he was Evil Incarnate. It is my understanding the Oppenheimer liked the job and although did not want the distructive part of it, took it with the technology part (which is what really appealed to him). He was dismissed from the job because of prejudices against Germans at the time. This from the book "Who's got Einsteins office?" by SomeGuy. Pax, Keith -- ag@amix.commodore.com Keith Gabryelski ...!cbmvax!amix!ag
tjfs@tadtec.UUCP (Tim Steele) (11/29/89)
Tracy writes... > It was my understanding that Oppenheimer was sort of forced > into the position of project lead for the bomb, due to his > scientific prowess. I thought that he resisted the whole time, > and was even criticized (and later removed from the project > lead position) for not wanting to drop the bomb in a populated > area. In other words, I thought he was a good guy at heart, > who was rather unwilling much of the time. Yet Kate (or her > friend) implied he was Evil Incarnate. > > Do I stand corrected? Or was Kate missing some pieces of the > whole situation? I agree with Tracy - this is precisely my understanding of the situation. Is Kate fallible? >gasp< Tim
riley@TCGOULD.TN.CORNELL.EDU (Daniel S. Riley) (12/02/89)
In article <130@amix.commodore.com> ag@amix.commodore.com (Keith Gabryelski) >It is my understanding the Oppenheimer liked the job and although did >not want the distructive part of it, took it with the technology part >(which is what really appealed to him). This has some truth to it, but you also have to remember the prime motivation for the whole project--ending the war. You have to understand the social and political climate at the time if you want to understand the motivations of anyone who worked on the Manhattan project. >He was dismissed from the job because of prejudices against Germans at >the time. Unless I'm entirely out to lunch, this isn't true. Oppenheimer was hounded out of any position of authority and stripped of his security clearances because of disagreements with the government and Edward Teller over the use of the A-bomb and the development of the H-bomb. The reasons used (security risk, his loose affiliation with the communist party before the war, etc.) were just rationalizations used to discredit him. Many of the scientists from the Manhattan project still blame Edward Teller for the shabby treatment of Oppenheimer after the war. -Dan Riley (riley@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu, cornell!batcomputer!riley) -Wilson Lab, Cornell U.