oppenheimer the river betty else with a security clearance was taken away but that is all i knew. i did not know he was writing poetry or short stories or expert a french literature but he calls himself sanskrit deeply interested in hinduism and he taught himself to read the classics in their original i did end of this city detail in the thirties and i found them absolutely fascinating there is a really interesting biography after this was published they got in touch to say why

don't you do it? it took me 11 years it is absorbing and then we lost interest in the subject and it was new good things about him but it was the most complex people you never fell you exhausted the subject but the phrase comes from what comes together with the wife of j. robert oppenheimer the likes of which that his work much of it was to do with the understanding the forces have the inside the nucleus

and this great importance historically is in direct aid of an laboratory to construct the explosive of an imagined power. another thing this to do with oppenheimer is with his sense to grow up in manhattan in some sense in the league with cultural awareness with the jewish family he was not quite accepted by the establishment of america. collectively he did was the desire to get inside the center the intellectual and political life it also in

france wanted to be inside the center of what was happening and that also had a great influence throughout his life because it would place him inside the center and then what is relevant to my efforts i wanted to get inside oppenheimers mind to write a biography all those things i found in the correspondence with the political involvement the challenges to bring that together for what was motivating the way he saw himself the of the world. so it is no wonder it took

me 11 years. is says oppenheim the winegrowing area in 18 '08 when napoleon declares all jewish families it was not part of their culture. with the jewish people took their employer his great grandfather looked did the liechtenstein a and many people or those jews chose a said dave oppenheimer so immediately identified as you as a jew and as descendants from those who lived in oppenheim as oppenheimer's ancestors it did. this is 1847 still present day recognizably the same

place. why would you move from that place? the jewish culture tried very hard to assimilate for a german society throughout the late '80s and early 19th century. said german jewish person -- a version but that society that instead of hebrew it was chairman they tried all the things they could to overcome the barriers. what they found there still laws relating specifically tuesday jews to say what kind of jobs they can do where they could marry id where they could live that began a movement away from

germany looking to the united states as a place for they could be free from the restrictions they were facing a and those to express those hopes those debtor better than the agent hemisphere but it is not the and effective for but to say carr them all. so the thought is the united states is up sheet of plague paper free from the cost in freed from the european traditions and sheets of black paper they could write their own destiny. those are there great hopes with the movement of many people of jewish people from

germany to the united states. that caved to jewish historians as the second migration. the first jewish community with the first migration were those that were expelled in the 17th century came from manhattan but by 1840 there were 15,000 jews amanda fast majority were those jews then this circuit migration were those like the oppenheimers it as the names indicated many of us saw the hopes were realized and within regeneration there were some of the richest men in the united states they did not feel held back the

germans by a 1880 and these jews now suddenly the german jews would be ignored a ended new york city as well as rest of america. then the third migration. polish and russian jews not looking for the blade sheet of paper but to flee for their lives. vast hordes between at&t and 1820 bordering on 2.5 million now oppenheimer grow up with the jewish community generally and in your city was undergoing a split with

the impoverished and polish jews the center of their community was the lower east side and oppenheimer was the established from the jewish family and by the end of this century a lot of those families moved to the upper west side where oppenheimer grew up. and some of those that you get from his friends but she started along the side but what she said about oppenheim there that he lacked any identity. because he was constantly trying to pretend to be something he wasn't and their reason was because of

his relationship. when he looked at the synagogue he could say these are my people. oppenheimer could not and oppenheimer could not and with the jewish families. those like of his generation he was preceded by his uncle who were here for 20 years and already established a very successful business, a clothing business. they already moved to the upper west side there was the phrase our crowd those that in to rebuild with the cohesive group of people but

to be a part of what centers of the upper west side but those to just come in and and then to be part of that clothing firm to be director of the company and was a wealthy man himself. >> wealthy enough for a whole floor the viable piece of real estate which is where oppenheimer corrupt corrupt, his parents would say he bought them the same day. >> but we overlooks the river a and it was on behalf of the community that but

that chess is now famous because it was the home for the centcom will and grace. they lived on the ninth floor. one of these to terminate factors was the ethical culture of society. it grew out to the german jewish community and it was the brainchild of the son of the rabbi which was the synagogue he said at the ethical culture society with a particular game that was to preserve for he thought was best with the jewish position while leaving behind in the belief but he

said it is a religion so it is defined by the obligation that but in terms of what you did your did not believe? this ethical culture society grew very quickly following but those that might have been mentioned the guggenheims and the like the event of a child felt compelled to so do julia's and that was the society in

which robert oppenheimer led to the ethical culture school and it shaped the way of the obligation to american life. part of this outlook with the spread of the ethical cultures including my school as the land of the free to preserve individual liberties oppenheimer group developing he would not believe in that it was central to the ethical culture society that in america when could be what they wanted to be. . .

best paint and easel. and going an interest in building blocks. he developed a passion in collecting rocks. he joins the society in new york, and actually arranged to give a paper at the grand old age of 12. he was deliver when he delivered the paper to a scholarly society

in manhattan. one thing he didn't have much of as a child is fun. [laughter] he had few play mates. he went to school rather late. he was 12. he was intellectually preconscious and overly serious child. without any idea how to make friends. the -- the fellow students -- they came from the same background. he went to the school. they lived on the upper west side. they were all, you know, german from german-jewish families and so on. he found rather hard to fit in. i think mainly because of the strategies he adopted to fit in. one girl remembers him saying you ask me a question in latin. i'll answer you in greek. which is enormously great but

not a way to win friends. it was a fairly isolated childhood marked by distinction and ethical seriousness. one of the few friends, the only close friend he made at school was was the glaring exception. which is a man called -- didn't come from new york. wasn't from a jewish family. wasn't from a german family. he had grown up in the west. he had grown up in new mexico. his family was very distinguished but in a different way than the bankers and so on in manhattan. the ferguson were a pioneer family. they went off the romantic thing to move to new mexico, and his father was the first representative in the house of representatives of the newly

formed state of new mexico. and they lived in a very grand -- not all that grand, but it was oldest house in al bee -- al bee cur key. when he finished the school, he was invited to ferguson's house in new mexico, and he immediately fell in love with new mexico it became an important part of his life and his outlook. new mexico was to him the idea -- later in life, you know, he was asked to take to become the director of the atomic bomb laboratory he persuaded it had to be in a remote place. it was here. which he discovered through his connection with francis ferguson. also with francis ferguson he

formed a close friendship. frergson had a friend called paul, who also grew up in new mexico. the three of them form what they called a striker. what they shared was an interest in writing francis ferguson came from a family that wrote and particularly what they wrote about is the southwest and the romance and history of southwest. his brother became a famous novelist. his sister wrote about the food of the southwest. the richness of the indian imran. francis ferguson wrote stories. and this time they formed a closely knit group of three young men. all of whom inspired to be writers. and he should have started in harvard in 1921, that's when his

friend francis ferguson started at harvard. they both had a chemistry. in the summer of '21 went to europe, one of the few times he went to europe as a young man and a child, and he returned very ill and so had to spend the year convalescing part what he spent in new mexico. it meant he was a year behind ferguson. he arrived in 19 22 which was a significant moment for harvard. i mean, quite shocking to me in a way researching the history of this. i haven't readed that institutional prejudice against jews was so fierce at such a late -- not that long ago 1922. what we find in 1922, the president of harvard wanting to persuade his colleagues to adopt quota for the number of jews

they were -- they could admit to harvard. because he was allowed to discover what happened at columbia university in new york where they were beyond 40% and shouldn't happen at harvard, and it caused a national controversy. it was debated at harvard and debated in national press and it was talk about the everywhere. what is remarkable to me when you look at his response in that summer, the summer before he started harvard, not a mention of this controversy. it's as if he -- he didn't want to identify himself as having anything to do with it. and he went to harvard you got a split in him how he sees himself and how he's seen by the world. by the world particularly in in this moment of time he's seen as

a german jew. he's emphatic in everything he wrote. he didn't see himself as german or jewish. he as far as he was concerned he was american. when we went to harvard because he was from a german jewish family he couldn't join the best clubs. no matter how wealthy he was. he was as wealthy as any of them. he couldn't move in to the most fashionable student halls. and so despite his best intentions, his circle of friends at harvard was very small and restricted to people like him. he went to harvard to study chemistry, one of his friends was william boyd. who was also studying chemistry became in later life an imminent chemist. his other friend was frederick burn heim. whose background was identical to his. he was brought up on river side drive and attended the ethical cultural society.

and also his family were german jews from that part of manhattan. and those two are the only friends he made at harvard. in addition to francis ferguson who was already there. so it wasn't a great time for him. socially. it was intelligently. he took more courses and a variety of courses. he enrolled in harvard as a chemistry student. he took courses in french literature, british history, all the sorts of things. he became very interested in physics. his first love was chemistry. it excited them to understand the structure of it. then he started reading independently about what was then called quantum physics, now

called old quantum physics of einstein. and the work being done by rutherford in understanding the structure of the newtons. so he read about rutherford's new picture of the -- where the new charged nuclear is surrounded by negatively charged electrons. and he became very excited by development in physics. and he was then just a for-year student at harvard, undergraduate first-year student. he made the unusual request to the physics department that he should be allowed to take graduate-level courses in physics. because he wanted to acquire at newly developed subject of quantum physics. he wrote to them saying can i take physic course blah.

and listed a bunch of books he read. he was a bit of a showoff about what he had read. particularly linguistically. robert was talking about, you know, his experience in holland, one of the most -- see i'm hopeless at acquiring new languaging. he was brilliant at it. he was only in holland a month or so before he started lecturing in dutch. when he was lecturing in california, he persuaded a student of his to take over the course. and the student said what is the curriculum? and he said don't worry. it's in the book. he went away and the student found the book was in dutch. [laughter] when he came back the student -- said, but it's easy dutch. [laughter] so that was -- and, you know, he was like -- and so he's enormously brilliant

. but he didn't have the background that you would expect a graduate student to have. the physics department at harvard allowed him to take graduate courses in physics, even though he was, you know, hadn't had the background. i think that's partially one of the -- physics. one said about him. but physics is always brilliant. but his calculations are always wrong. [laughter] i think one of the reasons for that he didn't have the background that you would expect of a physicist to have. he sort of missed, you know, all the background that should be in place. and so his education was a curious mixture of knowing a great deal you wouldn't expect him to know and not knowing a lot of stuff you would expect him to know. anyway from the second year on ward he concentrated on physics, and because he perceived the --

in came bridge to be the center of development in physics, hepl- it's one of the thing about tha- it's a place where experimental physics is going on. as his physics teacher wrote to rutherford in came bridge. he's a nice, clever young man. but not particularly good in the laboratory. because of that, rutherford turned him down as a research student. the first experience of academic rejection he had ever had. on the other hand, he was accepted by cris college cambridge. so when he went to cambridge, in the summer of '25. he was slightly humiliating position of enter as a

undergraduate having graduated from harvard. he was a -- you know, he was a member of the college. but officially for the time being an undergraduate member of the college. but he was given some space in the laboratory he. he made it clear that his real name was to be a research physicist. to begin with, though, you know, they made fun of him to repair the hole in the ability in laboratory. they appointed one of rutherford's famous young one to teach him the ways of experimental physic and the way of laboratory. it was the most unhappy period of his life. he couldn't master that. he had his first taste of rejection. now he had his first taste of failure for the first time in his life he couldn't do the

things he was expected to do. all the things black showed him to do in the laboratory he wasn't very good tat. init induced a nervous break down toward the end of 1925. he was undergoing -- you would have to call psychotic . people at laboratory remember him standing in front of the black board. he was supposed to be giving a presentation of the work he was doing at the time. he stood in front of the backboard with a piece of chalk in his hand repeating over and over again. the point is, the point is, the point is. until eventually somebody ushered him away. he's actually deeply unhappy and deeply distressed. now there are some odd things reported about him during the particularly the first six months that he was at came cam

bridge in england. it's difficult to know how much cree dense to give the record. i don't think there's not much doubt about. at the end of the first term for the christmas vacation he went to europe and paris and joined there by francis ferguson. whom he tried to kill. when ferguson was in his room, he produced a leather strap from a trunk twownd -- around ferguson's neck. ferguson was bigger and stronger and to be shake him off. ferguson's account of that was letter to forking sob app -- ferguson apologizing for it. i don't doubt it didn't happen. there was another thing, which is according to some account including his own account, he tried to kill patrick.

and tried to murder him by leaving a poisoned apple on the desk. it's charged with symbolic significance. snow white. whether he did that, i'm inclined to think he did. but no -- there's no evidence that he did that; however, there is very definite evidence that the authorities became alarmed of what was happening to him. his parents came over from america to visit him and to discuss his situation with the authorities there. they allowed him to continue as a student on the condition he got psychiatric help. now, one of the my rick louse things here. within a few months by the spring of 1926, he seemed so shake off all that anxiety and psychosis and seems to be

flourishing. now why is that? because of the psychiatric help he received? i'm inclined to think it's actually because he turned his attention from experimental physics which he was badded a to the -- theoretical physics he became good at. it was a exciting history. it's a period when young men were making fundamental contributions to our understanding of the fundamental forces of the physical world including the development preimminently the development of quantum mechanics. he got to know him. he gave very first set of lectures on the newly developed subject of quantum mechanic and he attended them. became very absorbed in the question. discuss it with paul, and when

max -- oh. what am i doing? okay. when max came to give a talk. he was introduced by rutherford to him. and they gab to discuss the application of qawn -- quantum mechanics. he was so impressed with the reading. that he said to him, exceptionally, why didn't you come here and finish your ph.d. at the university where max was a professor? also, at that time, he met one of the leading physicists in the whole movement. the great danish physicist who had already done pioneering work. he's a little bit older than the -- he already done fundamentally

important work in refining rutherford's model of the nucleares. he became the man above everybody whom he admired. he was, as ?i and a man, his ideal. that's who he most looked up to. that's who he most wanted to be. but in the summer of 1926, he left there and. he flourished. he was floundering. he was confident, he was suave, on top of things. he intimidated max himself who had no, you know, objective reason to be intimidated by this young man. max, you know, had made, you know, fundamental contributions in physics himself. but anyway, bond was not just impressed but intimidated by

him. he completed his ph.d., you know, within a few month of being there. and began too collaborate with max. in the space of a less than a year he's in the depth of a deep depression to somebody collaborating with, writing joint papers with one of the leading scientists in the world. and, you know, they made a famous contributions to physics during the time. the approximation, you know, if you look at the work of a textbook on quantum chemistry now you'll see the proximation how to calculate in a molecule. it's still alive today. t a large contribution to the discipline that he made within a few months of being there. everybody knew the exciting things were happening in physics in the europe in that period. and there was a great period in

america. four people trained by, you know, the leading physicists in germany, particularly. but in europe generally. so by the time he finished there, and in the summer of 1927, he was suddenly in great demand, and, you know, -- he decided to hold off on accepting a job until he had done a bit more studying himself. he spent 27 to 28 -- '27 to '289 back in america as a post doctoral fellow. he did some work at harvard and did some work. he's working feverishly producing a lot of paper during the period. contributing to the cutting edge of theoretical physics. after spending some time there he decided he needed to go back to europe it's a future of his

life during the period that he finds himself in the right place at the right time. in this case, he went europe. he started with paul. wasn't terribly happy there. partly because he didn't really feel he was at the center of cutting-edge event. he toyed with the idea of studying with -- but decided to go to accident discoure taken by another physicists. who was also there as a post opt student. it's on a boat on the lake. love the picture. it's characteristic of all of them. him with the trademark hat and cigarette. and looking puzzled, and looking like the last man you want in charge of the boat. [laughter]

and the other glaring at the camera. so wonderfully captures, i think people say about him. you can see his demonic grin here. he was "the master" of that remack about the calculations being wrong. nevertheless, you know, he didn't spare any -- but he was doing fundamentally important work. he was working with him on the subject of became qed quantum electric dynamics. and he learned a first hand what the work was all about. contributed to it. a three-man paper written jointly by them. so by the time he finished there he could go back to america and, you know, armed with all the latest developments in the rate call physics.

here it is he had a similar experience in europe. on the one hand, they were terribly excited by the physics. on the other hand they're annoyed at the -- shown to american physicists by the leading european of the day. and both of them went back to america with the same intention to build up the receipt call physics in the united states of america and name a world center to challenge and eventually -- that's what they did. because he was in such demand was able to dick dictate his terms. the terms he dictated are unusual. what he secured was a position he spent six months of the year in berkeley, in northern california and moved down the state to pass deena and spent the other six months of the year at call tech. his, for doing it cam tech was

an established center of physics. and he wanted to be there to be discussing physics with the leading physicists in the united states. but he also wanted berkeley as it were a clean sheet. to build his own school of theoretical physics. that's what he did. he succeeded in his ambition in the 1930s. berkeley had been a fairly undistinguished center of theoretical physics. within ten years by the end of the '30s he had tbilt up in to one of the leading if not the leading schools of theoretical physics in the united states. and in the process, made the united states a far bigger player on the world stage. he did that by with his charisma, his intelligence, you know, he went to summer schools and met the graduates. persuaded them to come to

berkeley. within a few years, some of the best graduate students in physic were gravitating to berkeley to do their ph.d. with him. including the man robert. he became a close friend of his. as did many of his students. one thing that would help at the same time at berkeley with florng who was not a great theoretical physicist but won a nobel prize for the -- [inaudible] and he was a great sort of scientific entrepreneur. he attracted big funding to berkeley. to bigger -- it was beginning of the period of big science. what that allowed at berngly was an arrangement where lawrence was had his own laboratory very well funded. attracting good student and money to do experimental work.

setting up an important center. they were close friends during the time during the '30s and collaborated with each other as a result of the experimental work and theoretical work could go hand and hand and feed off each other. it wouldn't be unusual for the students to present a problem they're having in interpreting their experimental results to him and his students who report back on what they thought was going on. like wise they could say, look, we form the hypothesis on the basis of this or that theoretical consideration, and then lawrence and his students could devise experiments to move the thing forward. it's a fruitful collaboration of lawrence and him of experiment and theory. during that time he kept up his love of new mexico. he bought this wooden house here.

you can't quite see it the house has splendid views, and when he was first brought there. it was interesting sort of -- interest negotiating negotiating in a deal. the first thing he said when he saw this cottage was hot dog! so the's said -- he used to invite students there. they had a great time. they wouldn't -- and what was to eat was unbearably spice sigh. it was washed down with a lot of liquor. it became a center where he could take his students. lawrence was a frequent visitor there. and it was -- it became a refuge for him and his syringe --

circle. talking about his circle. his relationship with his students that got him in to politics. prior to that, he showed no interest in politics whatsoever. to a quite extreme extent. he didn't know the crash happened in 1929. lawrence mentioned it to him and was amazed that he knew nothing about it. he began to take notice of the political events when he began to see his students were affected by the economy, so to speak. i mean, he was surprised to find his students were getting good jobs if they were getting jobs at all they got low-paid blue collar jobs. they reacted to that by becoming radically left-wing in the politics. and that drew him in to left-wing political activity on the west coast. that tendency was strengthened by the fact had his first

serious lover was also part of the left-wing seen in california member of the communist party and due him to the further. as did -- who was one of his colleagues at berkeley. he taught french literature and a member of communist party. a mixture of his lover, friends, and students got him to the -- he was never formally a member of the communist party hep once said he joined every communist organization on the west coast. he would duoto fundraising party and attend meetings to discuss ideas. he would take part in demonstrations. all of which were dominated by member of the communist party. the four people in the middle ear joe, david, max free all student of his. all member of the communist

party. the photograph have a deep and unhappy influence on all of their lives. it was taken by a street photographer. and they come out of the campus at berkeley. thought it would be a nice idea to have their picture taken the street photographer took their picture. they got a copy of it. what they didn't know he was being follow bid the fbi because they discovered he was involved in communist party activities including the possible supplying to the soviet consulate in san francisco. he was followed everywhere. the fbi guy, when this photographer took the picture, went up to the street photographer said i'll have the film, thank thank you very much. the picture was put on the file of all of these people.

they knew who they were. the picture enabled them to identify everyone else. and subsequently all four of them found it impossible to find secure employment. they would be puzzled by the -- they would be offered a job then withdrawn a few month later. it was because they were marked. they had been marked by the fbi as potential. by the time himself the fbi started a file on him. it was massive. one of the thing i spent a lot of time doing in my research on the book was going to the fbi file which you can have access to now through the library of congress. it's really huge. the fbi at various times bugged his home phone, his office phone, phone on the wall of his house. nay followed him everywhere at

various times. it created an immessly buygraphic call results. [laughter] of no particular interest to national security. he knew it was happening. terrorist a transcript with his phone call with his wife. he wanted to marry gene but he didn't want to marry him. so he married kitty. there's a conversation where he's phoning her and she said what is that noise? it's a noise on the line. and he said, that will be the fbi hanging out. [laughter] this is written in the transcript. despite that, he was the choice of general -- to head the laboratory that produced the first atomic bomb. okay what happened if the '30s

was was discovered. they realized in order to get a workable atomic bomb, you needed to separate uranium, excuse me, uranium 235 from 238. and when they realized that they said you'll never, you know, no one will ever build a bomb. they don't know how to separate enough of this isotope 235 and he said, in order to do it you have to turn the whole united states to a factory. such was general's will. he was prepared to do that. another aspect of his will was he was made director of the laboratory. it's hard to stress enough what an unlikely choice that was. i've emphasized he wasn't a experimental physicist. he was bad in it.

and therefore he never done any laboratory work. and he certainly never run a laboratory. somebody said he had never run anything. never a hamburger store never mind an laboratory. in addition to that, grove pleaded with by j. edgar hoover said don't choose this man to be head of the project. you know, he's a communist. he might well supply the secret to the soviet union. despite all that have groves appointed him. the question is why? well, groves was given the job of pushing this thing forward and established more or less that, you know, theoretically it was possible build powerful explosive utilizing the energy released in the process. they haven't built a bomb yet. never itless it seemed possible it was done.

groves was given the job of getting it done. now, he meant with some of the leading scientists who were involved in this kind of work, he met with -- [inaudible] he was dismayed. the meetings didn't fill him with joy. two,s. he couldn't understand a word they said. [laughter] and two, they didn't seem to him much like people who were concerned with getting the job done. however, when he went to berkeley to meet with lawrence. he introduced had him to -- he was brilliant in explaining things. and open heimer gave groves a little course on vision on isotope separation and all of that. and groves felt he understood it. in addition to that, oppenheimer was burning with the ambition

for getting the job done. oppenheimer was haunted by the thought that the german would get there first. horizon berg was still in germany. a lot of scientists did left. a lot of important ones left. they left germany to work in britain or america. including rudolph who came to birmingham. they were the first people to spell our exactly how an atomic bomb could be built. the reason we won the war was our germans were better their germans. i think what he had in mind was rudolph. but anyway oppenheimer was haunted by the idea that the germans would get there first, and he goes, look, i have to get it done quickly. it's no good having a bunch of scientists in chicago and some

in columbia or berkeley. you have to get them in all one place. single laboratory working with each other and also it's a sensitive job, it needs to be in a remote place like new mexico. [laughter] he was impressed by that. none of the other considerations, the fact that he was an experimentalist. the fact he wasn't distinguished. people said he has a nobel prize. lawrence has a nobel prize. oppenheimer didn't. groves wasn't worried about it. and also laid down the law. few people could lay down the law to j. edgar hoover and said i'm giving the man security clearance. that's is that. it's appointed him in charge of the laboratory. i couldn't resist including this. sorry i'm going on a bit.

i couldn't resist including the photograph. when they think about the manhattan project they think about the laboratory it was a bunch of scientists working on a problem. terribly important. most of the 200,000 people who worked for the manhattan project most were women and women working in these kind of conditions. groves solved the problem of isotope separation by -- nobody had any idea how to do it. they there was a possibility you could do it with forces and possibly with gas, you know, electronic axel -- acceleration. groves decided to build a plant for each possibility. he bought a piece of real estate in tennessee. built the isotope separation plant. most of the people who worked for the manhattan project were working in places like this without the least idea what they were doing. so these women, they spend their

working day looking a the machine. if the dial goes this way you need to turn this. if it goes that way you need turn that. the bomb dropped over hiroshima what they were doing was creating material for an bomb. the uranium bomb was convinced they didn't bother testing. it was known that you would build bomb with uranium. the only thing that could go wrong was the bomb which is what they tested in the trinity site in the summer of 1945. it was an unforgettable experience for everybody involved. he later said the words that came to his mind now i've been death, the destroyer of world. and so i had built two bombs. the fat man bomb exploded over nag nagasaki. and opennen haimer became a national hero. when a semipopular journal was

started it wanted a cover to representative the world of physics today as it were at the moment. on the side so famous was oppenheimer his hat was enough to say oppenheimer. he's so famous you didn't need to have him on the picture of him. he moved from california to princeton here to take the it was, you know, an ideal job for him in all sort of way. one of the main reasons for taking out the job it moved him away from the west coast to the east coast. what he concentrated on after the second world war was not physics actually. but politics. he spent a lot of time in washington ad providing them on atomic policy. made some enemy by opposing the development of the hydrogen bomb.

so the hydrogen bomb is potential lay thousands of times more powerful than the hiroshima bomb. one of the arpgments he used to the u.s. government saying you don't need to develop it. you know, you can't imagine using a bomb that powerful. why would you want to build it? and also the other argument was nobody knew how to build it at that stage. then the breakthrough was the design of the bomb after which oppenheimer aggressively said, okay, it's described as technically sweet and prepared to see it being developed. by that time he made influential enemy in the corridor two of the most important -- who made his life's work to see the hydrogen bomb being developed and made. and the head of the -- atomic energy louis strauss and

between them grew suspicious of oppenheimer and actually they ended up hating him. as did many of the most important people in the military including people in the air force and so on. the result of which was the famous 1954 hearing in which open. heimer a few years earlier was the most celebrated scientist in the united states had his past scrutinized in great details, and his character and the hearing concluded that he was not a fit man to be the barer of military secrets. he had his security clarence taken away from him. and after that, he was a broken man. he kept his , i mean, prin ton to the credit refused pressure to get rid of him. he staid at princeton as

director. and fairly quickly a process of reconciliation between him and the american people began. but first and perhaps most important element of which was appearance on the television program that i mentioned ed mauro the famous american journalist decided to make a program actually about the whole institute here. on his way back to new york, he realized that the only usable footage he had was of oppenheimer. he decided to make a program about him. it was an enormous success. overnight oppenheimer's image was transformed from somebody as a potential security threat to the united states, to somebody who had an engaging personality, who was very good in front of the camera and good at explaining very difficult physics to a popular audience. the other part of the reconciliation was he was invited to japan.

in this photograph, remarkably, he's 56 years old. he looks more like 86. you can see the toll that these events somewhere taken on him. i think primarily the security hearing aged him about twenty years. but here is he in japan with kitty. he was asked over and over again did he regret developing the bomb that destroyed hiroshima and nagasaki. at every occasion he refused the the -- invitation to say he -- he would never say he regretted it. i think for several reasons. one, he genuinely believed that it brought a quick end the hiroshima bomb, thought brought quick end the war. he also from the war got an argument, look, you need to see

the terrible power of this weapon inured not -- in order to get everybody too grow what is required is world corporation on the handling of the material. so that this never happens again. the final was awarded the prize for outstanding physicist. he was due to receive the award from jfk but after jfk's assassination, -- president johnon and being congratulated by edward, you know, great reconciliation after the security hearing of 1954. you can see him looking gracious.

i'll finish the with words. gave public lek aretures. on the tone of the lecture is -- he started talking in a more personal way. sometimes in a large -- the summer to rather small audience. i'll finish with these words he said. he said, if i cannot be -- [inaudible] it's because i'm too much christian, too much european, far too much an american. for i believe in the meaningfulness of human history and our role in it. and above all, our responsibility to it. that seems to me a fairly decent way to end. thank you very much.

[applause] thank you very much, ray, for doing something basically impossible compressing 11 years in a beautiful book in to one hour. i think it's a -- [inaudible] [laughter] but we have some time for some questions and answers. i want to warn you it's being taped by c-span. so if you want to be honorable, please wait before you get the microphone to ask your question. please, you can. >> sure. yeah. >> do you have any questions? yes? >> did opennen hiener's view change toward the end of the war when germany was not -- [inaudible] >> yeah, thank you that's an interesting question. the short answer is no. let me give a slightly longer

answer. it did become apparent. it's an interesting question. it became apparent a long time before the trinity test. the germans didn't have a, you know, even serious atomic bomb project. what thing that is interesting about that. only one scientist left the manhattan project when that became clear. he remembers being there, hearing the serious german. -- after all the -- [inaudible] say look we have to build the thing before the germans do. being at the party and talking to the general and groves saying to him, look, you realize it's nothing to do with germany. not even to do anything with japan. it's do with the soviet union.

it's do with showing our military might to the soviets. and he was so shocked by that he left the project. up in of the other scientists left the project. even though they come there to work for the thing in competition with the germans. it was clear they won the competition. and yet none of them his view didn't change. he served on the target committee, actually that choose the target for the atomic bomb. and soft partly responsible for hiroshima being one of the targets. he -- together with other people persuaded them to drop kyoto off the list because of the treasures of buddhist architecture and the significance to buddhism. but no, he was -- he used the image of dirty hands. when he met president truman

after the bombings, he said to truman, mr. president, i felt have i blood on my hand. and he did indeed have blood an his hand. he had the opportunity to support the chicago petition. the scientist of chicago lead by him drew up in a petition signed by scientists urging the u.s. government not to use this bomb in the first instance on japanese civilians. but to invite the japanese to a demonstration of the power, which they thought would be enough oppenheimer argued against it. it might fizzle. if it fizz ms and doesn't work, it's the so-called demonstration has done more harm than good. in any case, his views didn't change. but i think, i mean, how do you deal with being responsible for the death of over 100,000

people? that thought weighed heavily on him. i think it has a lot to do with the rapid aging that you can see in the photograph the of oppenheimer between '45 and 1960. part was, you know, the heart break of the security hearing. i think part also was that the carrying burden of -- those deaths. me always argued in public that he didn't regret it, and that it had been necessary. i mean, what -- one interpretation one could get from that, he had to believe that in order stay sane. because otherwise you cope with the fact that you have been responsible for all of those deaths. i don't know -- i'm inclined to think that he did think that the hiroshima bomb -- the fbi has kept an eye on him

at all times reporting on the day of the nagasaki bombing as being, you know, overwrought and disstrises -- distressed. robert has written a lot about this and wilson has written a lot of about it. the scientists did not see the point of the nagasaki bomb. and i think oppenheimer didn't either. but i think he did -- he went to his death defending the hiroshima bomb. sorry. i think there was a -- yeah. you started with comment with the diverse nature of this personality. >> yeah. >> and you didn't spend too much time on that throughout the history. at the end of this, were those really merely the languages and the writing were those means to the end that he went to?

were those things he could have become happily if he hadn't found the manhattan project? >> yeah. good. i had took himself seriously as a young man up until halfway through his study at harvard. when he suddenly abandoned his short story writing, and concentrated on physics. nevertheless, a long time after that, i mean, his development his interest in hinduism came in the '30s that's when he learned sanskrit. he used to develop a lot of time to discussing hindu literature with charles who was at berkeley who was an expert on hinduism. he never dropped that. if he -- so your question is if he hadn't put all of his energy, so to speak to the manhattan project, could we imagine him developing his interests in philosophy and

literature and hinduism? and i think the answer is yes. one can imagine that. i think one sees a bit of it in the directorship of the substitute. one of the thing he did at the substitute in the face of some fairly fierce opposition by the mathematicians here, was to insist that these two he often uses by knowing all the -- in the country. he knew which historians. he knew which poets to invite. he was responsible for them coming here. i think the directorship of the institute gave him some way of expressing his interests.

[inaudible] are you suggested in that case that he was actually struggling with a i did -- delimb ma whether peace can be achieved through wars [inaudible] i think he was struggling with that throughout his life. is that correct to say? >> i think that's correct to say, yeah. and i think that's right. but i think also at the forefront to some extent a reversal of the position he adopted in the '30s inspired by the hindu -- inspired by the -- [inaudible] the view that one -- that oppenheimer took from it was the view that one should do one's duty. whatever that duty is. so if someone a soldier, one has

a duty to fight. if one is a politician, one has a duty to -- so the idea that was you should do your duty and leave everything else to other people. i think what he sighs in the quotation he's actually at the end too much of a chris christian. too much of an american to adopt the view. inadopt instead of the view all of this is my responsibility regardless, you know, so i have a couth -- duty to do that. i think what he's saying the responsibility he feels for the outcome the general outcome is not confined to him saying satisfying himself that he's done his duty as a scientist or whatever. i think that's to me is what that is about. yeah? two related questions. why did einstein have a minuscule role in the project. what was the relationship

between oppenheimer and einstein at the time of the institute overlapped a number of years? >> yeah, okay. the first question first. einstein didn't know a lot about it. i mean, when he wrote the famous letter to president roosevelt. it wasn't written by einstein. it was written by leo. he had the humility to realize that nobody had heard of him. [laughter] where as everybody had heard of ion tine. -- einstein. he realized he went there. he had to explain what was going on. einstein didn't know. so -- and [inaudible] they went to einstein's house. i think on that occasion it was long island. they went to a -- he was staying at in long island

explained what was going on. and then got einstein to sign the letter. einstein didn't want to pursue that work. he didn't have the background in that field of physics. and i think actually he wouldn't have been acceptable to the american establishment either. who always knew einstein was a bit, you know, dodgy. [laughter] the second part of your question was oppenheimer and einstein. that's a interesting and troubling relationship. he admired the work einstein had done in the first two decades with the 21st century. the famous work of 1905. it was tremendous and open heimer at various stage in his life had a deep interest in general relativity.

but when einstein started arguing with max and neil about quantum theory and how, you know, quantum theory -- qualm -- quantum mechanics couldn't be in the end true there had to be a deeper explanation in quantum mechanics. ..

to with. >> please continue the discussion but think you again for a wonderful lecturer. [applause]

[laughter] [inaudible conversations] and she is right there to. it is a great turnout. appreciated. we will not be here otherwise. >> thank you. >> what a great turnout a.

>> hello. >> good to see you stay there is a big line to buy the book. i that we got one from the pre-order. i thought i did but i am not realizing i did not get it so probably not. [laughter] >> thank you for coming out this i have had different kinds of events that this is probably the best so far. definitely the first one beer and wine. [laughter] great to see you. >> i work here and thank you so much to support a good friend and a launch of his new book the bush and

administration had the honor and privilege to run so i offer a prayer every morning it was almost a blank slate whether tax store audio or video but every day that helps to tell a story of the george of the bush presidency so it is great to see a colleague at the event here tonight also are like to bring in former chief of staff of former mrs. laura bush. [applause] thank you so much for coming. this is an incredible turn out and in fact, as you know, he was on fox news and facebook i said would lead to your party in washington? he said would you be willing

to host it? [laughter] so thank you so much and brian mccormick and all the of co-host because i will forget all 30 of you that were willing to support this that were out front we thank you so much for doing that. we had an incredible turn out we had sponsors with the waiting list i was just told we were prepared you can still order the book the book plates are nice and big and beautiful you cayenne take these and they will be here.

the books are selling out like crazy. we're so proud of you eric you are great to mr. bush and mrs. bush in the support of us as well for eight years. [applause] and especially those if you were waiting outside. [laughter] we have wonderful sponsors with so why an a and the beer and thank you for making that possible. [applause] first of all, i want to

think david for hosting the event it is overwhelming to see everyone here. most of all to you for responding. i am so glad i got that message from you. [laughter] it was so nice of you to do this for me. i never thought that something like this could happen to something -- like somebody like me as an ordinary guy but the specially the folks that work for the administration you helped me with my success i want to thank you with the bottom of my heart i am overwhelmed but what i would like to do i am more comfortable behind the camera van in front of that i would like to show you some photos and when i decided to do was take a favorite photo from each

chapter because they get the question what is your favorite photo? i will pick one from each chapter starting with. [laughter] chapter one. this is called the beginning. a lot of you who'd know president bush know how tightly he is. we know because he starts meetings on time or early. this picture was made the first week of his administration. obviously the bp is in seek with the president which is great. chapter to life in the bubble this is not representative of the relationship don't get me in

trouble. [laughter] this is inside buckingham palace. they were clowning around the president had a great sense of humor it is like the white house but bigger. [laughter] chapter three is called family. whenever the two presidents were together it was a magical moment. first what you had history but the only sector and a son of a president to become president when of the first things i learned whenever they say mr. president they both the turnaround. [laughter] so 41, 43, chapter four this is probably one of my favorite photos and the buck

a great illustration of the president on the ranch something you cannot see is the dog was sitting on his lap. chapter five is online 11 this is very critical you may notice there is a clock on the wall at 9:25 a.m. the president was so focused on gathering information preparing for a statement to the country in the world and on the television there replaying the video of the horrific image we had not seen it at this time so bartlett other did everyone in the room and then they turned around to see that terrific image -- a horrific

image. the next one in terms of intensity and 11 was off the charts but this is moments after the president decided to send troops to iraq. he made that decision in the situation room moments earlier before this moment i photograph this at the beginning of the meeting in the president talking and i noticed he was very emotional i knew something was happening in you can see the weight of the decision on his face after made this pitcher the president said eric, are you interested in history? i said yes, sir, he said the pictures you're taking our perry important. justice said that out of the

corner of my i secretary of defense rumsfeld and vice president to be walked out of the oral law daschle office then they word agree on the timing of the start of the war. >> chapter seven to the world of travel to nearly 70 countries as president bush he traveled to cause about he was the first american president to visit that country and they are very happy to see him. feel they time their hands on the president. [laughter] i am sure the secret service agents were dash station --.

[laughter] >> as he leaves office for the last time. i was there eight years earlier today when the president walked through that door for the first time. through the years i always wondered what that moment was like. i thought it would be emotional or crying or hiking the is very simple a round-the-clock he called for his coat he put on his coat and walked out without turning back. that is mine in the slide show. [applause] and again i want to thank you all for coming i want to give a special thanks to mary. [applause] who has spent a dynamo to give me so much press.

thank you and thank you for coming out. [applause] >> host: the night -- the name of the book is "flight of the egle" the author conrad black. joining us now from toronto toronto, mr. black what were you trying to do with this book the history of the united states? >> guest: peter, i was trying to present the historical perspective of the important decisions

american statesmen have made at each stage of the progress from the colonial status to the position of unparalleled pre-eminence in the history of the nation state in the whole world in a period of less than 200 years. of course, there is a very extensive and a scholarly and rigorous literature on the history of the united states this makes no pretense as a complete history but i am not aware of and henry kissinger confirms this of any previous attempt to put in a sequence that's particularly important decisions of key american statesman i think it is surmise they grew angry became more and more important becau