The book is far better than the movie. Oppenheimer's character was enriched by the interviews from all the people he crossed paths. Oppie was a versatile and charismatic soul, a patriot and yet passionate about human being's overall welfare.
Language and communication mastery
From a language prodigy to an influencing speaker, the examples illustrated in the book constructed a vivid science leader.
When he was nine, he was once overhead telling an old girl cousin "Ask me a quesiton in Latin and I will answer you in Greek."
Picking up foreign languages in just couple weeks is easily managable by Oppie. Without "prepared remarks", his Los Alamos farewell speech was prepared on the fly and yet the impact was profound among the Hill's resident.
"That day he was us,"wrote one Los Alamos resident. "He spoke to us, and for us."
Post Hiroshima, his speech on disarmment impressed investment bankers, lawyers and even former president Eisenhower.
Besides exceptional public speaking skills, his capability to convince fellow scientists is second to none. Dominating conversations and convinceing scientists from differed background and opinions to agree to each other was the key to the success of Mahanttan project.
An adventrouous soul with slender physique
In heavy contrast to a presumed to be delicate and shy introvert, Oppie loved hiking, rock-collecting and sailing. When he' s young, he once hiked until 3 am in a winter and jumped into icy water. Adding horseback-riding to his hobbies, he tried to take a snow-laden trail over the highest pass in the mountain. Luckily his former teacher Smith won the coin toss to avoid going down this path as they could have been exposed to death by freezing. These stories from his friends were just fascinating and are dramatically different from the imagined 5' 10'' and less than 130 pound figure. And yet that's what makes a person whole thanks to Bird's exceptional story telling.
Taking responsibilities to face the aftermath
Oppie thought the war was about principles of freedom and was convinced that the war was a massive effort to overthrow the Nazis and upset Fascism and he talked of a people's army and a people's war. After Hiroshima and Nagazaki, Oppie realized Manhattan Project actually created a weapon of mass destruction without policies to control it. Rather than enjoying the fame brought by "the father of the atomic bomb", he lept into actions on behalf of his fellow scientists, "the nature of the world being abruptly and profoundly altered". Leveraging his celebrity status, Oppie tried to influence Washington's upcoming legislations on atomic energy and weapons, from forming organizations consisted of scentists to publicly supporting of international information sharing and standing the ground against further development of H-bomb and arm's race against Russia. Although his actions were futile in most cases, there's no doubt Oppi captured the heart of the public. Politicians such as Lewis Strauss were antagonized which led to the communist witch hunt.
The book spent hundreds of pages describing Oppie's former colleagues testify in support and against him in front of the security hearings' commity. Oppie endured all the interegations with a patriotic heart and nevertheless he's banished as an outcast at the end of the hearing. His security clearance was revoked, banning him from future researches in the field. He continued to gave public lecturers but he's either deprived of capacity or motivation to fight aginst the indifference on the sufferings caused by the invention of A-bomb. Indemnified later did not bring Oppie back. He's diagnosed with incurable cancer and passed away at the age of 62.
Science needed the humanities to better understand its own character and consequences.
Oppienheimer understood both of the worlds and is always remembered.
