Watching the Academy Awards last night, I was happy to see “Oppenheimer” win Best Picture. We live in a perilous time, with the threat of another world war erupting, and it is truly a moment to remember the specific details of our history.
The film captures the deep ambiguities that J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team recognized while they created the first atomic bomb.
Afterward, our society both honored and punished him for his work, which the film reflects accurately.
In personal terms, I remember interviewing Oppenheimer’s brother, Frank, during my years at the Center for Investigative Reporting. We spoke with him at the marvelous interactive science facility he created in San Francisco called The Exploratorium.
Frank told us that his brother had demonstrated the terrible horror that scientists could infect, but that he wanted to demonstrate the great joy and pleasure that science could present as well.
I think Frank succeeded.
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