| Robert J. Oppenheimer was a
famous American physicist, who directed the {{U}}(1) {{/U}} of the first
atomic bombs. Oppenheimer was born in New York City on April 22, 1904, and was educated at Harvard University and the universities of Cambridge. After {{U}}(2) {{/U}} the International Education Board from 1928 to 1929, he became a professor of physics at the University of California and the California Institute of Technology, where he built up large {{U}}(3) {{/U}} of theoretical physics. He was noted for his contributions {{U}}(4) {{/U}} to the theory of relativity, cosmic rays, and neutron stars. From 1943 to 1945 , Oppenheimer served as director of the atomic bomb project at Los Alamos, New Mexico. His leadership and organizational skills {{U}}(5) {{/U}} him the Presidential Medal of Merit in 1946. In 1947 he became director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey, serving there {{U}}(6) {{/U}} the year before his death. He was also chairman of the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission from 1947 to 1952 and served {{U}}(7) {{/U}} as an adviser. In 1954, however, he was suspended from this position {{U}}(8) {{/U}} his past association with Communists. This action {{U}}(9) {{/U}} the political atmosphere of the time, as well as the dislike of some politicians and military {{U}}(10) {{/U}} for Oppenheimer's opposition to development of the hydrogen bomb and his {{U}}(11) {{/U}} of arms control. His {{U}}(12) {{/U}} was not really in doubt. {{U}}(13) {{/U}}, efforts were made to clear his name, and in 1963 the AEC {{U}}(14) {{/U}} him its highest honor, the Enrico Fermi Award. Oppenheimer {{U}}(15) {{/U}} his final years to study of the relationship between science and society. He died in Princeton on February 18, 1967. |