Table of Contents

I. "Work … frantic, bad and graded A": Harvard, 1922-1925

11. "Making myself for a career": Europe and America, 1925-1929

111. "Physics and the excellences of the life it brings": Berkeley and Pasadena, 1929-1941

IV. "These terrible years of war": Los Alamos, 1942-1945

V. "High promise … yet only a stone's throw from despair": Los Alamos, August to November 1945

Review

“A beautifully organized collection of letters and reminiscences. . . . The editors have interviewed those who knew and worked with him, stirred in the necessary explanatory background, and produced an account, both scholarly and highly readable, which throws fresh light on a man who will probably always remain something of an enigma. Amid devotional defense and almost rabid attack, their book is a model of objectivity.”―New York Times Book Review

“An intimate, carefully documented, and honest book.”―Scientific American

“The first scholarly attempt to come to grips with the development of Oppenheimer’s elusive personality, it is all the more impressive because its many revealing letters and candid commentary were gathered from those who knew him best.”―Science

“The editors have done a superb job in putting this material together and making it into a coherent narrative. . . . A mine of information for historians interested in Oppenheimer and his times, this volume also offers much new insight into his character.”―New Republic

“A milestone in Oppenheimer scholarship. . . . The full measure of Oppenheimer the man, the scientist, and the public figure remains to be taken, but the publication of this rich volume will markedly aid the accomplishment of that ultimate and demanding task.”―Isis