Pulitzer Prize Biography Winner
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
Summary
Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin spent decades reconstructing the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who led the Manhattan Project and built the atomic bomb. The book follows his scientific brilliance, his leftist sympathies, and the security hearing that stripped his clearance and ruined him. It is a study of conscience, power, and the costs of the nuclear age.
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Historical Context & Significance
American Prometheus won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and became the basis for Christopher Nolan's 2023 film Oppenheimer.