Defending Oppenheimer
DOI: 10.1063/pt.mruy.bkwf
In their letter in the July 2024 issue of Physics Today (page 11 ), Bárbara Cruvinel Santiago and Lindsay Rand criticize Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer for glorifying the Trinity test while mostly ignoring the dangers of its widespread fallout. To be fair to the film’s creators, the movie is more of an account of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life and the challenges he endured; it is not a documentary.
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An alternate view: The Manhattan Project was now eight decades ago. If watching the movie prompts younger viewers to go learn about it, the context surrounding it, and its legacy of worldwide nuclear deployments and environmental issues—consequences with which Santiago and Rand are concerned—the movie will have done a tremendous public service. Personally, I enjoyed it immensely.
More about the authors
Cameron Reed, (reed@alma.edu) Alma College, Alma, Michigan.
