Summary of American Prometheus

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, is a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who was largely responsible for leading the scientific development of the atomic bomb during World War II. Bird and Sherwin meticulously chronicle his life from his childhood in New York City to the sudden fame that he earned for his role in the Manhattan Project to the sad decline of his public image as he was suspected of being a Soviet sympathizer and became the victim of a McCarthy-era witch hunt. This gripping and comprehensive alternating narrative of Oppenheimer’s triumphs and travails fully and convincingly details his brilliant mind and complex personality.