Does anybody know if this book (or the movie) covers Oppenheimers attempt to murder his teacher with a cyanide laced apple? I don't care to invest time in a biography that whitewashes the man.
By contrast, the biography the movie is based on treats the apple incident at some length.
Both books are superb, in my opinion, and deserve their Pulitzers.
Just to be clear, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" is about the lead up to and the making of the atomic bomb. It is not about Oppenheimer though it does go into great detail about all the major players.
20 year olds shouldn't be considered culpable for attempted murder now? Madness.
This is an important biographical detail not only because attempted murder is always relevant, but also because it is relevant to his involvement in an idea to poison Germany's food supply with radioactive strontium.
Edit for correction: it happened in 1926, he was 22 years old.
The real point I should've addressed is not this tangential one but that the fact of the omission doesn't reduce the value of Rhode's telling of story of the atomic bomb at all. This HN post's existence is due to the book covering Oppenheimer which is currently a hot topic but the book is so much more than that.
Having seen the movie. I can confirm. It’s a relatively insignificant addition to the film though.
Things came to a head in 1926 when Oppenheimer put a poisoned apple on Blackett’s desk, then left to vacation in Corsica.
Thankfully, Blackett never ate the apple. But Oppenheimer’s Corsica companions spilled the beans, and when Cambridge University found out, the administrators decided to press charges of attempted murder. And they would have. Except, Oppenheimer’s rich father happened to be visiting that week. He begged Cambridge to spare his precious, genius son. So, Oppenheimer got off with mere probation."
https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/disappearing-pod/the-...
I'd always read that he was somewhat troubled, but this guy was a borderline psychopath.
The whole thing is a sad episode in his life, but no need to accuse him of being a psychopath. No psychopath would have changed his mind regarding nuclear proliferation like he did in his later life.