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Princeton Legacy Library
Atom and Void: Essays on Science and Community
J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the outstanding physicists of his generation. He was also an immensely gifted writer and speaker, who thought deeply about the way that scientific discoveries have changed the way people live and think. Displaying his subtlety of thought and expression as do few other documents, this book of his lectures discusses the moral and cultural implications of developments in modern physics.
Originally published in 1989.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Originally published in 1989.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
169 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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240 people want to read
About the author
J. Robert Oppenheimer
41 books159 followersJulius Robert Oppenheimer (April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first nuclear weapons. The first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945 in the Trinity test in New Mexico; Oppenheimer remarked later that it brought to mind words from the Bhagavad Gita: "Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
After the war he became a chief adviser to the newly created United States Atomic Energy Commission and used that position to lobby for international control of nuclear power to avert nuclear proliferation and an arms race with the Soviet Union. After provoking the ire of many politicians with his outspoken opinions during the Second Red Scare, he had his security clearance revoked in a much-publicized hearing in 1954. Though stripped of his direct political influence he continued to lecture, write and work in physics. A decade later President John F. Kennedy awarded (and Lyndon B. Johnson presented) him with the Enrico Fermi Award as a gesture of political rehabilitation.
Oppenheimer's notable achievements in physics include the Born–Oppenheimer approximation for molecular wavefunctions, work on the theory of electrons and positrons, the Oppenheimer–Phillips process in nuclear fusion, and the first prediction of quantum tunneling. With his students he also made important contributions to the modern theory of neutron stars and black holes, as well as to quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, and the interactions of cosmic rays. As a teacher and promoter of science, he is remembered as a founding father of the American school of theoretical physics that gained world prominence in the 1930s. After World War II, he became director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
After the war he became a chief adviser to the newly created United States Atomic Energy Commission and used that position to lobby for international control of nuclear power to avert nuclear proliferation and an arms race with the Soviet Union. After provoking the ire of many politicians with his outspoken opinions during the Second Red Scare, he had his security clearance revoked in a much-publicized hearing in 1954. Though stripped of his direct political influence he continued to lecture, write and work in physics. A decade later President John F. Kennedy awarded (and Lyndon B. Johnson presented) him with the Enrico Fermi Award as a gesture of political rehabilitation.
Oppenheimer's notable achievements in physics include the Born–Oppenheimer approximation for molecular wavefunctions, work on the theory of electrons and positrons, the Oppenheimer–Phillips process in nuclear fusion, and the first prediction of quantum tunneling. With his students he also made important contributions to the modern theory of neutron stars and black holes, as well as to quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, and the interactions of cosmic rays. As a teacher and promoter of science, he is remembered as a founding father of the American school of theoretical physics that gained world prominence in the 1930s. After World War II, he became director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 18, 2014
I bought this book hoping to get a look into the mind of a great scientist. I got a glimpse of his methodical mind but I was hoping for more insights. Got a history lesson but not the deeper look I hoped for.
December 30, 2009
Musings by the father of the atom bomb.
A truly brilliant mind.
A truly brilliant mind.
January 15, 2026
Atom & Void is Oppenheimer without the Hollywood glare — a physicist forced to live inside the consequences of his own intellect. These essays make it clear that he never believed science was neutral. Knowledge, once unlocked, ripples outward through politics, institutions, and human lives.
What emerges is a portrait of a scientist caught in a double bind: committed to understanding the universe at its most fundamental level, yet fully aware that the same equations could enable unprecedented destruction. Oppenheimer refuses the comforting fiction that discovery is separate from responsibility.
Atom & Void reads less like technical writing and more like a record of an internal reckoning — how to be both a generator of knowledge and a steward of its consequences. In an era of AI, biotech, and accelerating uncertainty, his questions feel uncomfortably contemporary.
What emerges is a portrait of a scientist caught in a double bind: committed to understanding the universe at its most fundamental level, yet fully aware that the same equations could enable unprecedented destruction. Oppenheimer refuses the comforting fiction that discovery is separate from responsibility.
Atom & Void reads less like technical writing and more like a record of an internal reckoning — how to be both a generator of knowledge and a steward of its consequences. In an era of AI, biotech, and accelerating uncertainty, his questions feel uncomfortably contemporary.
February 19, 2020
essays on science and humanity, from the era of opticks (newton) to relativity and quantum mechanics.
only the last chapter he wrote some hint about the making of first atomic bomb.
only the last chapter he wrote some hint about the making of first atomic bomb.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2024
Honestly, I mostly read this book because I had a copy of it on my shelves for years. It was kind of interesting, but I'm not convinced I learned anything particularly new from it.
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March 31, 2009Amazon used 2009-03-30.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews