Was Oppenheimer pleased by Wheeler’s conversion? He showed little interest and little pleasure. At a December 1963 international conference in Dallas, Texas, on the occasion of the discovery of quasars (Chapter 9), Wheeler gave a long lecture on stellar implosion. In his lecture, he described with enthusiasm the 1939 calculations of Oppenheimer and Snyder. Oppenheimer attended the conference, but during Wheeler’s lecture he sat on a bench in the hallway chatting with friends about other things. Thirty years later, Wheeler recalls the scene with sadness in his eyes and voice.
