Did my teacher throw Oppenheimer under the bus?

was quite surprised to see my college physics professor be such an important character in the Oppenheimer movie.

 

I had known that Edward Teller was the creator of the hydrogen bomb, considerably bigger than Robert J.Oppenheimer’s teensy  atomic bomb. He was even supposed to have been the inspiration for the mad scientist in the movie, Dr. Strangelove. I didn’t realize that he contributed to Oppenheimer’s downfall after World War II as Oppenheimer’s loyalty was questioned.

 

When I enrolled in physics 10 in 1961 I had heard that the scientist was on a mission to impart his knowledge to non-science majors at the University of California at Berkeley.

 

Maybe he knew too much. His first lecture to 1,000 celebrity-struck students was about Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. With this convoluted subject and his thick Hungarian accent, he completely lost us. As the course progressed, we were allowed to get our grades mostly from book reports rather than from his lectures.

 

But there were also pop quizzes! Because the classroom became increasingly empty, Teller decided to give short tests at the end of some sessions. Since the lectures were televised, students were able to race back to campus after the quiz was announced early in class. (No complaints, I got a B in physics 10!)

 

What about the movie? Well, here is my  (tongue-in-cheek) recollection:

—A young Oppenheimer tries to  kill his teacher with a poison apple, I guess inspired by the story of Snow White. 

—His brother is a Communist, his lover is a Communist and his wife is an ex-Communist. But that’s OK—they’re not Nazis.

— Albert Einstein tells Oppenheimer an atomic  bomb could possibly wipe out the entire planet. Well, that’s a risk worth taking to win the war.

—Hundreds of workers are brought to the New Mexico desert for two years to build the bomb. I hope they were well paid!

—Once he bomb is dropped on Japan, one character tells Oppenheimer  he is “the most important person who ever lived.” If it was me, I would respond, “You’re hired!”

—Lewis Strauss thinks he was slighted by Einstein and Oppenheimer so turns the entire federal government on Robert.  Talk about holding a grudge!

—John F. Kennedy destroys Strauss’ attempt to join the cabinet. Hope I’m not being a name-dropper!

—Edward Teller is triumphant, now able to put impressionable college sophomores to sleep with the theory of relativity.

 

Well, maybe I got some of this mixed up. But this is really the best movie I have seen in a long time. You really should see it in Roxboro or Danville, even if it is three hours long.