Those are among the major themes covered by the new movie, Oppenheimer.

Now, J. Robert Oppenheimer always intrigued me with his knowledge and his charisma, but he was never among my heroes.  And, I recall with fondness the 80 page or so monograph with its powder blue cover that was distributed to my class covering nuclear power.   It allowed us to learn and understand the concepts pretty well.

That formed my primary education in the area, until I completed the two volume set written by one of my heroes (Isaac Asimov)- the Intelligent Man’s Guide to Science.  (One volume covered biology, the other chemistry and physics.)   And, you do notice the sexist nature of books written for sci-tech in the 1950’s- the domain was considered to belong the masculine gender.  (It took me about a decade to realize this was yet another roadblock to women joining STEM studies.)

(By the way my other hero was Mr. Wizard [Don Herbert] who presented a great show about sci-tech.  And, after I finished reading Asimov’s two volume set, I purchased my first college textbook- one about chemistry- including Schrodinger’s equations, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, etc.)

Back to the movie and its proposition.

Oppenheimer was desperate to advance and build upon quantum theory.  Which is why he eventually ended up at Berkeley and Caltech.  It would be about 13 years before his prowess was recognized and he was appointed head of the Manhattan Project.

While a professor, he was stymied when he wanted to bring in certain scholars (“we already have one Jewish person here“).  And, to me, it was somewhat intriguing how easily Oppenheimer picked up on the antisemitic threads (which abounded in America in the 1940s and 1950s; those threads are once again becoming prevalent in America), since he was a secular Jew.

Most of you are too young to recall those prejudiced attitudes- that existed from New York City to California (and around the world).  Our neighborhood (Forest City, which was a suburb of New York City) denizens routinely beat us up, broke our windows, yelled epithets.  There was a German bund in North Bellmore (next town over) that eventually was taken over and converted to a synagogue.  (After 70 years, the synagogue has closed and merged with another institution.)

Oppenheimer’s politics were part of the reason the US government didn’t quite trust him as head of the project.  Oppenheimer was a liberal – and found aspects of Communism intriguing (but was not a member of the party).  But, his participating in events led by the group meant he was forever being examined for his patriotism.

[I found this intriguing, since I also found Communism intriguing- but would never join their ranks.  Some aspects were similar to the socialism that underpinned the State of Israel- the kibbutzim (both farms and business entities), the labor governments, etc.  And, I elected to write a (95 page) paper about the Soviet Union.  Part of my research involved asking the Soviet embassy for copies of Soviet Life, correspondence with the mayor of Moscow, etc.   And, because of that, I was clearly on the radar screens of the FBI.  (The fact that six years later I was part of the Students for a Democratic Society and had participated in civil rights events in the South did not detract from FBI oversight.)   I could clearly understand how Oppenheimer felt as a result.]

The movie depicts the dilemna that confronted Oppenheimer.   It’s a dilemna  for many a technologist.   We invent things- great scientific advances- which are amoral.  They don’t present themselves as good or bad.  It’s what we elect to do with these advances that renders them good or bad.

In Oppenheimer’s case, building his gadget (which is what he called the prototypical atomic bomb) meant that many lives would be saved and the World War could end.  But, once the bombs were employed, he agonized over their continued use.

That is similar to what is going on with CRISPER.   This biological invention allows us to tinker with the cellular apparatus within living things.   Those applications can present society great benefits or leave us at risk.  We have to hope that those managing the technology will choose societal benefits, just like Oppenheimer realized that a bomb would open up Pandora’s box- that knowledge will never go back and it could lead to perpetual war.  (Basically known as the Cold War [thankfully, not a hot one.)

Once his bombs were built, Oppenheimer wanted to limit the use and advance of the technology.  That’s what led to the McCarthy-inspired desire to strip him of his clearance.  Which precluded him from continuing his research.

(NOTE:  We have a current day McCarthy  (Kevin) who also wants to control technology and thought.  So much for thinking we rid America of McCarthyism in the 1950s.)

I strongly recommend everyone see this new movie- and consider the moral dilemnae presented by “the Gadget”, how antiSemitism [which has now advanced to anti-otherism) is a scourge upon society], how our government allocates funds for various projects, etc.

It will be three hours well spent.

(There also is is a great 87 minute documentary from NBC news about the issues herein.

https://www.xfinity.com/stream/entity/6120342213666306112 )