As a child he collected rocks, wrote poetry and studied French literature. Never weighing more than 130 pounds, throughout his life he was a “tall and thin chainsmoker” who once stated that he “needed physics more than friends” who at Cambridge University was nearly charged with attempted murder after leaving a poisoned apple on the desk of one of his tutors. Notoriously abrupt and impatient, at Göttingen his classmates once gave their professor Born an ultimatum: “either the ‘child prodigy’ is reigned in, or his fellow students will boycott the class”.
Thank you! I came across this by accident. Never knew some Japanese physicist also went to Göttingen University to study nuclear physics in the same time as Oppenheimer was there. Ironically, 19 years later US nuked Japan. From what they had learnt in Göttingen became a disaster for themselves, and so a big regret to Oppenheimer. Mind boggling. Scary that it was unpredictable, yet predictable at the same time. Watched Oppenheimer one day ago wasn't enough. Glad I found this on net.
Thank you! I came across this by accident. Never knew some Japanese physicist also went to Göttingen University to study nuclear physics in the same time as Oppenheimer was there. Ironically, 19 years later US nuked Japan. From what they had learnt in Göttingen became a disaster for themselves, and so a big regret to Oppenheimer. Mind boggling. Scary that it was unpredictable, yet predictable at the same time. Watched Oppenheimer one day ago wasn't enough. Glad I found this on net.
Great article!