Introduction

What it says on the tin.

On July 16th, of 1945, at the Alamogordo Bombing Range in New Mexico, the first successful detonation of an atomic weapon occurred. The development of this weapon was an ongoing process undertaken by countless men and women, and some of the brightest minds of the country, known as The Manhattan Project. Thus began a new age. A race for nuclear weaponry, tested and ready for war. At the forefront of this frantic scramble, is Julius Robert Oppenheimer, fondly called Oppie by friends and co-workers. Born April 22, 1904 in New York City, Oppenheimer was a brilliant man, but dedicated to science, not his country. It was this loyalty to fact, not war, that was his political and mental downfall. In The Decision to Drop the Bomb, a 1985 documentary produced by Fred Freed, Oppenheimer was interviewed about the Trinity Test. He recalled a Hindu Scripture that had come to mind upon the successful results of the test spoken by the multi-armed Vishnu: “Now, I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”