American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

American Prometheus is a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who led the Manhattan Project. It chronicles his rise to fame as ‘the father of the atomic bomb’ and his downfall after his security hearing in the McCarthy era, including efforts by Lewis Strauss and the FBI to undermine him.

Its five parts trace his childhood and education, his years at Cambridge, Göttingen and Berkeley, his political activities, his relationships and his misgivings about the bomb. Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin wrote the book over a period of 25 years.