Uncommon Sense
"I think that we will not be very successful in discouraging other power from this course [of a nuclear military program] unless we show, by our own example and conviction, that we regard nuclear armament as a transitory, dangerous, and degrading phase of
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UNCOMMON N
Metropolis~
Gian-Carlo Rota~ and David Sharpy Editors
J ROBERT OPPENHEIMER
SENSE Birkhauser Boston . Basel . Stuttgart
Copyeditor: Harry Newman The editors and the publisher would like to thank Peter Oppenheimer for his cooperation and assistance in the preparation of this collection.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967. Uncommon sense. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Science-United States-History-Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Philosophy-Addresses, essays, lectures. 3. United States-Politics and government-20th centuryAddresses, essays, lectures. I. Metropolis, N. (Nicholas), 1915. II. Rota, Gian Carlo, 1932III. Sharp, D. H. (David Howland), 1938IV. Title. Q}27.U6066 1984 081 84-439 ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-6737-6 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-6735-2 DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4684-6735-2 CIP-Kurztitelaufnahme der Deutschen Bibliothek
Oppenheimer, Julius Robert: Uncommon sense / J. Robert Oppenheimer, Ed. by N. Metropolis ... - Boston; Basel ; Stuttgart: Birkhauser, 1984. ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-6737-6
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright owner. © Birkhauser Boston, 1984 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1984 ABCDEFGHlj
Contents
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Foreword Travelling to a Land We Cannot See The Open Mind Science in Being Research and the Liberal University The Consequences of Action I. Uncommon Sense II. An Open House Prospects in the Arts and Sciences An Inward Look Tradition and Discovery Progress in Freedom On Science and Culture The Power to Act The Scientific Revolution and its Effects on Democratic Institutions A World Without War L'Intime et Ie Comun-the Intimate and the Open To Live with Ourselves Physics and Man's Understanding For the Smithsonian Institution Bicentennial A Time in Need Acknowledgements and Bibliography
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17 27 41 57 67 79 89 103 117 123 141 147 157 169 181 191 193
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Foreword
J. Robert Oppenheimer was born on April 22, 1904 in New York City. Abundantly endowed by nature and circumstance, he was encouraged to pursue any path that captured his interest. Even as a very young man, Oppenheimer delved deeply into literature, the humanities, philosophy and languages, as well as the natural sciences. His sensitivity to moral and aesthetic concerns developed apace with his understanding of the architecture of nature as revealed by science. Thus the preoccupations of the young Oppenheimer foreshadowed one of the most cherished traits of the mature man-his rare ability to interpret, with perception and eloquence, the values and traditions of the humanistic and scientific cultures, one to the other. In 1925 Oppenheimer graduated from Harvard, summa cum laude. Thereafter he went to the University of G6ttingen where he earned his doctorate under Max Born in 1927. In his doctoral research and sub
