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1.7 KiB
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22 lines
No EOL
1.7 KiB
Markdown
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category: "Nuclear Scientists & Programs"
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tags:
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- Person
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- Nuclear
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- Physicist
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- Israel
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summary: "Oppenheimer's personal papers indicate he visited Israel in May 1958 to participate in ceremonies marking the opening of the Institute of Nuclear Science in Rehovot."
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born: 1904-04-22
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died: 1967-02-18
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location: "New York City, New York"
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---
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J. Robert Oppenheimer was a prominent American theoretical physicist, widely known as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role as the scientific director of the [[Manhattan Project]] during World War II. He and his colleagues, including [[John von Neumann]], were actively courted by [[Chaim Weizmann]] as early as 1947 to spend time doing research in [[Israel]].[^1]
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Oppenheimer's personal papers indicate he visited Israel in May 1958 to participate in ceremonies marking the opening of the Institute of Nuclear Science in [[Rehovot]]. He also took a military flight with [[Ernst David Bergmann]] and [[Shimon Peres]] to visit the port city of [[Eilat]] at the southern reach of the [[Negev Desert|Negev]] desert. However, Israeli officials who worked at [[Dimona]] in 1958, then in its early stages of construction, do not recall any visit by Oppenheimer to that site.[^1]
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Oppenheimer sparked controversy in the early 1950s by advocating that the [[United States]] abate the arms race by forgoing the [[Hydrogen Bomb|hydrogen bomb]]. In 1954, [[Lewis L. Strauss]] led a successful effort to strip Oppenheimer of his security clearance, with hearings focusing on Oppenheimer's loyalty and integrity.[^1]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 2, 7. |