Human Intelligence
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- Episode
- Manhattan Project: J Robert Oppenheimer
- Broadcast Info
- 2025 (13 mins)
- Description
- Naomi Alderman explores the multifaceted mind of J Robert Oppenheimer, scientific lead on the Manhattan Project, a vast, top secret scheme to build the world’s first atomic bombs in World War II. The Project was a remarkable feat of human intellect with a real, devastating human cost. It required close cooperation between the US military and a group of world-leading scientists. In many ways, Oppenheimer was a puzzling candidate for the job. He was brilliant, but fuelled by self-loathing. A physicist, he was also a student of philosophy and mysticism, interested in left-wing radical politics. Oppenheimer built the bomb, but later called the weapon’s industry "the devil’s work". His legacy, like the Manhattan Project itself, is infinitely complex.
- Genre
- History
How to cite this record
The Open University, "Human Intelligence". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/252610 (Accessed 24 Dec 2025)