Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of
Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller
By Gregg Herken
Henry Holt & Company, Inc.
HC, 462 pages, $30
ISBN: 0-8050-6588-1

The stories behind the bomb

By Steven Martinovich
web posted October 7, 2002

The atom bomb not only destroyed two Japanese cities, it also
indirectly damaged or destroyed the lives of several men who
helped bring about its creation, as Gregg Herken's Brotherhood of
the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer,
Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller aptly illustrates. Eschewing a
formal history of America's atomic weapons program, Herken
instead delves into the equally fascinating and interlocking
stories of three of the greatest scientists of the 20th century.

Traditional histories have tended to paint the invention of the
bomb in the broad strokes of a nation united in the single
purpose of defeating totalitarianism, but as Herken's account
clearly shows, unity was sometimes tenuous at best. The currency
of the scientist is personal reputation, something built by being
the first. Although Oppenheimer, Lawrence and Teller began the
war either as friends and acquaintances, it didn't take long
before personal agendas and outside forces began to push the men
apart. Where Oppenheimer was the patient theoretical physicist,
Lawrence was the impatient experimenter using the empirical
method to power his way through a problem. While Lawrence was
interested in turning Berkeley into the center of atomic
research, Teller was enraptured with his theoretical "Super," the
weapon that later became better known as the hydrogen bomb.

If the race to develop the atomic bomb had been merely an
academic pursuit then the differences between the three men
probably would have been limited to personality clashes.
Complicating matters was that the atomic bomb itself was a
wartime reaction to a similar program that the Allies believed,
mistakenly as it turned out, the Germans had in place. Although
allied with the Russians during the Second World War, the
American government remained concerned about Communist
infiltration in government and industry, which meant that one of
the three - Oppenheimer - would eventually pay a heavy price.

As Herken documents, much of Oppenheimer's pre-war activity was
concentrated as much on far-left politics as it was physics.
Although he was mostly apolitical in his later years, Herken
hints that Oppenheimer was an active member of the American
Communist Party in his youth. That eventually drew the attention
of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, scrutiny that would follow him
for years to come. Herken dismisses allegations that Oppenheimer
passed along secrets of the atom and hydrogen bombs to the Soviet
Union - ironically, that information came from spy Klaus Fuchs
during his time at Los Alamos where he learned much during
Teller's frequent lectures on the subjects - and argues that his
political leanings never compromised his loyalty to the United
States.

Regardless, Oppenheimer committed several errors that eventually
led to the stripping of his security clearance in 1954, notably
lying about who contacted him as part of a plan to recruit
American scientists to spy for the Soviet Union and perhaps too
strenuously opposing the plans of a military intent on utilizing
the power of the atom. Despite that, Oppenheimer's mistake, if
one can call it that, was placing his personal loyalties above
political concerns.
 
Although Oppenheimer paid the heaviest public price, neither
Lawrence nor Teller escaped unharmed. Lawrence's dream of
Berkeley monopolizing atomic research died after the Second World
War and his friendship with Oppenheimer all but ended thanks to
the latter's campaigning against Lawrence's post-war nuclear
agenda. Teller, who Herken seems to want to paint as a Dr.
Strangelove figure, was essentially ostracized by the scientific
community for questioning Oppenheimer's loyalty during interviews
with the FBI though he later became the nation's preeminent
scientific advisor, notably stumping for the Reagan-era Strategic
Defense Initiative.

A book that concentrates on only three figures in the early days
of the atom bomb must necessarily only lightly touch upon other
notables such as Enrico Fermi and Glenn Seaborg, and Herken's
decision to de-emphasize the postwar uncertainty caused by the
Soviet Union's atomic weapons program could be things that some
might find fails to illustrate the full context the men operated
in. While they are weaknesses in his narrative, Herken's account
also boasts several strengths, including a willingness to leave
some of the more intricate science at the door in favor of
telling a good story and expansive research in an attempt to
clear up the mystery behind Oppenheimer's Communist connections.
Some stories and answers doubtless remain locked up in dusty
government files somewhere and until the day - if ever - they are
revealed, Herken's marvelous and engaging history will certainly
suffice.

Steven Martinovich is a freelance writer in Sudbury, Ontario.

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