A Brief History
On September 1, 1939, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man famous as the “father of the atomic bomb,” along with his student, Hartland Snyder, using the physics of the day, published a definitive proof of how black holes could develop.
Digging Deeper
The scientific paper known as the Oppenheimer–Snyder model relied on earlier work by Albert Einstein, especially vis a vis the Schwarzschild metric concerning gravitational forces involved in the collapse of stars leading to black holes.
Educated at Harvard, Christ’s College and Cambridge, Oppenheimer became a professor at Berkely in 1936. His contributions to the field of physics include the Born–Oppenheimer Approximation, the Oppenheimer–Phillips process, the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equation, the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit, as well as work concerning astrophysics, such as cosmic rays, black holes and neutron stars.
Despite developing the first atomic bombs, Oppenheimer later advocated for nuclear disarmament and not developing the hydrogen bomb.
Note: The fact that Oppenheimer was not only a researcher, but also an educator, means his contribution to science can also be measured by those students he taught.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Have you seen the 2023 film, Oppenheimer?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
MacGregor, J. R. J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Complete Biography on the Father of the Atomic Bomb and His Enduring Legacy in Science, Ethics, and Nuclear Physics. 1359906 B.C. LTD, 2023.
Monk, Ray. Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center. Random House Audio, 2013.
