J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American physicist who became so drawn to Sanskrit that he learned it from a Berkeley professor named Arthur Ryder and read classical Hindu poetry in the original language. Starting in 1929 he built the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley into one of the world's leading centers for theoretical physics, training a generation of American scientists there for over a decade. He and his brother Frank bought a small ranch called Perro Caliente high in the New Mexico mountains, where he was known as a skilled horseman and rode for days at a time with friends. During World War Two he directed the wartime laboratory at Los Alamos that built the first atomic bomb, work that helped end the war. In 1954 the government stripped him of his security clearance, a decision the U.S. Department of Energy formally cancelled in December 2022 after finding the original process had broken its own rules.
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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History (Atomic Heritage Foundation) profile confirming birth date (Apr 22, 1904), death date (Feb 18, 1967), his 1943-45 role directing Los Alamos Laboratory, and the 1954 clearance revocation.
U.S. Department of Energy's own December 16, 2022 statement vacating the 1954 Atomic Energy Commission decision that revoked Oppenheimer's clearance, calling the original process flawed and biased.
Atomic Heritage Foundation oral history with Oppenheimer's grandchildren confirming the Perro Caliente ranch in New Mexico and that Robert was a skilled, frequent horseman there with his brother Frank.
The National (Abu Dhabi) feature confirming Oppenheimer learned Sanskrit at Berkeley from professor Arthur Ryder starting in 1933 and read classical Sanskrit poetry.
