John von Neumann and Robert Oppenheimer Adam Dolezal World History Honors 12/14/08

John von Neumann Overview Born on December 28, 1903 in Budapest, Hungary Died on February 8, 1957 in Washington, D.C.

Neumann Childhood He was a prodigy from birth When young he liked math and numbers Parents encouraged him He was sent to one of the best schools around

Neumann Education Was sent to the Lutheran Gymnasium At 17 his first paper was published, “dealing with zeros of certain minimal polynomials” Got Ph.D in mathematics and minors in chemistry and experimental physics Father wanted him to be a chemical engineer So he got his diploma for it

Neumann Work Helped in the development of American nuclear weapons in 1943 Main contribution was his help with the implosion bomb He helped find out what will happen without actually blowing an atomic bomb up

Neumann Honors John von Neumann speech is given annually John von Neumann Computing Center is named after him USPS made a stamp of him Medal named after him, IEEE John von Neumann Medal Was known to read while drive

How old was John von Neumann when his first paper was published? When was John von Neumann born? What did John von Neumann degree in? What role did Jon von Neumann play in the Manhattan Project? When did Jon von Neumann die? What did John von Neumann do while driving?

Robert Oppenheimer Overview Born April 22, 1904 New York City, NY Died February 18, 1967 Princeton, NJ

Oppenheimer Childhood Lived in an apartment building On Riverside Drive facing the Hudson River Was surrounded by Van Gogh's and European furniture It showed more of a better taste than money

Oppenheimer Education Studied at the Ethical Culture Society School He studied the typical subjects, but showed a special interest in science and psychotherapy Entered Harvard Collage late due to Colitis Majored in chemistry Graduated in only three years

Oppenheimer Education Cont. Admitted to graduate in physics while an undergraduate Based on independent study, never took a class of physics In thermodynamics, pulled towards experimental physics Went to Europe to study modern physics University of Gottingen by Max Born PhD when he was 22

Oppenheimer Work He wrote many papers on physics, quantum theory, and ect. Most known for the Manhattan Project Creation of the atomic bombs during WWII Worked on the creation before the government took over Leslie R. Groves was the project director Made Oppenheimer the projects scientific director

Oppenheimer Work Cont. Worked at Los Alamos Worked very hard and on July 16, 1945 his work was rewarded with the first explosion of an atomic bomb Named Trinity by Oppenheimer Oppenheimer made his famous speech About the inhumane killing of innocent people with the dropping of the atomic bombs Within a month the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan

Oppenheimer Last Years Joined Albert Einstein and others Concerned with new scientific findings Chain smoker Diagnosed with throat cancer in 1965 Had surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy Died in February of 1967 of throat cancer

When was Robert Oppenheimer born? Why did Robert Oppen heimer die? What role did Robert Oppenheimer play in the Manhattan Project? Why did Robert Oppenheimer change his mind about nuclear weapons? What did Robert Oppenh eimer get a degree in? When did Robert Oppenheimer when he die?

Similarities They both worked for the Manhattan Project Smart Knew that they were smart and used it for the reasons that they thought were good

Differences Oppenheimer thought that the project was inhumane and thought he was destroying the world Neumann thought that the project was good and would help end the war quickly Oppenheimer was a little bit more conservative Neumann was known for staying out in the night partying