"His theoretical prediction of black holes was by far his greatest scientific achievement, fundamental to the modern development of relativistic astrophysics, and yet he never showed the slightest interest in following it up. So far as I can tell, he never wanted to know whether black holes actually existed. ...We know that the Oppenheimer-Snyder calculation is correct and describes what happens to massive stars at the end of their lives. It explains why black holes are abundant, and incidentally confirms the truth of Einstein's theory of general relativity. And still, Robert Oppenheimer was not interested. ...How could he have remained blind to his greatest discovery? ...Perhaps if the Oppenheimer-Snyder calculation had not happened to coincide with the Bohr-Wheeler theory of nuclear fission and with the outbreak of World War II, Robert would have paid more attention to it."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Anti-fascistsEngineers from the United StatesAcademics from the United StatesAgnostics from the United StatesCalifornia Institute of Technology faculty
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Freeman Dyson, The Scientist As Rebel (2006)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Oppenheimer
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Robert Oppenheimer
Julius Robert Oppenheimer (22 April 1904 – 18 February 1967) was an American physicist and the scientific director of the Manhattan Project.
46 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Robert Oppenheimer →
Related Quotes
"It was evening when we came to the river With a low moon over the desert that we had lost in the mountains, forgotten…"
"I can't think that it would be terrible of me to say — and it is occasionally true — that I need physics more than fr…"
"Everyone wants rather to be pleasing to women and that desire is not altogether, though it is very largely, a manifes…"
"I believe that through discipline, though not through discipline alone, we can achieve serenity, and a certain small …"
"It worked!"
"It is with appreciation and gratefulness that I accept from you this scroll for the Los Alamos Laboratory, and for th…"
"Despite the vision and farseeing wisdom of our wartime heads of state, the physicists have felt the peculiarly intima…"
"The extreme danger to mankind inherent in the proposal [to develop thermonuclear weapons] wholly outweighs any milita…"
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry … There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and …"
"There are no secrets about the world of nature. There are secrets about the thoughts and intentions of men."