The mysterious sanctuary hidden away in the Jemez mountains was known only as Box 1663 in the mid 1950s.
The mission of its 13,000 residents was to create the gadget.
Living there was a challenge.
‘Oppenheimer’Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Its a prison camp for eggheads, whispered one scientist.
I finally made it in 1956 (details below).
Eliot, listens to Stravinsky, learns Sanskrit in two weeks and hovers worshipfully before Picasso paintings.
Caravans in Los Alamos, NMDoreen Spooner/Getty Images
Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh are excellent in supporting roles.
My editors at theJournalwere skeptical about my mission.
No one will talk with you, they advised.
Besides, whats the story?
The guards manning the gates seemed friendly, if puzzled.
I dont understand whyre youre visiting, one explained.
Its not a very interesting community.
But within hours I knew he was wrong.
Virtually everyone I encountered held a PhD or its equivalent.
They were young and talkative but cautious about my using their names.
We are basically government peons, one young scientist explained.
You had to be lucky to meet their idea of a big shot.
Most apartments were dormitory style.
Senior scientists were assigned homes, but fireplaces or carports were available to only the most important.
Many of the homes lacked kitchens.
I love my customers but hate my business, explained one young women who ran a clothing store.
Before the bomb was dropped in 1945 there were constant rumors about spies, said one resident.
Some locals suspected that the gadget was really the bomb, but what sort of bomb?
Only Oppenheimer himself seemed to acknowledge that Los Alamos was playing with the future of mankind.
But everyone was going along with the dirty little secret.
The war with Germany was over.
Would Japan surrender anyway a debate scrupulously set forth in Nolans movie.
As Nolans movie makes clear, Oppenheimer himself was dedicated to goals of nuclear controls and cooperation.
He envisioned a worldwide movement toward peace.
As a reward for his extraordinary achievement and loyalty, his security clearances were withdrawn.
He would no longer have access to the universe hed created an absurd ruling later to be reversed.
