J. Robert Oppenheimer

American theoretical physicist and scientific director of the Manhattan Project — who led the team that built the first atomic bomb — later stripped of his security clearance in 1954 during the McCarthy era — whose life embodies the moral complexity of scientific power.

Demonstrates that scientific genius combined with extraordinary organizational skill can change history — Oppenheimer's ability to recruit, coordinate, and inspire the world's greatest physicists at Los Alamos in three years (assembling the most talented scientific team ever assembled) was itself a singular intellectual achievement.