Institute For Advanced Study Hosts Oppenheimer Centenary Event On October 27

The Institute for Advanced Study has planned a special public event in honor of the hundredth anniversary year of the birth of physicist and former Institute Director J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-67). Oppenheimer, who headed the Institute from 1947 to 1966, will be the focus of a program scheduled for October 27 on the Institute campus.

The Day After Trinity will be shown at 2:15 p.m. The 1980 documentary, directed by Jon Else, focuses on scientists and others involved in the creation and testing of the first atomic bomb. Oppenheimer, who headed the Manhattan Project, appears in archival footage.

Beginning at 4:30 p.m., there will be three presentations about Oppenheimer by people who knew and worked with him.

Jeremy Bernstein will speak on "Oppenheimer: A Student�s View." Bernstein, Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at Stevens Institute of Technology, and former staff writer for the New Yorker, has written some 50 technical papers as well as 12 books on popular science and mountain travel. He is author of the recent Oppenheimer: Portrait of an Enigma. His extensive bibliography also includes Albert Einstein; Science Observed; and Cranks, Quarks, and the Cosmos. Educated at Harvard University, he is a former Member of the Institute for Advanced Study (1957-59).

Freeman Dyson will speak on "Oppenheimer as Scientist, Administrator, and Poet." Dyson, Professor, Emeritus, in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute, specializes in mathematical physics and astrophysics. He graduated from Cambridge University and also studied at Cornell University with Hans Bethe and Richard Feynman. A Member of the Institute in 1948-49 and 1950, he joined the faculty in 1953, serving under Oppenheimer�s directorship. Among Dyson�s works are Disturbing the Universe; Origins of Life; Infinite in All Directions; and The Sun, The Genome, and the Internet.

The title of Morton White�s talk will be "Remembering Robert Oppenheimer." White, a philosopher, is Emeritus Professor in the Institute�s School of Historical Studies. He is author of, among other works, Science and Sentiment in America; The Question of Free Will; A Philosopher's Story; and A Philosophy of Culture. A graduate of the College of the City of New York, with advanced degrees from Columbia University, he became an Institute faculty member in 1970. He was a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study (1953-54, 1962-63, 1967-68), twice during Oppenheimer�s tenure as Director.

The screening and talks will be held in Wolfensohn Hall on the campus of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. There will be tea at 3:45 p.m., after the showing of the documentary, and then a reception will follow the presentations in the Fuld Hall Common Room at 6:00 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public. For further information, call 609.734.8202.