In Christopher Nolan's hit biopic "Oppenheimer," real-life Danish physicist Niels Bohr is more than just a major character. As depicted by Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh, he is a living legend, looming large both over the film's depiction of the Manhattan Project and over the psyche of the titular protagonist himself, J. Robert Oppenheimer. The film even includes a controversial scene in which Oppenheimer tries to poison his professor after being denied the right to attend a lecture being given by Bohr. (Experts on Oppenheimer strongly doubt this ever happened.)
There is a good reason why both the fictional and real Oppenheimer were so awed by Bohr. In real life, Bohr revolutionized the world of physics, and then went on to be a humanitarian as passionate and progressive as Oppenheimer himself.
