One of this summer’s biggest cinematic events, Oppenheimer, brings the story of US scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer to the big screen. Director Christopher Nolan’s film is the latest of many portrayals of the so-called “father of the atomic bomb” on page, stage and screen. Here are six of the most intriguing.
1. The Man Who Would Be God by Haakon Chevalier (1959)
This novel is particularly fascinating in that it was written by a friend of Oppenheimer, who played a role in his downfall. In winter 1942-43, Chevalier sounded out Oppenheimer’s stance on passing secrets to the Soviet Union.