American Prometheus

“Bird and Sherwin's biography of Oppenheimer shows what it looks like to assemble the scientific and organisational resources to push a technology far enough to matter — and what the political consequences of that success can be. Andreessen has recommended it as a study in the relationship between scientists and the state.”

“The biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, and by extension the biography of a moment when theoretical physics and massive state resources briefly converged. Collison has cited this as one of the most revealing books about what it actually takes to organize scientific talent toward an ambitious goal.”