An American Faust
听If You Go
Date:听July 16, 2008
Time:听7:00 PM
Where:听Ricketson Auditorium, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Patty Limerick Interviews J. Robert Oppenheimer
Patty Limerick, Ph.D., award-winning historian and Chair of the Board at the Center of the American West, University of Colorado, interviewed J. Robert Oppenheimer as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson, award-winning humanities scholar and author.
The first atomic device was detonated more than 60 years ago, but the aftershocks can still be felt today. During this special evening, 鈥淛. Robert Oppenheimer鈥 recalled those days during a thoughtful, engaging dialogue with Limerick. Oppenheimer鈥檚 reactions to the atomic test captured the complexity of an individual man and the challenging relationship between science, discovery, and ethics. As a scientist, he was satisfied with the experiment鈥檚 successful result. But his reaction was also deeper, more interesting, and morally informed as the Hindu words 鈥淚 am become death, the shatterer of worlds鈥 burst into his consciousness. Together, Oppenheimer and Limerick explored the ethics and science, indeed the price of progress.
Co-sponsored by Colorado Humanities.