Blight Of Science

Dixya Poudel

The movie Oppenheimer is currently running in theatres worldwide. Although pitted against the lavish Barbie, it is doing quite a fanfare at the box office, while also garnering critical acclaim. At the review website Metacritic, Oppenheimer is lauded as a ‘must-see’. As such, it certainly lives up to the hype. The movie is based on the life and times of J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist, who is also known as the father of atomic bomb. 

He oversaw the production of two atomic bombs which were then blasted into the Japanese cities, Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Later he repented the part he played in the creation of a weapon of mass destruction. 

He felt like he had blood on his hands, which he confessed to the then US President, Harry Truman. With a troubled conscience, Oppenheimer rallied for nuclear disarmament following the Second World War. The chronicle of his involvement as the father of the atomic bomb and its horrifying psychological toll are the subject of the movie Oppenheimer. 

Science is certainly wonderful as it explains and provides answers to the natural phenomena of the world. It also facilitates modern civilisation. Look around you. You will be amazed if you could see the world with a scientific lens. Nearly every aspect of the human world has been advanced by science. 

The car we drive, the house we live in, the plane we fly in, and even the mechanics of the utilities in our houses are designed and crafted from the basics of science. Modern amenities today are unimaginable without science.

Through it, man has set foot on the moon and launched numerous rockets in the space. It can thus be said that science is at the forefront of the human world. Yet, its hazards, perils and threats too are quite palpable. Each time a nuclear missile is test fired, each time a gun is triggered and each time war is raged, science projects an immeasurable hazard of demolition and devastation. However, it could be argued that science isn’t to be blamed as it is man who is behind all the machinations. 

Science in itself is knowledge; it is only when it is welded with human greed and politics that it takes a perilous turn as it becomes a weapon of immense destruction. 

After the successful test of the first atomic bomb, Oppenheimer is known to have said, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” This is a verse that he quoted from Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture. It shows that Oppenheimer was well-aware of the destruction that was about to be unleashed. 

And his conscience made sure that he never forgot this even as he became one of the most famous men of his times. His legacy is certainly intricate. However, his genius and brilliance was used to topple Japan in the name of war and establish United States as a formidable opponent. 

One pivotal scene in the movie highlights Albert Einstein who indirectly played a part in the creation of atomic bomb and who like Oppenheimer was devastated by the result. Science might be a subject of awe, but it can also be a subject of horror. What lessons were learnt have to be put to use so that science ensures humanitarian welfare.