It might be interesting to note that "Oppie and Johnny" have probably known each other from Gottingen (Germany), where Oppenheimer made his doctorate in 1925-27 and Neumann was on a Rockefeller fellowship on 1925-26. Hermann Goldstine mentioned in his oral history interwiew (https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/107333/oh018hhg.pdf#page=9):
"It was a deep difference between the men. I think it had to do with a lot of antagonisms
that grew up between them when they were students together in Gottingen. I think they were two very bright boys who didn't get along too well"
The absence of John Von Neumann from the Oppenheimer movie does not appear to be related to his friendship with Oppenheimer. After all, Edward Teller, who was not a friend of Oppenheimer I guess since he testified against him during the security clearance hearings, is presented in the film.
Recently, I read a book called "BOMB," which tells the story of how Soviet spies stole the atomic bomb secrets from Los Alamos (the book is very nice after all and I suggest reading it). The book also includes a description of how the bomb was made, mentioning implosion, an idea suggested by Von Neumann. However, despite his contributions, Von Neumann's name is not mentioned in the book.
The explanation for both cases, in the movie and the book, may be due to Von Neumann not being well-known to the wider public at the time. It's worth noting that he passed away around the same period when he was starting to gain fame. His article "Can We Survive Technology?", was the only one published in a popular magazine (he published many articles in scientific magazines and of course he was well recognized by scientists around the world he wrote also remarkable books ) . Probably If he had lived longer, he might have become more widely recognized.
“I doubt that there will be much —if any— von Neumann in ‘Oppenheimer’. Though von Neumann’s star has unjustly dimmed since the 1950s, he was a legendary figure among the denizens of Los Alamos, famously competing, for example, with Enrico Fermi at the blackboard to solve difficult physics problems—and winning every time. Von Neumann, if portrayed properly, would overshadow everyone else as I think Benjamin Labatut’s forthcoming novel, ‘The Maniac’, will amply demonstrate. He deserves his own movie, the time is ripe and I hope Nolan’s listening.”
It might be interesting to note that "Oppie and Johnny" have probably known each other from Gottingen (Germany), where Oppenheimer made his doctorate in 1925-27 and Neumann was on a Rockefeller fellowship on 1925-26. Hermann Goldstine mentioned in his oral history interwiew (https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/107333/oh018hhg.pdf#page=9):
"It was a deep difference between the men. I think it had to do with a lot of antagonisms
that grew up between them when they were students together in Gottingen. I think they were two very bright boys who didn't get along too well"
You are right of course! And I think I even mentioned that in ‘The Man from the Future’!
The absence of John Von Neumann from the Oppenheimer movie does not appear to be related to his friendship with Oppenheimer. After all, Edward Teller, who was not a friend of Oppenheimer I guess since he testified against him during the security clearance hearings, is presented in the film.
Recently, I read a book called "BOMB," which tells the story of how Soviet spies stole the atomic bomb secrets from Los Alamos (the book is very nice after all and I suggest reading it). The book also includes a description of how the bomb was made, mentioning implosion, an idea suggested by Von Neumann. However, despite his contributions, Von Neumann's name is not mentioned in the book.
The explanation for both cases, in the movie and the book, may be due to Von Neumann not being well-known to the wider public at the time. It's worth noting that he passed away around the same period when he was starting to gain fame. His article "Can We Survive Technology?", was the only one published in a popular magazine (he published many articles in scientific magazines and of course he was well recognized by scientists around the world he wrote also remarkable books ) . Probably If he had lived longer, he might have become more widely recognized.
Yes I said as much in the previous post here:
https://ananyo.substack.com/p/the-coming-of-enki-viii
“I doubt that there will be much —if any— von Neumann in ‘Oppenheimer’. Though von Neumann’s star has unjustly dimmed since the 1950s, he was a legendary figure among the denizens of Los Alamos, famously competing, for example, with Enrico Fermi at the blackboard to solve difficult physics problems—and winning every time. Von Neumann, if portrayed properly, would overshadow everyone else as I think Benjamin Labatut’s forthcoming novel, ‘The Maniac’, will amply demonstrate. He deserves his own movie, the time is ripe and I hope Nolan’s listening.”