Oppenheimer’s secret city, explained

How Los Alamos built Oppenheimer’s bomb.

Los Alamos quickly became the centerpiece of the Manhattan Project — the United States’ successful attempt to develop a nuclear bomb. But why was Los Alamos selected, and how did that relate to the selection of the subsequent testing site? The above video tells the story of Oppenheimer’s selection of the site and the unique culture that was built there.

Los Alamos was more than a lab — it was a secret city, built for the express purpose of atomic development. Housing top scientists, their families, and support staff, this island of research led to a century-changing technological development.

Further Reading
This logistical history of the Manhattan project provides great non-scientific background on the Manhattan Project, including the selection, distribution, and construction of key sites around the country, as well as a guide to the bureaucracy that surrounded it.

This Department of Energy history covers similar ground with additional information on the Army Corps of Engineer’s role.

This document provides a fine-grained look at the nitty gritty of Los Alamos, from prices at the commissary to accommodations for the residents.

[binary]

nolan doesn't need to spend money for marketing his movie, the entire internet is doing it for him

[RubenStim]

As a New mexican, the work of Oppenheimer is a familiar tale, the work that was conducted forever changed New Mexico. Los Alamos still stands today and has some of the brightest minds still working on who knows what. New Mexico still has a huge military presence to this day.

[TheCuriousPsych]

I once met a veteran whose dad worked on the Manhattan project. He spoke to me about living in that city as a child. It was a cool conversation.

[Toadfox]

Fun fact: my grandfather (who was a surveyor and later worked for the New Mexico State Highway Department) helped design the street layout for Los Alamos. As it was all top secret and did not officially exist, he of course couldn’t tell anyone about it. My uncle remembers sitting in their backyard on Escalante Street in Santa Fe and seeing odd lights in the skies over Los Alamos. They didn’t know what it was, but at least my grandfather knew it was military and COULDN’T TALK ABOUT IT.

[terramater]

Oppenheimer really was right with his famous quote about atomic bombs. But isn't it even more shocking that people continued to work and test on atomic bombs like the one they dropped on the Amchitka? This had some really devastating effects, and they even filmed it moving the soil. Our crew talked about that and the animals that were home on the island. This is def something worth getting informed about.

[Itsmarkyoung]

Every news source on YouTube has come out with a video on Oppenheimer’s life ahead of the movie, and I’ve actually enjoyed learning the history of his life, the time, and the real-world implications before seeing the film 🙌🏻

[andrewreynolds]

I just saw the movie today it changed my perspective forever on what around uncertain future is. Oppenheimer opposed the use and development of nuclear weapons like the H bomb I cannot imagine how horrible he felt for him creating one of the first and only things that could actually destroy mankind once you watch the movie and think deep about its gonna change your perspective on nuclear weapons forever. At the end of the movie, when he was speaking to Albert Einstein, he said something that would forever hunt me. "I believe we already destroyed the world, " as he said that it showed the uses and destruction of ICBMs that he didn't wanna be see or developed, but it happened. It sent a chill down my spin. I can not express how much that movie changed me. Because once you watch it and think you deeply about everything behind it or what it represents. You'll be hunted or changed, but if you ignore it, you will be without even knowing, and that's the most terrifying part.

[RandomKido]

Looks like everyone is talking about Oppenheimer now!

[theeverythingchannel]

Actually, though Einstein signed the letter, he did not write any of it. The warning came from Leo Szilard with Edward Teller, and Eugene Wigner, Einstein was just brought in to make the letter be taken seriously.

[kristantonugraha]

The ending, .... chilling! Thanks, editor and everyone working on this.

[uploadsnstuff]

That first Trinity snapshot is something else. The sheer size of this plasma ball... 0.016 second. How such a small payload can deploy such massive amount of energy is truly mesmerizing.

[thurlravenscroft]

My Granddaddy worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on the Manhattan Project. He proudly displayed his certificate until the day he died.

[ssotkow]

From the Pulitzer-winning biography American Prometheus, the Los Alamos town (dubbed The Hill) eventually grew to 5, 000 civilians (and family members) who worked on the project, flanked by 2, 000 military police who guarded them.

[buzzingtruth]

I’ve heard that there were natives who lived on that land that were forcibly removed by the government and was expecting the video to mention that!

[snowhunter]

Okay. So we’re talking about Oppenheimer now huh? I gotta tell you how faithful the set of Los Alamos in the movie was to real life. The movie showed meticulously (if not accurately) what was in the work and how did they build it. The most unforgettable part of it was the Trinity field test scene. Like oh my God. I could not forget how it sounded and looked like.

[stischer]

The Los Alamos lab took over the Los Alamos Ranch School, an elite boys boarding school. It already had housing and a basic infrastructure, but importantly VERY isolated.

[JacobCarlson]

Phil, you did an *EXCELLENT* job on this video. The story brought me in and the visuals/animations kept me fully interested. Great work!

[justbusiness]

It would’ve been nice if this story was a little more nuanced and talked about the city that was bulldozed, the people that were uprooted and the diseases they caught because of the the experiments and lack of care for their lives.

[davidbarts]

I lived in Los Alamos in my teen years and went through junior high and high school there. This was long after the residential townsite had ceased to be a closed city*, though the lab’s technical areas were (and are) of course normally closed to all visitors except on very special occasions. (I got to take advantage of some of those occasions.) * And yes, this means that if you are curious about Los Alamos, you can visit there as a tourist, no special permission needed.

[ninongfons]

Just watched Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan and cast built such a mind-blowing film.