Because of the biographical nature of the movie, it is no surprise that Oppenheimer has a vast cast of real people that made an impact on Oppenheimer’s life, including his brother, Frank Oppenheimer. 2023’s Oppenheimer depicts the life J. Robert Oppenheimer with a major focus on his years at Los Alamos creating the atomic bomb that destroyed Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945 during World War II. Over the years, Oppenheimer had many colleagues and friends to confide in about the Manhattan Project, but also about the personal issues happening in his life. Frank, Oppenheimer’s little brother, brought the physicist support and friendship, but also some trouble.
A significant part of Frank Oppenheimer’s inclusion in Oppenheimer’s cast is his communist connections. During the 1930s, Frank Oppenheimer and his wife Jackie joined the American Communist Party. Although J. Robert Oppenheimer didn’t quite approve of his brother’s affiliations, he remained close with his sibling, and as seen in the movie, did not necessarily exclude himself from the company of other Communist party members like Jean Tatlock. While Oppenheimer was working at Los Alamos during the war, Frank worked on uranium isotope separation, and later, he worked at Los Alamos himself. At the end of Oppenheimer, he faced the same political scrutiny his older brother did, and became blacklisted.
Frank Oppenheimer Returned To Teaching After Communist Concerns Faded
Although Frank Oppenheimer faced considerable backlash post-war for his Communist ties, his career as a scientist was far from over. After leaving his job as a professor at the University of Minnesota in 1947, Frank and his wife bought a ranch in Colorado and the two spent almost ten years as cattle ranchers. Then, in 1957, Oppenheimer found that the Red Scare had more or less faded away, and was able to return to teaching physics. At first, he worked at his local high school, and quickly found success with his students, who won first prize at the Colorado State Science Fair.
Two years later, Frank Oppenheimer returned to higher education after being offered a position as a physics professor at the University of Colorado. While he did get back into particle research, which had been his area of interest before and during World War II, he took a new interest in science education. Oppenheimer developed new methods of teaching science, including a “Library of Experiments,” which included a variation of classic science experiments that would aid in teaching science to elementary schoolers all the way up to high schoolers. This new development led to one of Oppenheimer’s greatest achievements.
Frank Oppenheimer Created The Exploratorium In 1969
After dedicating much of his time to developing new ways to teach science, Oppenheimer became inspired when he visited Europe and saw their science museums in 1965. In the intervening years, Oppenheimer worked on recreating these interactive and accessible museums, and as a result, created The Exploratorium in 1969. Located in San Francisco, The Exploratorium is a museum dedicated to art, science, and human perception. With the project, Oppenheimer’s ultimate goal was to make science more accessible to the public. Additionally, The Exploratorium made learning science more fun and interactive.
Oppenheimer’s Exploratorium was particularly special at the time of its opening for many reasons. First and foremost, it blended both science and art. Oppenheimer believed that the two subjects went hand in hand, so in turn, made the Exploratorium include as much art as there was science. There were also experiences of human perception, wherein viewers were able to experience the museum on their own terms, taking in the exhibits in whatever order made the most sense to them. Ultimately, Oppenheimer wanted to inspire the public to learn more about science. For the first 12 years of the Exploratorium, admissions was free.
Frank Oppenheimer Died In 1985 After Battling Cancer
The remainder of Frank Oppenheimer’s life was dedicated to The Exploratorium. He acted as its director from the time it opened in 1969 to his death in 1985. In that time, Oppenheimer was not just a leader of the museum, but was involved in all aspects of it. He continually made changes to the museum in order to make it better and better. In this way, The Exploratorium was one of his greatest achievements, which still exists today despite his death.
Frank Oppenheimer was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1977, which was treated successfully for two years via chemotherapy. After his first wife died in 1980, Oppenheimer remarried in 1982 to a woman named Mildred “Millie” Danielson. Only a year later, it was discovered that Oppenheimer was suffering from lung cancer, likely due to his heavy smoking habit. He underwent a lobectomy, but unfortunately, two years later, Oppenheimer passed away. Notably, he survived his older brother by almost 20 years.
