Oppenheimer Atomic Bomb

“The higher the density, the lower the critical mass” caught my attention today as the movie Oppenheimer opens in theaters today. Most of us living on this earth today were not born during the time he lived and was commissioned to work on the Manhattan Project.

The higher the density…

Density is simply defined for students at study.com. “Density is a word we use to describe how much space an object or substance takes up (its volume) in relation to the amount of matter in that object or substance (its mass). Another way to put it is that density is the amount of mass per unit of volume. If an object is heavy and compact, it has a high density.” In high school I took a class on physics. The math and concepts baffled me, but they energize others, like J. Robert Oppenheimer, the person selected by General Groves as the leader of the project to build the attomic bomb.

During World War II, the Allies had won Europe back from the Nazi suppression. Celebrations of VE Day (Victory in Europe) May 15, 1945, still exist nearly 100 years later, now in 2023. That was 1945.

V-J Day (Victory in Japan) still had not occurred to stop the aggression of the Japanese. Estimates of the losses of Allied troops (people) were in the millions if the US invaded Japan.

Although the race to build an atomic bomb was begun by two friends, one in Germany and the other in the US, the bomb was not used against Germany. Instead it was dropped to stop the war with Japan. That happened in August 1945. Japan did not surrender until August 15, 1945, after hundreds of thousands were killed on August 6th and 9th.

The lower the critical mass

Lower critical mass means that it is concentrated. Before most of us were born, the discovery of radium and radioactive elements by the Curries was evident. Further developments with Einstein, Quantum Mechanics, airplanes, cars, moving pictures, and more technology developed. This is critical mass of inventions, inventors. People with expertise in multiple fields came together to develop techniques to override the physical laws to split the atom.

That’s were all means ALL. Critical mass at the core — heart level choices.

Decisions, decisions

At the core of the project is a single decision. At the core of our being is a critical decision.

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” — Deuteronomy 6:5.

Prior to that command, there is another command:

“Hear, O Israel,” which is called the Shema.

• Hear = as in a forest, a sound
• Pay attention = Listen, did you hear that?
• Obey = Go! Respond by action. Do what you are ordered to do.

Translations of meaning

Given these 3 translations of the Shema, a Venn Diagram shows the overlapping of these three terms. Hear means all 3. Translations into English are all obey.

In other words, hearing what to do is different than listening what to do when you are paying attention, and obeying what to do are all the same word in Hebrew and different words and meanings in English. Translators recognize that every time this reference occurs, the final meaning is to act on what you heard. Hear and heart have the first 4 letters the same. Only the t, the cross in your heart gives you the capacity to follow through. The Christian way of life is supernatural.

The density and critical mass are inversely related. A mustard seed of faith is small, like the atom. That faith in the power of God is the Trinity, the name given to the trial in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Power. God-like power.