At the moment of the explosion, from all accounts, he turned to his younger brother Frank and simply said “it worked”.

Advertisement

A few days later, he was interviewed by a New York Times reporter who had been assigned to begin to gather the reporting and to reveal what had been created, once the weapon was used. And in that interview, the reporter asked Oppenheimer, what thoughts went through his mind when he saw the explosion. And it was at that moment that he referred to the Gita, the Hindu scriptures, and quoted the famous line, “I am death, destroyer of worlds”. So he had a very theatrical sense to him too. He knew how to get up on the stage and perform. But when the Trinity test actually exploded, he simply turned to Frank and said “it worked”.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement