The Spies in Oppenheimer's World: The Rosenbergs and More

In the midst of World War II, the United States raced to construct a nuclear bomb under the direction of Robert Oppenheimer. After the bomb's use against Japan, and to Oppenheimer's great regret, others wanted to replicate America's success. In 1949 the Soviet Union succeeded. How did they so precisely replicate the Oppenheimer bomb? Two years later Julius and Ethel Rosenberg would be accused, convicted, and executed for passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. The network of spies that actually stole the bomb and passed its secrets on to the communists was never identified and evaded capture. This course examines the history of the Manhattan Project under Oppenheimer and the spies who managed to steal his creation.