As the world is swept by "Oppenheimer" movie by hailed director Christopher Nolan, a letter written in 1962 by renowned physicist Robert Oppenheimer to the esteemed Turkish physicist and mathematician Feza Gürsey has recently come to light.
Gürsey, who is considered one of the significant mathematicians and theoretical physicists of the 20th century, served as a faculty member in the Physics Department at Yale University from 1971 to 1991. Due to his important contributions to the field of elementary particle physics, he was awarded the Oppenheimer Prize on Jan. 19, 1977, together with Sheldon Glashow.
"Dear Feza, from T.D. I learn that you might welcome a year here next year. I hope that is so, and when I have word from you, I shall consult my colleagues, and we will put our favorable thoughts on paper. It would seem to me just right that you come back again very soon. With warm good wishes to you both," the letter, written in Oppenheimer's elegant prose read.
Robert Oppenheimer, an American physicist and university professor, who is known as the "father of the nuclear bomb," led the scientific team and pioneered the development of nuclear weapons at Los Alamos. Under his leadership, the Manhattan Project successfully conducted the world's first nuclear explosion on July 16, 1945, in the Trinity test in New Mexico.
