Time in Europe

              In the late 1920's and early 1930's, brilliant men like Albert Einstein and Paul Dirac were taking great strides in the field of theoretical physics.  New fields of study included relativity and quantum theory.  In experimental nuclear physics, the Curies and Joliot-Curies discovered naturally radioactive materials and developed artificial radioactive decay.  Enrico Fermi and Leo Szillard were finding processes which were initiated by and released neutrons; they began taking steps towards a self-sustaining nuclear reaction.

             Oppenheimer transferred to Gottingen, Germany, to work with Dirac, developing Quantum Theory.  In Gottingen many class mates considered Oppenheimer conceited, and too smart for his own good.  While there he collaborated with many distinguished physicists, including Max Born, Werner Heisenberg, and Wolfgang Pauli.  During his time there Oppenheimer wrote his brother, Frank, saying, 

"You would like Gottingen.  I think.... The scientist much better than at Cambridge, and on the whole, probably the best to be found.... I find the work hard, Thank God, and almost pleasant."

            In 1927 Oppenheimer earned his doctorate with distinction from Gottingen.  Oppenheimer continued his work in Quantum Theory.  In 1928 he received a National Research Council fellowship to study at California Institute of Technology.