The enigmatic Frank Oppenheimer

NPR : When you hear the name Oppenheimer, you probably think of Robert, the father of the atomic bomb. But there was also another physicist in the Oppenheimer family: Robert’s younger brother, Frank .The younger, perhaps less-known Oppenheimer is the subject of a new book by science writer K.C. Cole . In its pages, the enigmatic Frank Oppenheimer comes to life: the physicist and tinkerer, the chain smoker who kept a little bottle of whiskey in his desk, the pacifist who also worked on the atom bomb, the genial, smiling man with a sometimes unpredictable temper. But above all, you may know him best for his most lasting gift to society: the Exploratorium in San Francisco , the wonderful hands-on science center that he founded. Ira Flatow talks to Cole about Frank Oppenheimer on NPR . Related Link Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens: Frank Oppenheimer and the World He Made Up