People Archives

Robert Oppenheimer’s Later Life: An Intellectual in Exile

What happened to J. Robert Oppenheimer after he lost his security clearance? Was his public reputation ever restored? In American Prometheus, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin examine J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life before, during, and after the bomb, detailing the politically motivated security hearing that saw him lose his security clearance in 1954. Then, they shift to his exile from the upper ranks of the US government. Read more to learn about Robert Oppenheimer’s later life.

America’s Prometheus: Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project

Why was J. Robert Oppenheimer chosen to lead the Manhattan Project? What was his attitude toward the work and its implications? According to Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, J. Robert Oppenheimer represents a modern-day Prometheus, the Greek Titan eternally punished for stealing fire from the gods and imparting it to humanity. Their book provides a comprehensive biography of the man best known for developing the atomic bomb. Keep reading to learn about Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project.

American Prometheus: Quotes About & From Robert Oppenheimer

What was Oppenheimer’s deepest fear? What sort of person did he admire most? Why is he compared to Prometheus? In American Prometheus, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin provide a comprehensive biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Although the authors focus on Oppenheimer’s work on the bomb, they also shed light on his personal life, detailing his evolution from adolescent activist to eventual political martyr. Continue reading for several American Prometheus quotes that provide insights into Oppenheimer’s story.

10 of the Best Michael Lewis Books to Add to Your Shelf

What are the best Michael Lewis books to read? What does Lewis typically write about in his best-selling books? Known for his investigative nonfiction work on important events in financial history, Michael Lewis is the critically acclaimed author of multiple books. Lewis has even expanded beyond financial work by exploring inspirational figures and how they rose to success. Keep reading for the top 10 Michael Lewis books to get your hands on.

Michael Lewis & Salomon Brothers: A Firsthand Account

How does Michael Lewis know so much about the Salomon Brothers? What did Lewis witness while working at the firm? In Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis, the Salomon Brothers are written about extensively with firsthand knowledge. Fresh out of college in the mid-1980s, Lewis joined the Salomon team, was trained in their philosophy of investing, and then became part of its culture. Get the inside scoop on what it was like working at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s.

Jim Simons and Mathematics: A Passion-Turned-Career

Where did Jim Simons’s love for mathematics come from? How did he turn his childhood passion into a groundbreaking career? For Jim Simons, mathematics is everything. According to The Man Who Solved the Market by Gregory Zuckerman, Simons thought equations and theorems would be the answer to the universe’s biggest mysteries. Keep reading to learn more about Simons’s passion for mathematics.

F. Ross Johnson’s Work as CEO of RJR Nabisco

Who is F. Ross Johnson? Why did Johnson agree to the buyout of RJR Nabisco? F. Ross Johnson was the CEO of RJR Nabisco, a tobacco and food product company, in the 1980s. Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar discusses the background of the RJR Nabisco CEO and why he initiated the leveraged buyout (LBO) of the company. Read on to get the whole picture and understand what made the RJR Nabisco buyout special.

Jim Simons’s Career: From Soviet Codes to Stock Trend Patterns

How did Jim Simons first identify stock trend patterns that changed the market forever? What did Simons do as a codebreaker? Jim Simons is known for his work as a mathematician who identified recognizable and consistent patterns in the financial market. But what some people might not know is that he started out decoding Soviet messages and signals during the Cold War. Discover more about how a codebreaker used his work to identify stock trend patterns.

The History of Jim Simons’s Renaissance Hedge Fund

When was the Renaissance hedge fund launched? How did Jim Simons attract mathematicians and investors to the fund? After careers in codebreaking and academia, Jim Simons turned to a life of finance in 1978. He launched Monometrics in the same year, which was later renamed Renaissance. Learn more about Simons’s journey to the successful Renaissance hedge fund.

How Jim Simons’s Trading Strategy Changed the Market

What is Jim Simons’s trading strategy? Why did his strategy take off in the 1990s and 2000s? Jim Simons’s trading strategy was so unique that it made him one of the best money managers in modern financial history. It focused on buying or selling currencies at the right time based on the model’s predictions of when they were most likely to rise or fall in value. Let’s look at how the Renaissance strategy dominated the Quant Era of Wall Street.