Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens: Frank Oppenheimer and the World He Made Up - Hardcover

As a young man Frank Oppenheimer followed in his famous brother’s footstepsgrowing up in a privileged Manhattan household, becoming a physicist, working on the atomic bomb. Tragically, Frank and Robert both had their careers destroyed by the Red Scare. But their paths diverged. While Robert died an almost ruined man, Frank came into his own, emerging from ten years of exile on a Colorado ranch to create not just a multimillion dollar institution but also a revolution that was felt all over the world. His Exploratorium was a "museum of human awareness" that combined art and science while it encouraged play, experimentation, and a sense of joy and wonder; its success inspired a transformation in museums around the globe. In many ways it was Frank’s answer to the atom bomb. K. C. Colea friend and colleague of Frank’s for many yearshas drawn from letters, documents, and extensive interviews to write a very personal story of the man whose irrepressible spirit would inspire so many.

K.C. Cole is a science writer and a professor at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. She is the author of seven nonfiction books, most recentlyMind Over Matter: Conversations with the Cosmos. She lives in Santa Monica, California.