Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

John Adams

Composer

Expert
John Adams

John Adams is an American composer of contemporary classical music. After graduating from Harvard in 1972, Adams moved to California, where his compositions began to attract attention. Throughout the 1980s and ’90s, Adams and his works grew in popularity and prominence. 

One of his best-known works is Doctor Atomic, which premiered in 2005. Doctor Atomic focuses on the scientists, primarily J. Robert Oppenheimer, at the Los Alamos Laboratory in the weeks leading up to the Trinity Test.

Related Profiles

Dennis Faulk

Hanford, WA

Dennis Faulk began working for the Environmental Protection Agency in 1991. He participated in the early years of Superfund cleanups in the 1990s and served as the project manager of the Hanford EPA before retiring in 2017.

Martyl Langsdorf

Chicago, IL

Martyl Suzanne Langsdorf was born on March 16, 1917. Her mother was a painter and her father was a photographer.

Rachel Bronson

Chicago, IL

Rachel Bronson is an American political scientist. She currently serves as the Executive Director and Publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Martin J. Sherwin

Washington, DC

Martin Jay Sherwin is an author and historian specializing in the development of atomic weapons and nuclear policy.