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

Joanna McClelland Glass

Washington, DC

Joanna McClelland Glass is a playwright best known for her play, Trying, based on her relationship with Francis Biddle, who was the United States Attorney General under FDR and chief judge at the Nuremberg Trials.

Martin Mandelberg

Washington, DC

Martin Mandelberg is an engineer and mathematician. He is currently writing a biography about his mentor, Richard Hamming.

Clifton Truman Daniel

Clifton Truman Daniel is the son of Margaret Truman Daniel and the grandson of President Harry Truman.

Clay Kemper Perkins

San Diego, CA

Clay Kemper Perkins (1934- ) is an American physicist, philanthropist, and collector of military and historic artifacts.