Outliers: The Story of Success · chapter 4 · id outliers-c4-02-robert-oppenheimer-tried-to-po
“Robert Oppenheimer tried to poison his tutor at Cambridge with chemicals, yet talked his way out of expulsion, demonstrating practical intelligence -- while Chris Langen, despite superior IQ, could not navigate bureaucratic obstacles at university.”
TRUE, BUTconfidence: medium⚠ extracted by pipeline, re-audit pending
Receipts
Bird & Sherwin (2005), American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, KnopfFLAGGED: DOI not in registry
The poisoning incident at Cambridge is documented in Oppenheimer biographies. Oppenheimer left a poisoned apple on Patrick Blackett's desk. Cambridge put him on probation rather than expelling him, partly due to his family's connections and his own persuasive abilities.
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