《奥本海默传》勘误：前言/PREFACE
“甚至他的自信心”：原文“even his sense of self-worth”，即“他对自我价值的感知”
“发生在我身上的事情太不可思议了”：原文“I can’t believe what is happening to me”，即“我无法相信在我身上发生了这样的事”
“既包括可笑的指控，也包括政治性的罪状。例如‘有人报称，你被列在1940年“中国人的朋友”资助者名单上’；‘1949年秋及以后，你曾坚决反对研发氢弹’；等等”：原文：“ranging from the ridiculous — ‘it was reported that in 1940 you were listed as a sponsor of the Friends of the Chinese People’ — to the political — ‘the autumn of 1949, and subsequently, you strongly opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb.’”，即“有荒唐可笑的（罪状），例如‘有人报称……’，还有政治上的指控，例如‘1949年秋及以后……’”
“某种霉运”：原文“something dark and ominous”，即“某些惨淡不祥之事”
“他读过美国小说家亨利·詹姆斯的短篇小说《丛林中的野兽》”：原文无“美国小说家”，詹姆斯生于美国，后长居英国，去世前已获得英国国籍；《丛林中的野兽》，赵萝蕤译作《丛林猛兽》
“奥本海默对小说中一直折磨着主人公的忧心忡忡的情绪深感震惊”：原文“Oppenheimer was utterly transfixed by this tale of obsession and tormented egotism…”，即“这个关于执念和备受折磨的自我的故事精准无误地击中了奥本海默”
“那个‘丛林中的野兽’正在等着他”：原文“…that ‘a beast in the jungle’ was stalking him”，即“那个‘丛林中的野兽’正在悄悄的向他靠近”
“‘你认为，我请求（原子能）委员会终止我的顾问合同，也许会是个皆大欢喜之举，因为那样就会蒙混过关……’”：原文：“‘You put to me as a possibly desirable alternative that I request termination of my contract as a consultant to the [Atomic Energy] Commission, and thereby avoid an explicit consideration of the charges. …’” ，即“你向我提出了一个或许明智的选择，让我请求（原子能）委员会终止我的顾问合同，这样就可以避免他们认真考虑这些指控”
“这样做就等于说我同意了自己不适合为政府服务的看法，而我到现在已经干了差不多十二年。我不能这样做。”：原文“this course of action would mean that I accept and concur in the view that I am not fit to serve this government, that I have now served for some twelve years. This I cannot do.”，即“这样做就意味着我接受且认同一种观点，认为我不适合服务于这个我已经任职了大约十二年的政府。这种事我不会做。”
“他喝了几杯饮料”：原文“after several drinks”，即“他喝了几杯酒”
“赫伯特的妻子安妮和罗伯特的妻子基蒂”：原文“Anne, Herbert and Robert’s wife, Kitty”，即“安妮、赫伯特、和罗伯特的妻子基蒂”
“那场将要结束公共服务生涯的考验开始了”：原文“the ordeal that would end his career of public service”，即“那场即将结束他的公共事务生涯的苦难开始了”
“使他得以参与许多领域里的重大斗争并取得伟大胜利，这些领域包括20世纪的科学、社会正义、战争和冷战”：原文：“led him to participation in the great struggles and triumphs, in science, social justice, war, and Cold War, of the twentieth century”，即“使他得以参与二十世纪的那些伟大的求索历程并取得胜利，包括在科学上、社会正义上、战争中和冷战期间”
“他的向导是他超凡的智慧、他的父母、他的伦理学校的老师们和他青年时期的经历”：原文“His journey was guided by his extraordinary intelligence, his parent, his teachers at the Ethical Culture School, and his youthful experiences”，即“为他开启这些历程的是他超凡的智慧、他的父母、他在伦理文化学校的老师们、以及他年轻时的诸多体验”
“在专业上，他的发展始于20世纪20年代的德国，在那里他学习了量子物理学，当时他就喜爱上了这一新兴学科，并成为其信徒”：原文“Professionally, his development began in the 1920s in Germany where he learned quantum physics, a new science that he loved and proselytized”，即“他的职业发展从二十世纪二十年代他在德国学习量子物理的时候开始，他热爱并且热情地宣扬这门新兴的科学”
“当他正在建设美国最大的量子物理研究中心时”：原文“while building the most prominent center for its study in the United States”，即“当他正在建设美国最显赫的量子物理研究中心时”
“许多人是志同道合者和共产党人”：原文“many of them fellow travelers and communists”，即“他们中的许多人是共产主义者或者支持他们的信仰的人”
“那些年是他一生中最为开心的日子”：原文“Those years were some of the finest of his life”，即“那是他一生中最好的时光”
“这些时光被用来堵住他的嘴”：原文“That they were so easily used to silence his voice…”，即“这些时光被如此轻易地用来压制他的发声”
“要让我们所呼吁的民主站稳脚跟是多么不易，民主这个字眼多么需要精心的呵护”：原文“… how delicately balanced are the democratic principles we profess, and how carefully they must be guarded”，即“我们所倡导的民主原则经过了多么精细地权衡，又必须被多么谨慎地守护”
“他声色俱厉地批评核战争的建议”：原文“he had spoken… near despair, critically about the proposals for nuclear warfare…”，即“他近乎绝望地批评核战争的提议”
“奥本海默就使用核武器的实质性问题不断提出的质疑”：原文“Oppenheimer’s persistent desire to raise such tough questions about nuclear weapons…”，即“奥本海默一直试图对核武器提出这种尖锐的质疑”
“奥本海默的批评者们于1954年揭露了他性格中的许多弱点”：原文“Oppenheimer’s critics in 1954 exposed many aspects of his character”，即“奥本海默的批评者们于1954年揭露了他性格中的多个方面”
“既以苦为乐又心存困惑”：原文“his stoicism and bewilderment”，即“坚忍、清醒又充满困惑”
“本书力图挖掘隐藏在盔甲背后的神秘性格，这种性格从20世纪初罗伯特在纽约上吸取的童年开始，一直伴随他到1967年去世”：原文“American Prometheus explores the enigmatic personality behind that armor as it follows Robert from his childhood on New York’s Upper West Side at the turn of the twentieth century to his death in 1967”，即“本书力图挖掘这层铠甲背后的谜一般的人格，从罗伯特二十年代初在纽约上西区的童年时期开始，一直追溯到他在1967年去世”
“人一生中的个人经历决定了他的公共行为和他的决策（在奥本海默的案例中，甚至包括科学决策）”：原文“… a person’s public behavior and his policy decisions (and in Oppenheimer’s case perhaps even his science) are guided by the private experiences of a lifetime”，即“人一生中的个人经历指引着他的公开行动和他的政策决断（在奥本海默的案例中，甚至可能也指引了他的科学研究）”
“书面记录也只能道出一个人一生的部分真相”：原文“because even the written record tells only part of the truth of a man’s life”，即“由于即使是这些书面记录也只能道出一个人一生的部分真相”
“但是这些人讲述的不同故事却绘成了一幅相差不大的肖像”：原文“But the stories they told leave behind a nuanced portrait… ”，即“但是它们讲述的故事却绘成了一幅精细入微的肖像”
“最令人印象深刻的努力是他的一项控制原子能的国际计划”：原文“His most impressive effort was a plan for the international control of atomic energy”，即“他最令人难忘的一次努力是一份国际共同管制原子能的计划”
“但实际上主要是奥本海默构思和撰写的”：原文“but was in fact conceived and largely written by Oppenheimer”，即“但是实际上是奥本海默的构想，他也撰写了大部分”
“原子弹这种武器六亲不认”：原文“… it was a weapon of indiscriminate terror”，即“它是一种带来无差别恐惧的武器”
“正如原子能委员会听证会里的反对者沃德·埃文斯所言”：原文“As Ward Evans, the dissenting member of the Atomic Energy Commission’s hearing board, wrote”，即“原子能委员会听证会上的审理委员会中的持异议者沃德·埃文斯写道”
“拒绝为奥本海默恢复名誉是‘国家之盾上的污点’”：原文“denying Oppenheimer his security clearance was ‘a black mark on the escutcheon of our country’”，即'拒绝奥本海默的安全许可是‘国家之盾上的污点’”
