On Oppenheimer:
Probably the most important ingredient he brought to his teaching was his exquisite taste. He always knew what were the most important problems, as shown by his choice of subjects. He Truly lived with those problems, struggling for a solution, and he communicated his concern to his group... He was interested in everything, and in one afternoon, they might discuss quantum electrodynamics, cosmic rays, electron pair production, and nuclear physics! — ch 14
In my opinion, Oppenheimer was a man around whom scenius was bound to form...
Also, the idea of mastering the selection and interest in important problems as a precursor to scenius is very intriguing, and shows promise as a tactical avenue to induce scenius.
When you couldn't carry it any farther, you could count on him to understand and to be thinking about the next thing you might want to try. — ch 14
Again, Oppenheimer was an inevitable scenius organizer. He could always unblock his peers, and was always trying to unblock them when they got stuck. This theme of great groups focusing on unblocking each other will come up again.
"I became convinced, as did others, that a major change was called for in the work on the bomb itself. We needed a central laboratory devoted wholly to this purpose, where people could talk freely with each other, where theoretical ideas and experimental findings could affect each other, where the waste and frustration and error of the many compartmentalized experimental studies could be eliminated, where we could begin to come to grips with chemical, metallurgical engineering, and ordnance problems that had so far received no consideration." — Oppenheimer -- ch 14
"A central laboratory devoted wholly to this purpose, where people and ideas could affect each other freely."
It's clear that Oppenheimer had a desire to spark a great collaborative group. After this, he toured the country from coast to coast, recruiting the greatest minds he could find, to unblock all of them, to free their ideas, to eliminate waste and frustration...
On ceremony at Los Alamos:
"if there were any groundbreaking ceremonies at Los Alamos like champagne or cutting ribbons, I was unaware of them" -- John Manley — ch 14
Perhaps ceremony and ritual is not as important to results as some groups make it out to be...
On a sardonic social culture at Los Alamos:
At Los Alamos, Edward Condon picked up a copy of The Tempest from the bookshelf, and read it aloud to the guests: "O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world That has such people in't!" — ch 14