The Idolatry of Nuclearism

[Jim__]

14. According to wikipedia, Oppenheimer is not sure why he chose it.

From wikipedia:

The exact origin of the code name "Trinity" for the test is unknown, but it is often attributed to Oppenheimer as a reference to the poetry of John Donne, which in turn references the Christian notion of the Trinity (three-fold nature of God). In 1962, Groves wrote to Oppenheimer about the origin of the name, asking if he had chosen it because it was a name common to rivers and peaks in the West and would not attract attention, and elicited this reply:

I did suggest it, but not on that ground... Why I chose the name is not clear, but I know what thoughts were in my mind. There is a poem of John Donne, written just before his death, which I know and love. From it a quotation:

As West and East
In all flatt Maps—and I am one—are one,
So death doth touch the Resurrection.[a][19]

That still does not make a Trinity, but in another, better known devotional poem Donne opens,

Batter my heart, three person'd God.[20][21]