Jonathan Osterman is born in 1929 to a Jewish-American family of German descent. He plans to follow in his father's footsteps as a watchmaker, but when the U.S. drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, his father declares his profession outdated and forces Jon to work toward a career studying nuclear physics. This turning point foreshadows Doctor Manhattan's "exterior" perception of time as predetermined and all things within it as so determined, including Manhattan's reactions and emotions.