J. Robert Oppenheimer '26 will open his series of eight William James Lectures on "The Hope of Order," this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in Sanders Theatre.

Student and alumni groups opposed to the appointment of the physicist plan no public protest or demonstration. Members of the Harvard Athenaeum said they would oppose and try to discourage such action, but will sponsor a debate on the subject next week.

Oppenheimer arrived in Cambridge last night and is staying in Adams House. The first of the lectures, sponsored jointly by the departments of Philosophy and Psychology will be on "A Pluralistic Multiverse."

Col. Archibald B. Roosevelt '17, chairman of the "Veritas Committee," an alumni group which has sent letters to 10,000 graduates expressing objections to Oppenheimers appointment, said last night that he has received several hundred letters, most of them favoring the committee's position.

Comparison of Cultures

In his lecture series, Oppenheimer will analyze the nature of modern civilization in comparison to high cultures of the past, and the relation of new elements of order, relevance, and hormony to modern society.

Director of the Los Alamos, N.M. laboratory that developed the atomic bomb from 1943 to 1945, Oppenheimer now heads the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, N.J. In 1954, the Atomic Energy Commission denied him access to atomic secrets on grounds that he was "not a good security risk."

Staff members of the John Daly television news program yesterday filmed interviews with three undergraduates, William C. Brady, III '59, Cornelius M. Sheehan '58, and William A. Storrer '59, who questioned Oppenheimers qualifications as a lecturer in Philosophy.