Command the Morning; by Pearl S. Buck.

What sort of genius, what sort of character does it take to be one of the few that ae chosen for a project of ultimate scientific importance? Based on the story of the manhattan project it portrays the human side - not promising any known characters to make an appearance.

There is one curious distortion, however, from the true details.

When they saw the first blast of the atomic bomb in the desert, Oppenheimer, an extremely well read person of many languages, said what came into hsi mind the first thing was the original verses from Bhagawadgeetaa (in the original Sanskrt, since he was familiar with the language and had read the text in the original and as the anecdote shows comprehended it well) about the appearance of the Divine.

Pearl S. Buck, however, gives no mention of it, and instead has a senior scientist mention he thought of the biblical passage - when the man is asked "Do you command the morning?", and the senior scientist in this story says, if asked today he would answer "yeah, I reckon I do, I command the morning!".

Perhaps it had something to do with being raised a daughter of a missionary involved all his life in preaching and converting in China, thsi curious lapse - though it must be said that Pearl Buck had not only good opinion and respect for China and her culture but also a good understanding of it.

So who knows, perhaps it had something to do with being displeased with India and Indian knowledge, and trying to wipe out any memory or mention of the very well known episode (- of Oppenheimer thinking of a verse from Bhagawadgeetaaa about Divine appearance to the hero, who bows down in reverance -), either because it was beyond her comprehension and this displeased her, or perhaps only because after all a missionary cannot, will not allow it, however true.

After all, it might indicate a superiority of India to admit that the brilliant mind in charge thought of a verse about Divine appearance from Bhagawadgeetaa, and it is far more the spirit of her original country to have someone say to God "Yeah, I do, I command the morning", rather than a brilliant Oppenheimer with all his erudite mind and scientist persona, born and brought up in west, thinking of the hero of an epic from India bowing down in reverence to the Divine.

Or perhaps, it was the new spirit of the west that was more of a progress with the science and aligned with new era of freedom of discoveries and intellectual progress that finally throws away shackles of bonds of institutional dictats of what one could think or believe, that was gently represented in the dialogue after all.

That would cetainly be in tune with the times as they were during last two centuries, after Galileo and especially with the era beginning with Newton.