In a 1965 documentary, The Decision to Drop the Bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who had been the scientific director of the American effort to build an atomic bomb during World War II, described his emotions on witnessing the first nuclear detonation. He said, "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multiarmed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that one way or another."

It is mesmerizing television. (You can watch the clip on atomicarchive.com.) Oppenheimer--pale, penitent, emaciated, and already elderly at 61--cannot face the camera. He looks down as he speaks. His manner is not tentative--he knows precisely which words he wishes to employ--but painfully subdued. He blinks, he looks away, and at one point he actually seems to wipe away a tear.