The darkened sky stretches over miles of desert sand as in the distance, from an illuminated scaffold, the object rises that will change the world. The first atomic test is the defining scene in “Oppenheimer,” which won seven Academy Awards on Sunday night, including best picture. Watching the film on opening weekend, I found the scene excruciating, even though history had long since recorded the outcome. “Oppenheimer” is a movie about a singular genius, an extraordinary collaboration and a turning point in history. An innovation designed to make the world safer in the long term made it manifestly more dangerous.

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Persons: “ Oppenheimer, ”, Edward Teller, it’s, Robert Oppenheimer’s Organizations: Los Alamos