Brian Coad

The Aluminum Gospel: of the Engineer Wu Nung Lai Brian Coad

Many ordinary people did remarkable things in the mid-twentieth century. Wu Nung Lai was one of them. A child in rural China, he sought to merge with an elusive Marvel that a hermit said was God. Wu becomes a metallurgist, with duties at an Industrial Complex. A piece of equipment explodes. Wu experiences God in the explosion, but is demoted. His college mentor, Professor Hsiang-Nu, finds him Instructor duties at Chienhsi University. Liang, a student, helps. Wu examines aluminum alloys featuring a microstructure Westerners call Chinese Script. He finds readable scripts, calling them Words of God. Hsiang-Nu believes Wu's Words can help modernize China. Wu builds a Shrine to house them. A re-educated Liang leads Red Guards to attack the Shrine.