TELLER, EDWARD

Edward Teller (1908–2003) was born in Budapest, Hungary on January 15, emigrated to the United States in 1939, and became known publicly as the "father of the hydrogen bomb." From the late 1940s until his death, he defended the U.S. development of nuclear weapons and the ethics of nuclear deterrence; as a public policy adviser he argued for the peaceful use of nuclear power and advocated national missile defense. He died in Palo Alto, California (September 9).

Education and Hydrogen Bomb Development

Teller worked with many of the early physics greats in Europe between the two world wars, distinguishing himself first in atomic and molecular physics (the Inglis-Teller and the Jahn-Teller effects), and then in nuclear physics. After serving at several universities, he eventually established permanent residence at the Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratory, of which he was one of the principal founders. (Livermore was originally dedicated to military research and development, although its work is now more general.) Teller also served as a senior researcher at Los Alamos during World War II, although his efforts were directed more toward development of fusion (hydrogen) bombs rather than fission (uranium and plutonium) devices, which were the highest priority.

In the early postwar years Teller became a principal advocate for the development of the hydrogen bomb by the United States, on the basis of strong belief in the deterrence concept, and distinctly conservative political views, which made him unpopular among many physicists. A centerpiece of his political ideology lay with his extremely strong antipathy to Communism. It was his fear that the Soviet Union would develop fusion weapons first and then use them to blackmail North American and Western European countries, especially the United States, that drove him into advocating their development. Along with Stanislaw Ulam (1909–1984), he is credited with coming up with the scheme that led to successful development of the H-bomb.

Teller's advocacy of the H-bomb placed him in direct disagreement, even confrontation, with many of the leading weapons scientists, most notably J. Robert Oppenheimer, who had been the scientific director at Los Alamos. The confrontation reached its climax during security hearings for Oppenheimer in Washington, DC, in 1954. Whereas most of Oppenheimer's contemporaries acted as friendly and supporting witnesses, Teller was a notable exception. He did not state categorically that he was in favor of denying Oppenheimer clearance, but he did say that he would be uncomfortable having Oppenheimer privy to important weaponry secrets. Partly as a result of Teller's testimony Oppenheimer was denied clearance. This act led to what amounted to a permanent ostracization of Teller by the mainstream U.S. physics community, although he remained friendly with a number of important, loyal friends, including Hungarian colleagues.

Later Work and Assessment

Teller was an innovative, energetic, talented individual, well liked on a personal level by most who knew him. He was the source of innumerable ideas concerning both military and peaceful uses of atomic energy, though many of these turned out to be impractical. He was a strong advocate of the deterrence concept and a principal spokesperson for the concept of strategic missile defense, although his advocacy was diluted by his unwarranted claims concerning its effectiveness. He was a leader in "Project Plowshare" during the late 1950s and 1960s, whose goal was to utilize nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes. For example, he proposed creating artificial harbors and canals by this means, which he termed "geological engineering." None of these schemes was realized, and the idea eventually died.

Despite the contrary opinions of many distinguished scientists, including Albert Einstein as well as Oppenheimer, there appears to be little if any doubt that the Soviet Union would certainly have proceeded to build its own hydrogen weapons. Without U.S. equivalency, the twenty-first century world would likely be very different. In hindsight Teller's strong advocacy seems to have been warranted.

BENJAMIN BEDERSON

SEE ALSO Atomic Bomb;Missile Defense Systems;Nuclear Ethics.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blumberg, Stanley A., and Gwinn Owens. (1976). Energy and Conflict: The Life and Times of Edward Teller. New York: G. P. Putman's Sons.

Rhodes, Richard. (1995). Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. New York: Touchstone. Good general history.

Sanders, Ralph. (1962). Project Plowshare: The Development of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Explosions. Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press.

Teller, Edward. (1947). "The Two Responsibilities of Scientists," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 1(December).

Teller, Edward. (1987). Better a Shield than a Sword. New York: Free Press. An argument for nuclear missile defense.

Teller, Edward. (2001). Memoirs: A Twentieth Century Journey in Science and Politics. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing. For a very different take on Dr. Teller see the review of this book by Richard Rhodes in the New York Times, November 25, 2001.