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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Dr. Edward Teller
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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Dr. Edward Teller
Edward Teller left his native Hungary to escape the rise of Nazi Germany. After arriving in America, he established himself as a premier physicist. His work on national defense projects such as the Manhattan Project and the Strategic Defense Initiative helped protect our Nation and bring about the end of the Cold War.
"I believe in excellence. It is a basic need of every human soul. All of us can be excellent, because fortunately, we are exceedingly diverse in our ambitions and talents."
Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Edward Teller,
Father of the Hydrogen Bomb, Passes Away at age 95 on September 9, 2003
'Father of H-bomb' dies SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Edward Teller, who played a key role in U.S. defense and energy policies for more than half a century and was dubbed the "father of the H-bomb" for his enthusiastic pursuit of the powerful weapon, died Tuesday. He was 95.
Edward Teller was a guest on NBC's Meet the Press on March 4, 1958.
Teller had recently suffered a stroke and died at his home on the Stanford University campus, said Susan Houghton, a spokeswoman for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which Teller co-founded.
Teller exerted a profound influence on America's defense and energy policies, championing the development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, nuclear power and the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Among honors he received were the Albert Einstein Award, the Enrico Fermi Award and the National Medal of Science and, in July, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Yet Teller also will be remembered for his role in destroying the career of his one-time boss, Robert Oppenheimer . which alienated Teller from many of his colleagues . and for pushing the H-bomb and the Strategic Defense Initiative on grounds that, in the opinion of critics, were sketchy or dubious.
Teller's staunch support for defense stemmed in part from two events that shaped his dark, distrustful view of world affairs . the 1919 communist revolution in his native Hungary and the rise of Nazism while he lived in Germany in the early 1930s.
Even the end of the Cold War did not change Teller's view that the United States needed a strong defense.
"The danger for ballistic missiles in the hands of 18 different nations has increased, and will increase, unless we have a defense," he said. "If we want to have stable, peaceful conditions, defense against sudden attack by rockets is more needed than ever."
Witty and personable, with a passion for playing the piano, Teller nevertheless was a persuasive Cold Warrior who influenced presidents of both parties.
In 1939, he was one of three scientists who encouraged Einstein to alert President Franklin Roosevelt that the power of nuclear fission . the splitting of an atom's nucleus . could be tapped to create a devastating new weapon.
Two years later, even before the first atom bomb was completed, fellow scientist Enrico Fermi suggested that nuclear fusion . fusing rather than splitting nuclei . might be used for an even more destructive explosive, the hydrogen bomb.
Teller's enthusiasm and pursuit of such a bomb . he called it the "Super" . won him the title "father of the H-bomb," a characterization he said he hated. The first megaton H-bomb was exploded in 1952.
The H-bomb was never used in war, but atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945, quickly leading to Japan's surrender. They followed by less than one month the first major atomic explosion on July 16, 1945, at Trinity Site in New Mexico.
In 1995, Teller looked back a half-century and wondered if the United States could have showed Japan the tremendous power of the bombs without destroying the cities. Some scientists had suggested at the time that a bomb be exploded in the sky miles over Tokyo harbor in hopes of scaring Japan into surrendering with a minimum of casualties.
"I think we shared the opportunity and the duty, which we did not pursue, to find ... a possibility to demonstrate" the bomb, Teller said at a 50th-anniversary forum. "Now in retrospect I have a regret."
Still, he defended the existence of atomic weapons, saying, "The second half of the century has been incomparably more peaceful than the first, simply by putting power into the hands of those people who wanted peace."
Teller continued to lecture and conduct research into his 90s, although ill health had slowed him some by then.
Edward Teller was born Jan. 15, 1908, in Budapest. He received his university education in Germany, earning a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Leipzig.
In 1935, Teller and his wife, Mici, came to the United States, where Teller was a professor at George Washington University until 1941, the same year the Tellers became U.S. citizens.
Teller joined the Manhattan Project in 1942 at Los Alamos (N.M.) Scientific Laboratory to work on developing the first atomic bomb. He also promoted the hydrogen fusion bomb, a concept that attracted interest but remained secondary to the work on the atomic weapon.
After the success of the Manhattan Project, Teller left in 1946 to become a physics professor at the University of Chicago.
When the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb in 1949, Teller persuaded the Truman administration to push ahead on H-bomb research. He returned to Los Alamos and worked on the bomb through the first megaton-scale explosion at Eniwetok in the Pacific in 1952.
At the same time, Teller pushed for the creation of a second national science lab . Lawrence Livermore. He became a consultant there in 1952, associate director in 1954 and director from 1958-60. He continued as a consultant at the lab after retiring in 1975.
In a 1990 interview with The Associated Press, Teller said that development of the Livermore lab, near San Francisco, was one of his most important accomplishments.
"A single laboratory is not capable of criticizing itself," he said. "By competition, the quality of work is greatly increased."
While Teller was beginning his work at Livermore, he began attacking Oppenheimer, who had directed the Manhattan Project. Teller claimed he had slowed development of the H-bomb, allowing the Soviet Union to catch up.
In two secret interviews with the FBI in 1952 . made public under the Freedom of Information Act in 1977 . Teller made statements casting doubt on Oppenheimer's actions.
The allegations became the basis for the most serious charges brought against Oppenheimer in 1954 when his security clearance was lifted.
In his memoirs, published in 2001, Teller remained critical of Oppenheimer, but said the hearing was a mistake and he was stupid to testify. Teller also said he was motivated not by Oppenheimer's opposition to the hydrogen bomb, but by the way Oppenheimer had treated a third man.
Yet Teller himself may have unwittingly spurred the Soviet H-bomb project. Teller ignored doubts by physicists about his H-bomb design at a conference in 1946 and went ahead with an optimistic assessment of the project.
The result was an eventual go-ahead from Truman, and a leak to the Soviets about the superbomb from conference participant Klaus Fuchs.
Fuchs' information, based on Teller's flawed early design, may actually have misled the Soviets and hampered their H-bomb program. But the United States' decision to forge ahead with its own project had the effect of laying down a challenge to the Soviets.
In the end, Teller was right about the feasibility of the H-bomb, but he repeated the same pattern of seeming to oversell technology in 1983 when he persuaded President Reagan that space-based laser weapons could provide a secure anti-missile defense.
Reagan bought the idea and proposed the multibillion-dollar Strategic Defense Initiative, dubbed "Star Wars."
Computer experts raised doubts early on about the reliability of the complex software required for a Star Wars system. But even as the evidence mounted that Star Wars would cost billions more than originally expected and would take years longer to develop, Teller continued to support it.
In an interview in 2001, Teller showed his old fighting spirit, delivering the two-word endorsement . "High time!" . to President George W. Bush's decision to pull out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty with Russia to work on a missile defense shield.
"So many times I have been asked whether I regret having worked on the atomic and hydrogen bombs," he wrote in his autobiography, "Memoirs: A Twentieth-Century Journey in Science and Politics." "My answer is no. I deeply regret the deaths and injuries that resulted from the atomic bombings, but my best explanation of why I do not regret working on weapons is a question: What if we hadn't?"
Teller's wife of 66 years, Mici, died in 2000. He is survived by his son, Paul Teller, his daughter, Wendy Teller, four grandchildren and a great grandchild.
Edward Teller is a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he specializes in international and national policies concerning defense and energy.
Teller is most widely known for his significant contributions to the first demonstration of thermonuclear energy; in addition he has added to the knowledge of quantum theory, molecular physics, and astrophysics. He served as a member of the General Advisory Committee of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission from 1956 to 1958 and was chairman of the first Nuclear Reaction Safeguard Committee.
He has been concerned with civil defense since the early 1950s. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the U.S. Air Force, a member of the Advisory Board of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and on the White House Science Council.
Teller has received numerous honors, among them the Albert Einstein Award, the Enrico Fermi Award, the Harvey Prize from the Technion-Israel Institute, and the National Medal of Science.
He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Nuclear Society and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Science.
His books include Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics (Plenum Press, 1991), Better a Shield Than a Sword (Free Press, 1987), Pursuit of Simplicity (Pepperdine Press, 1980), and Energy from Heaven and Earth (W. H. Freeman, 1979).
He was director of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory from 1958 to 1960, at which time he accepted a joint appointment as a professor of physics at the University of California and as associate director of the laboratory. He held these posts until his retirement in 1975. He continues as a consultant at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
From 1954 to 1958, he served as Associate Director at the new Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. He became a consultant to the laboratory in 1952.
In 1946, he became a professor of physics at the University of Chicago but returned to Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in 1949.
In 1942, having served as a consultant to the Briggs committee, Teller joined the Manhattan Project. His efforts during the war years included work on the first nuclear reactor, theoretical calculations of the far-reaching effects of a fission explosion, and research on a potential fusion reaction.
In 1935, Teller and his wife came to the United States, where he held, until 1941, a professorship at George Washington University. The Tellers became U.S. citizens in 1941.
In 1934, under the auspices of the Jewish Rescue Committee, Teller served as a lecturer at the University of London. He spent two years as a research associate at the University of Goettingen, followed by a year as a Rockefeller fellow with Niels Bohr in Copenhagen.
Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1908, he received his university training in Germany and completed his Ph.D. in physics under Werner Heisenberg in 1930 at the University of Leipzig.
There is little doubt that Edward Teller is one of the towering figures of 20th-century physics, and one of the most influential men of science. Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1908, Dr. Teller received his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Although his early training was in chemical physics and spectroscopy, Teller has made substantial contributions to such diverse fields as nuclear physics, plasma physics, astrophysics, and statistical mechanics. Dr. Teller has published more than a dozen books on subjects ranging from energy policy to defense issues, received numerous awards for his contributions to physics and public life, and has been awarded 23 honorary degrees. He is currently Director Emeritus of Lawrence Livermore and is a Senior Research Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution.
The beacon Dr. Teller has provided modern science will continue to serve future generations of researchers, thanks to a $1-million grant endowed in Teller's name at the University of California at Davis's Department of Applied Science. Teller founded the Department of Applied Science in 1963 and served as its chairman until 1966. It is located adjacent to Lawrence Livermore and is a prime example of Teller's life-long interest in science education. Students who participate in the department combine academic studies in applied science with hands-on work at the Laboratory; the faculty includes staff from the UC Davis Department of Engineering and scientists and engineers employed at Lawrence Livermore. When asked to put the endowment in the perspective of the many honors he has received, Teller replied, "There's absolutely no award, there's nothing in the world that could be as valuable to me as a plan to better educate our next generation of applied scientists."
Honors and Awards
|
1955: |
Harrison Medal,
American Ordnance Association |
| 1957: |
Joseph Priestly
Memorial, Dickinson College |
| 1958: |
Albert Einstein Award,
Lewis and Rosa Strauss Memorial Fund |
| 1959: |
General Donovan
Memorial Award |
| 1960: |
Midwest Research
Institute Award * Research Institute of American Living
History |
| 1961: |
American Academy of
Achievement Golden Plate |
| 1962: |
Thomas E. White Award
* Enrico Fermi Award,
Atomic Energy Commission |
| 1963: |
Robins Award of
America |
| 1974: |
Leslie R. Groves Gold
Medal |
| 1975: |
Harvey Prize,
Technion Institute of Israel |
| 1977: |
Semmelweiss Medal
* Albert Einstein Award,
Technion Institute of Israel |
| 1978: |
Henry T. Heald Award,
Illinois Institute of Technology |
| 1980: |
American College of
Nuclear Medicine Gold Medal * Man of Science,
Achievement Rewards for College Scientists * Paul
Harris Fellow, Rotary * A. C. Eringen Award,
Society of Engineering Science, Inc. |
| 1981: |
Distinguished
Scientist, National Science
Development Board * Distinguished Scientist,
Phil-American Academy of Science and Engineering |
| 1982: |
Lloyd Freeman Hunt
Citizenship Award, Heritage
of Freedom Council * American Academy of Achievement
Gold Medal * Jerusalem College of Technology |
| 1983: |
National Medal of
Science for 1982 * Joseph Handleman Prize,
Jewish Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| 1984: |
National Security
Award, National Coordinating
Council on Emergency Management |
| 1985: |
American Preparedness
Award, American Civil Defense
Association |
| 1986: |
Sylvanus Thayer Award,
Association of Graduates, U.S. Military Academy, West Point |
| 1987: |
Strategic Defense
Initiative Technical Achievement Award,
American Defense Preparedness Association |
| 1988: |
Shelby Cullom Davis
Award, Ethics and Public
Policy * Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Award |
| 1989: |
Presidential Citizens
Medal, President Reagan
* DAR Americanism Medal, National Society of the
Daughters of the American Revolution |
| 1990: |
Ettore Majorana Erice
Scienza Per La Pace, Science
Peace Prize, Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture, Erice,
Sicily * Order of Banner with Rubies of the Republic
of Hungary, President of the Republic of Hungary, Foreign Minister
of the Republic of Hungary |
| 1994: |
Middle Cross with the
Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary |
| 1998: |
A Magyarsag Hirneveert
Dij, highest official
Hungarian government award, Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary |
| 1999: |
Edward Teller Chair
endowment, University of
California at Davis's Department of Applied Science
|
Honorary Degrees
| Doctor of Science |
Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1954: |
Yale University |
1964: Mount Mary
College |
| 1959: |
University of Alaska |
| 1960: |
Fordham University |
Doctor of
Philosophy |
| 1960: |
George Washington
University |
1972: Tel Aviv
University |
| 1960: |
University of
Southern California |
| 1960: |
St. Louis University |
Doctor of Natural
Science |
| 1962: |
Rochester Institute
of Technology |
1981: De La Salle
University, Philippines |
| 1964: |
University of
Detroit |
| 1966: |
Clemson University |
Doctor of Medical
Science, honoris causa |
| 1969: |
Clarkson College of
Technology |
1983: Medical
University of South Carolina |
| 1987: |
Adelphi University |
Doctor of Law |
Doctor of Strategic Intelligence |
| 1961: |
Boston College |
1987: Defense
Intelligence College |
| 1961: |
Seattle University |
| 1962: |
University of
Cincinnati |
Honorary
Professorship |
| 1963: |
University of
Pittsburgh |
1991: Eotvos
University, Budapest |
| 1974: |
Pepperdine
University |
| 1977: |
University of
Maryland, Heidelberg
|
Books
Structure of Matter, Francis Owen Rice and Edward Teller, John Wiley and Sons, NY, 1949.
Our Nuclear Future, Edward Teller and Albert L. Latter, Criterion Books, NY, 1958.
The Legacy of Hiroshima, Edward Teller with Allen Brown, Doubleday and Co., Garden City, NY, 1962.
The Reluctant Revolutionary, Edward Teller, University of Missouri Press, Columbia, MO, 1964.
The Constructive Uses of Nuclear Explosives, Edward Teller, Wilson K. Talley, and Gary H. Higgins, McGraw Hill, NY, 1968.
Great Men of Physics, Emilio G. Segrč, Joseph Kaplan, Leonard I. Schiff, and Edward Teller, Tinnon-Brown, Los Angeles, CA, 1969.
The Miracle of Freedom, Edward Teller, International Academic and Technical Publications, Boulder, CO, 1972.
Energy: A Plan for Action, Edward Teller, available from the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans, NY, 1975.
Critical Choices for Americans: Power and Security, Edward Teller, Hans Mark, and John S. Foster, Lexington Books, Lexington, MA, 1976.
Nuclear Energy in the Developing World, Edward Teller, Mitre Corporation, Metrek Division, McLean, VA, 1977.
Energy from Heaven and Earth, Edward Teller, W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, CA, 1979.
The Pursuit of Simplicity, Edward Teller, Pepperdine University Press, Los Angeles, CA, 1980.
Better a Shield Than a Sword, Edward Teller, Free Press/MacMillan, New York, NY, 1987.
Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics, Edward Teller, Wendy Teller, and Wilson Talley, Plenum Press, NY, 1991.
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Medal History
