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Robert Scott Lazar famously claimed to have worked on reverse engineering of extraterrestrial flying vehicles (UFOs) at S4 near famed area51 and that he got the job through Edward Teller at Los Alamos. While many of you simpleton fascist librarian types who maintain and plague wikipedia would dismiss such a claim because you can't handle controversy, a journalist went to see Teller with a video camera to ask him if he knew Bob Lazar. Teller interestingly did not deny knowing him but said he would not talk about such matters on camera.
Part of the interview is here www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDfN-VY67xM
Bob Lazar also worked at Los Alamos at one point. Los Alamos denied that even though a Los Alamos phonebook listed his name and colleagues confirmed it. It's well known USA has a large black world and the Groom Lake facility and Nellis is tied to LANL, it's interesting Lazar should come up with such a plausible indictment if he's just a crazy conman.
Dan Frederiksen 85.83.19.103 (talk) 23:01, 13 May 2014 (UTC)
Was Teller Jewish? This seems to be implied but is not stated.
What was the reason why Teller left Hungary? Mentioning Horthy doesn't make this clear enough. Andres 21:43, 10 Sep 2003 (UTC)
How did the differences between Teller and many of his colleagues began? Was there any particular reason why he was not chosen the head of the H-bomb project? Andres 18:23, 11 Sep 2003 (UTC)
What was the date of his death? The article doesn't state it.
Funny tidbit:
He wasn't really deeply involved in Hungarian politics, but since he was a famous person he (or rather his name) was used from time to time in Hungarian political battles, or maybe he felt he had to have his word in everything important, including homeland politics. Around 2000 he wrote a letter to the "Hungarians" briefly analysing the political "merits" of the actual government.
Nowadays (2003 sept) political tensions are rising, people start to get really angry at the governing party, so it came a little surprise when Mr. Teller's letter was published in the largest government-friendly newspaper talking about the greatness of the governing party and telling the evilness of the opposition. Timing was pretty distasteful (IMHO) as well because it was published, well, after the death of him.
But politics never cease to surprise. As it turned out the letter was fake. It might have been initiated by Teller, since a reporter "friend" of him seemed to convince him to form a strong opinion about Hungarian politics, but the letter never existed (as it seems), he told some things to some people, wrote some things, and the words and thoughts were formed by some innocent and not-some-innocent people to get the desired result. Newspaper apologies, political yelling-at-everyones, all the fun.
Maybe now even politicians could just leave him to rest in pace, ey?
--grin 08:05, 19 Sep 2003 (UTC)
This article is in the process of a Featured Article review. If you want to discuss it you can do so at WP:FAR. regards, Daimanta 14:41, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
Four likely progenitors of Dr. Strangelove: 1. Werner Von Braun 2. Herman Kahn (Author of "On Thermonuclear War") 3. Henry Kissinger 4. Edward Teller
User:Ashujo added the following text:
I'm changing it for a few reasons. 1. Truman's launching of the H-bomb project, to my knowledge, had nothing to do with thinking Fuchs gave info to the Russians. The reason I've always seen given was that he needed something to one-up them with. I've not seen anything which would give Teller as much agency as to say that he was the one behind Truman's crash order. 2. There is no evidence that the Russians used the Mike fallout productively towards their own h-bomb design. The BAS article you cited was strongly objected to by both Russian scientists involved and by a number of historians. (Sakharov claimed -- in his memoirs I believe -- that they accidentally destroyed all fallout data they received). In any event, it's questionable just how much information one could get out of the fallout. According to some calculations, they might have been able to detect that the primary and secondary were separate from one another, but that's about it. (see [3]) Anyway, I think this flattens the history a little bit too much, gives too much agency to Teller, and I think the assumption that Teller "gave away the secret" because of his urgency to have a test is not that well founded (and anyway, Teller thought the USSR also coming up with it was inevitable anyway). Additionally, the Soviets could see for themselves that the Fuchs information was unreliable (this is well documented in both Rhodes's Dark Sun and Halloway's Stalin and the Bomb). --Fastfission 22:10, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
We don't know exactly how much info the fallout analysis gives, although it certainly shows the separation of the primary and secondary, and compression. In any case, it took the Russians three years after the Americans to produce their bomb, and Bethe thinks whatever they did get out of the fallout would give them about this much time to go from there to a workable design. It also took the British about the same time to get the idea for the Teller-Ulam design from analysing the Russian fallout. So this seems to have considerable validity. I would suggest that in addition to Teller's own Sci Am 1999 account, which obviously cannot be authentic, you add another reference from a third party. Ashujo
I am not sure I understood your addition. Why would a difficult and novel design make scientists start believing that it would now be inevitable for both the US and the USSR to create the weapon? If anything, a simple design would make them believe that.--Ashujo 08:15, 5 May 2005 (UTC)
The page currently says that Teller was an originator of the Monte Carlo method along with Nicholas Metropolis. However I have always heard that was a product of Stanislaw Ulam, John von Neumann, and Enrico Fermi, primarily, and that it was developed at Los Alamos in 1946, i.e. after Teller had already left. (Other methods of stochastic simulation of course were in employ before Monte Carlo, but that's the generally canonical story, as I understand it). The page on Monte Carlo seems to back this story up -- what's the source for saying that Teller had anything to do with it? I've been reading a lot of literature on Monte Carlo lately and have never seen him name associated with it before, but I don't rule it out completely of course. --Fastfission 12:12, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)
We did include the reference to the 1953 Journal of Chemical Physics paper with Metropolis on which he is actually the corresponding author. The Metropolis criterion first proposed in that paper is probably the most important protocol in Monte Carlo simulations. I think that should do. Ashujo —Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.140.189.21 (talk) 16:21, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
An extremely popular and influential punk rock band called Bad Religion, wrote a rather well known song about Edward Teller called "The Biggest Killer in American History". It should also be noted, that the singer/songwriter who wrote the song is Greg Graffin who is also a science professor at UCLA. His opinions of Teller reflect that of literally hundreds of thousands of his group's fans and a fan website even included a history of Edward Teller due the popularity of that song. I feel it's noteworthy that Tellers reach was so big, that people outside of the science community would be able to form strong opinions about him, thanks mostly to this song.--Adam
Why is there no mention of Edward Teller's work on Gamma-Ray Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (GRASER)? Teller did put a GRASER project together back in the day. Adraeus 23:57, July 21, 2005 (UTC)
Shoud'nt the story of Teller's testimony against Oppenheimer be expanded upon. It seems to only be mentioned in the caption of one of his photographs. Vatsa ,23 Sep 2005.
A new book apparently implies that Teller may have been involved in the Israeli bomb project in some way. I haven't had a chance to look at it in detail but if someone wanted to follow up and see if it was worth citing, here is a review of it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/16/AR2006021601897.html --Fastfission 02:35, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
After the war and before the H-bomb, Teller played a minor role in the 1947 Shelter Island Conference; I think he had something to say about the two-meson hypothesis. I haven't done much with that article, but ultimately we should link to it from here. Melchoir 06:24, 28 February 2006 (UTC)
Why is it written that Teller is a Hungarian-born American scientist?
Is it said that George Gamow is a Ukrainian-born American scientist? No. What's written is that he is a Ukrainian-born scientist, which is factually true.
Look at Marie_Curie: it isn't even written that she is a Polish-born chemist. But I certainly don't read from the article that she is a Polish-born French chemist. You know why? Because she lived and worked most of her life in a country called France, whereas Teller lived and worked most of his life in a country called USA.
I am saying that there should be a policy, so that a featured article doesn't read that Teller is an American scientist. Personally, I would stick to the facts, in a clear fashion.
Someone who only possesses the american nationality, is an American.
So someone who was born, raised and lived in the USA is an American.
Someone who was born and raised in Hungary, lived his life in the USA but wasn't naturalized is a Hungarian.
Someone who was born and raised in Hungary, lived his life in the USA and was naturalized is hungarian-born.
Someone who was born in Hungary, but was raised in the USA and lived in the USA is an American.
One can only be called an American if he was raised in the USA.LKenzo 10:11, 28 February 2006 (UTC)
The Martians, the group of Hungarians Teller was part of were all Hungarians and let me quote from the book The Martians of Science from István Hargittai, to emphasize the importance of his Hungarian roots.
"All five came from Budapest and ended up in the United States via Germany. All benefited from and were shaped by the sizzling intellectual life of the Hungarian capital around the turn of the twentieth century."
So it is utmost important, that he was raised in Hungary, despite the harsh conditions. So he is not a Hungarian-born American, he is a Hungarian-American. If you get another citizenship, that doesn't mean you become erased as a Hungarian. And all the other "martians" are marked as Hungarian-Americans not Hungarian-born American. So correct this once and for all.
Joseph Pulitzer - Hungarian-American
George Soros - Hungarian-American
Eugene Wigner - Hungarian-American
John von Neumann - Hungarian-American
Do I need to cite more?
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Dflt1122 (talk • contribs) 00:19, 26 July 2011 (UTC)
Why the Jewish reference right at the top?? Look at other bio's. ie Ted Kennedy, doesn't say of Catholic decent, ect. This is racism.
WOW, I am off censor, cool :)...Seriously, I am wonder WHY Teller's Jewish background is in the VERY FIRST sentence. Is this REALLY one his most defining attributes. As a Jew, I really find this offensive. Is EVERY person of Jewish decent who has a bio treated this way on Wikipedia?? I am really NOT trying to be unreasonable and I am sorry if it came across that way....Tom 2/28/06
Can someone be of Jewish descent? I always thought we used that term (descent) to denote nationality and not religion ... or not? Just wondering. Davehorne 18:31, 28 February 2006 (UTC)
MY OPINION...I consider myself American, not Jewish first off. The State of Israel didn't exist until about 50 years ago, so people DO consider themselves of Jewish decent since Judism is like a tribe thats been around thousands of years. I am sure the Judism page has devoted HUGE writings to this and I am probably butchering this subject since I am NO expert. My point is...great, he is of Jewish decent..AWESOME!! But does this belong in the very FIRST sentence about the guy?? Is it important?? SURE, but its mentioned in his family life. Again, I looked at other famous Jewish bios and was glad to see that the ethnic/descent/whathaveyou wasn't in many of the very FIRST sentences..respect comments welcomed....Tom 2/28/06
excuse me TKE ,but the "jewish nation" IS NOT 18 century idea, please read the WHOLE jew page.
Thanks TKE. Where does cultural heritage belong in a bio? First line? Second? Middle? It just seems that if it is OVER emphasized, it is a form of racism. Also, I think you would be surprised by the %s of people who do take offense, IMO. Tom 2/28/06
WOW, even having it in the 2nd line makes me feel better :) go figure...Tom 2/28/06
Is there a reason suddenly a dozen editors are at this article scrutinizing some very basic points about him which are common to dozens of Wikipedia biographies? There is nothing in the description of Teller that is different from how he is described in most encyclopedias or history books. The first two sentences of the Encyclopedia Brittanica article on Teller are: "Hungarian-born American nuclear physicist who participated in the production of the first atomic bomb (1945) and who led the development of the world's first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb. Teller was from a family of prosperous Hungarian Jews." It then goes into more detail about his early life in Budapest. --Fastfission 00:15, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
I removed the following from the "Legacy" section:
If we want to quote someone (and there are such people out there) who say that Teller was really like this, that's fine, but putting it in the article without attribution clearly violates WP:NPOV. I'll try to find time to find a good summary of the "positive" assessments of Teller (his Medal of Freedom ceremony probably had some of them), but anyway I wanted to make it clear that I didn't just remove it because I disagreed with it. --Fastfission 02:15, 9 March 2006 (UTC)
This is from the section on SDI: "Bethe, along with IBM physicist Richard Garwin, coauthored an article in Scientific American which analyzed the system and concluded that any putative enemy could disable such a system by the use of suitable decoys. The project's funding was eventually scaled back."
This implies that the article was written in response specifically to the SDI proposal. But here's what Hans Bethe has to say:
"In 1960, Bethe, along with IBM physicist Richard Garwin, wrote an article criticising in detail the new anti-ICBM defense system that the government was planning to install. In the article that was published in Scientific American, the two physicists described in detail how almost any countermeasure that the US could take would be futile, as the enemy would be able to thwart the system through the use of suitable decoys."
SDI wasn't around in 1960, so according to this passage, the article was written in response to a different anti-ICBM system.
My question is: which is right? I don't know enough about the history to say when the article was authored. Gershwinrb 19:18, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
I believe the anti-ICBM system that Robert McNamara advocated in 1960 or so was against potential Chinese ballistic missiles, and I think that is why Bethe and Garwin penned their article- Ashujo June 9, 2006 (UTC)
I heard him talk three times. The first was when I was in high-school. He was impressive, especially his eyebrows. The second was about a legitimately unorthodox explanation of quasars. The funny thing about that was that he theorised the biggest possible explosion, as he did in his more important activities. The third was a lecture to the general public. In that, though he had no axe to grind, he nonetheless deviated from real physics to impress his audience.
He said that corn, with enough calories, would not supply people with nutrition because it would not sink enough entropy. That is completely wrong, and he would have known that, if he thought about it for more than a minute. The nutritional deficiencies of starch have nothing to do with the difference between counting food in energy or in entropy, and the only reason he could have said so is that he had no scientific integrity, and was only interested in his audience's reaction. The best that could be said is that he spoke as though he had knowledge about a subject about which he was uninformed. This was the most unscientific performance of a scientist that I have ever heard. I only wish it had been so easy to publish this when he was still alive and destructive. David R. Ingham 09:41, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
Well it depends if you weight entropy only on a thermal base ? True burning your dried body give the same calories count than burning dried corn, but ordering the full range of proteins you should feed on, give you not only the ability to move fingers on a keyboard but to do it in an orderly manner, and in absence of said deficiencie to pursue thought beyond setting things afire...
In put in the infobox because the Teller article is pretty lengthy and needed something to neatly summarize his information. Whether or not it is "ugly" is a matter of taste. I would imagine that many more readers find it useful. -- Rglovejoy 16:41, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
I agree with Rglovejoy and personally find the infobox less ugly than white space. I also find it a useful navigational aid. The answers to all the questions of Fastfission can be found in the consentual discussion at [5]. Consequently I have been bold and have replaced the infobox. SureFire 12:55, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
Hello, Fastfission, your remark "if it is included at all" wonders me. It is a definite source which contradicts Teller's claim that he was against the use of the bomb on Japan, so it is highly important. Especially because Tellers stance without the letter was unclear anyway: he neither signed the petition of Szilard against the bombing nor the approval of the Scientific Panel lead by Oppenheimer. The source is the review of Barton Bernstein:
Review of: Better a Shield Than a Sword: Perspectives on Defense and Technology from Edward Teller Barton J. Bernstein Technology and Culture, Vol. 31, No. 4. (Oct., 1990), pp. 846-861.
I think that should suffice, but I can look out for the source of the letter, too. --136.172.253.189 20:54, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
However, there is contradictory evidence. In the seventies of the twentieth century a letter of Teller to Szilard emerged, dated on July 2nd, 1945
I was wondering why this is written in such a odd style but I didn't want to change it since I wasn't sure if it should be written in a numerical style ( 1970's ) or as nineteen seventies Garda40 22:45, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
The name of Edward Teller can be found in articles covering the Chemtrails and Global dimming, like e.g. here and at all here or here. Is all this material too untrustable not to mention the connection? Kriplozoik 00:56, 26 August 2007 (UTC)
I don't see any at all - I think we should at least include his lameness (from a Munich street-car accident, Herken, p. 25); but a full description would be better. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 02:55, 30 November 2007 (UTC)
There are two statements, thanks to Lingnut, for which I have not yet found sources:
This is a very plausible statement, and I believe that some source has said it, but it depends on what "how well they thought of" Teller is supposed to mean. It is unlikely that anyone who believed Teller was claiming Ulam's credit would think highly of him; and if approval of Teller's politics is implied, Hans Bethe is a major exception.
(The only unsourced part here is the bit actually in italics; the rest is supported by the film review cited.) I have no reason to doubt that the rest is true; the reasoning would be wholly characteristic of Diefenbaker; but I do not see exact verification. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 23:41, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
'Memoirs', by E. Teller and a co-author, mentions Janos Kirz, as his sister's son, several times, and describes how Teller assisted in Kirz's emigration to the U.S. from Hungary. Dr. Kirz is a noted physicsit who has developed the field of X-Ray microscopy, principally at Brookhaven National Laboratory. His research endeavors are soon moving to the West Coast. I met Dr. Kirz while I was a graduate student between 1975 to 1979 at The State University of New York at StonyBrook, where he is a Distinguished Professor of Physics. 65.132.69.104 (talk) 05:17, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
The article contained the claim that Teller (born Raymond Joseph Teller), the silent half of Penn & Teller, is Edward Teller's son. This claim was uncited and directly contradicts the article on the magician. If anyone can find a reliable source for this fact then both articles should be modified. WLior (talk) 15:02, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
Did this guy not have a family (or at least a spouse - or was he so disliked by everyone that he didn't even succeed in that)?
If he neither had family nor relationships should that lack of social life (and perhaps ability to relate to other people) not be mentioned in the article?
I think it quite significant !
Comments on this (better still, changes in the article - are appreciated. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.174.83.250 (talk) 07:55, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
Perhaps I should say that while I did now see that there is a very short reference (strangely in the 'Early Life an Education' section! - Did not occur to me to chase that information in that section, I have to confess) to him being married indeed ("In February 1934, he married 'Mici' [Augusta Maria] Harkanyi") I still find it very curious that in all Wikipedia biographies that I have read there is a section on social and family life and connection but not with Teller !
And of course (besides the quote above in this discussion page there is no reference to any offspring. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.174.83.250 (talk) 08:03, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
I recollect that the article used to mention his spouse and children. Not having this information makes him seem not quite human. Paul Studier (talk) 01:28, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
There is nothing out of the ordinary in Dr. Teller's face in the picture at the start of the Wikipedia article. However, pictures of him taken in later years show his right eye as almost disappeared, and his mouth apparently "clenched" at an odd angle. Esquire quoted his newspaper ad alongside such a picture; did he get that way by sheer aging or did something happen to him? He appeared to have acquired a permanent squint, if that makes sense. Dougie monty (talk) 05:30, 25 June 2008 (UTC)
Where are the Carl Sagan's comments (criticism) about Teller? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.88.44.13 (talk) 05:46, 13 July 2008 (UTC)
I worked at UC Berkeley from 1983 until 2006. In the mid 80s a took advantage of a program where a van pool was formed using a UC Berkeley owned van driven by UC Berkeley students. As I began to talk daily with these students I heard an interesting story about Edward Teller. It was these student's job to give a ride to Dr. Teller from Berkeley to Stanford upon his request. The challenge for these students was to remember never to take one of the Bay bridges to get there and back. Dr. Teller had a terrible phobia of bridges.
On our daily rides we would discuss Dr. Teller and his history. We discussed Oppenheimer and how much Teller hated him and how badly Teller behaved (in all our opinions). The young drivers and I took to imagining their driving Dr. Teller out to the Golden Gate Bridge, stopping the van, putting on the flashers, getting out and walking away, leaving Dr. Teller to fend for himself. It was just a fantasy of young people looking toward creating justice.
It is interesting to me in all I see written on Dr. Teller that his phobia is never reported.
Berkeley survivor (talk) 07:08, 27 January 2009 (UTC)Berkeley SurvivorBerkeley survivor (talk) 07:08, 27 January 2009 (UTC)
Example of NPOV problems:
"The next day, The New York Times ran an editorial criticizing the ad, noting that it was sponsored by Dresser Industries, ..." Sponsored?!? for an article in Wall Street Journal?
... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alex F. (talk • contribs) 23:49, 10 December 2009 (UTC)
I think that there are substantial tone problems with this article, which seems generally slanted against Teller. I personally agree with this slant, but I don't think it's right for Wikipedia. Figureofnine (talk) 22:41, 28 May 2010 (UTC)
Why is it listed as such? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.6.52.117 (talk) 02:36, 29 January 2010 (UTC)
A new user account is insistently removing the reference to Teller in the lead as an "American," so that the article now refers to him as "Austro-Hungarian." Figureofnine (talk) 21:48, 25 November 2010 (UTC)
I reaLize his nuclear work was large, but the way Jahn-Teller and BET are handled as afterthoughts when they are Nobel level contributions in chemistry seems strange. TCO (talk) 06:38, 12 December 2010 (UTC)
nEVER MIND, IT'S IN THE ARTICLE. TCO (talk) 06:39, 12 December 2010 (UTC)
Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:EdwardTeller1958 fewer smudges.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on January 15, 2012. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2012-01-15. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :) Thanks! —howcheng {chat} 06:59, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
If I'm not totally reading this wrong, this is an extraordinary assertion based, apparently, on one Russian source? Am I reading this correctly, that it is being said that Teller 'knew' that Fuchs was a spy, that Fuchs would give designs to the Soviets, and that he, Teller, shaped the team to force this situation? That Teller purposefully facilitated spying for the Soviets? Oh... and by the way, that it was neither Teller or Ulam who discovered the fusion by radiation compression, but Fuchs?!!
This is a really extraordinary statement to go unchallenged for 15 months. Somewhat like offhandedly inserting that calculus was discovered by neither Newton nor Leibniz but Prince Eugene, who was in the pay of the French. This text added by this change back in October 2010 by User:Ggorelik aka Gennady Gorelik? The referenced text is for-pay at IOPScience
Doesn't anybody read the text? 24.28.17.231 (talk) 05:31, 15 January 2012 (UTC)
If the page is going to quote Edward (twice visited his office on Family Days on the top floor of B 111), the page needs his one-line quote on his business cards he printed up for Project Chariot. 143.232.210.150 (talk) 22:29, 26 January 2012 (UTC)
Do you mean “If your mountain is not in the right place,” Dr. Teller said in Anchorage, “just drop us a card.” He was only partly kidding. http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-u-s-s-insane-attempt-to-build-a-harbor-with-a-two-megaton-nuclear-bomb
Boundarylayer (talk) 22:24, 13 November 2016 (UTC)
Some sources state that he was the "darling" of the conservative movement due to his ultra-hawkish proclivities. But is that enough? John Prados writes "By 1975 PFIAB was a home for such conservatives as ... Edward Teller. [6] We should incorporate this into the article. – Lionel (talk) 11:32, 1 February 2012 (UTC)
"He is a signatory of the Oregon Petition." Has anyone been able to establish whether this is true? The petition was bombarded with fake names. He may very well have signed it. But there are serious doubts. — ThePowerofX 12:26, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
Can someone please provide citation on Teller being theoretician or nuclear physicist? What we learned from history, he was aligned as theoretical physics. What is his field? Please provide citations. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.0.20.187 (talk) 04:49, 27 December 2012 (UTC)
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.0.20.187 (talk) 04:49, 27 December 2012 (UTC)
I'm afraid that I disagree with much of this. A "nuclear physicist" is one who studies the physics of the atomic nucleus. You can do this either experimentally (using particle accelerators or the like) or theoretically (using mathematics and computers). So you can be a "theoretical nuclear physicist" or an "experimental nuclear physicist". The term "nuclear physicist" covers both equally. And it is the same I guess in almost all branches of science - you could for example study the chemistry of polymers experimentally (in test tubes) or theoretically (mathematical models etc) and so be an "experimental polymer chemist" or a "theoretical polymer chemist", both could be called "polymer chemists". Further, I disagree completely with the statement "Nuclear physicist are experts in chemistry and atomic physics". Nuclear physics is quite different from atomic physics, and even more different from chemistry. A person studying the make up of the atomic nucleus (its constituents, how they are bound together, what happens if the nucleus is disrupted etc etc) would be a "nuclear physicist", but would not normally be expected to have more than a passing knowlege of atomic physics or chemistry. Neither can I agree with the statements about a separation between theoretical and experimental physics being a post 19060s phenomena. Look at many of the great physicists of the early 20th century - Heisenberg Pauli, Dirac and of course Einstein - they were all theoretical physicists, and to my knowlege none of them did any experimental physics to speak of.Baska436 (talk) 04:34, 3 August 2013 (UTC)
I removed [Teller acted quickly to lobby] "[I]n response to" [Fonda's activism]" as unsourced and implausible. He would surely have spoken out for nukes with or without her; what is to the point in that sentence is that she was a target of opportunity, particular in light of the existing critics of her, on the right, as Hanoi Jane. To say "in response to", you'd have to document him denying that he intended to speak out on the subject until he realized that she was.
I agree with 9 years of previous editors that Teller "blamed" Fonda for his heart attack (well, maybe he was less a fool than he sounds, and blamed her with his words but not in his own mind), but he did not use the word "blame", rather insinuating it. I've cited enuf examples of people who were freer than we to write their opinions abt him trying to communicate blame, that i think changing our assertion to say that he was widely described as blaming her brings the passage up to our standard of NOR.
I saw my edit as putting out a fire (well, stamping out flaming ducks), and that took a while. I think the sources i added are sufficient but displayed in an ugly manner; perhaps someone will be impatient enuf to clean up after me before i get it straight in my head how to use the predominant style of the page, esp as it applies to the 5 examples of blame-observing that i put under one footnote. (Note that at least a couple of these are from works already cited on the page when i started.) Ugly, but hopefully helpful, esp. in the long run.
--Jerzy•t 08:16, 4 September 2013 (UTC)
// I'm proposing the following additions and edits to the SDI section of Teller's page. Feedback would be appreciated, as well as some help with the correct formatting.//
In November of 1980, Teller and the scientists at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory carried out the first successful test of an X-ray laser beam, code named Dauphin. The successful test permitted, in Teller’s eyes, for the creation of a revolutionary antimissile weapons system. He attempted to lobby the Pentagon for continued testing without success, in great part due the experiment’s need for a nuclear explosion. Teller and the other Lawrence scientists continued to research the possible use for the laser, which they dubber Excalibur, openly positing it could be used to destroy targets in space. 1 In an issue of Aviation week and Space Technology, Teller was quoted saying ““X-ray lasers based on the successful Dauphin test . . . are so small that a single payload bay on the space shuttle could carry to orbit a number sufficient to stop a Soviet nuclear weapons attack.” 2
Teller then attracted the attention of Daniel O. Graham and Karl R. Bendetsen while recruiting to create the nonprofit group called they then called High Frontier. The group, initially created to draft an independent study on space-antimissile-defense, was then asked by Martin Anderson, head of the Office for Policy Development, to create a briefing for the President. 3
The briefing evolved into hat later became Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derided by critics as "Star Wars," the concept of using ground and satellite-based lasers, particle beams and missiles to destroy incoming Soviet ICBMs. Teller lobbied and got the approval of President Ronald Reagan—for a plan to develop a system using elaborate satellites which used atomic weapons to fire X-ray lasers at incoming missiles— as part of a broader scientific research program into defenses against nuclear weapons. Scandal erupted when Teller (and his associate Lowell Wood) were accused of deliberately overselling the program and perhaps had encouraged the dismissal of a laboratory director (Roy Woodruff) who had attempted to correct the error.[1] His claims led to a joke which circulated in the scientific community, that a new unit of unfounded optimism was designated as the teller; one teller was so large that most events had to be measured in nanotellers or picotellers. Many prominent scientists argued that the system was futile. Bethe, along with IBM physicist Richard Garwin and Cornell University colleague Kurt Gottfried, wrote an article in Scientific American which analyzed the system and concluded that any putative enemy could disable such a system by the use of suitable decoys. A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists, which Bethe and Garwin largely authored, made similar claims stating thousands of space-based stations would be necessary for an effective defense. The UCS study was found to be inaccurate, they later revised the number of stations down to the hundreds. 4 SDI’s funding was eventually scaled back.[citation needed]
Many scientists opposed strategic defense on moral or political rather than purely technical grounds. They argued that, even if an effective system could be produced, it would undermine the system of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) that had prevented all-out war between the western democracies and the communist bloc. An effective defense, they contended, would make such a war "winnable" and therefore more likely.[1]
Despite (or perhaps because of) his hawkish reputation, Teller made a public point of noting that he regretted the use of the first atomic bombs on civilian cities during World War II.[citation needed] He further claimed that before the bombing of Hiroshima he had indeed lobbied Oppenheimer to use the weapons first in a "demonstration" which could be witnessed by the Japanese high-command and citizenry before using them to inflict thousands of deaths.
However contained in a 1987 book by Teller, a letter dated July 2, 1945 from Teller to Leó Szilárd states in part:
In 1990, the historian Barton Bernstein argued that it is an "unconvincing claim" by Teller that he was a "covert dissenter" to the use of the weapon.[3] In his 2001 Memoirs, Teller claims that he did lobby Oppenheimer, but that Oppenheimer had convinced him that he should take no action and that the scientists should leave military questions in the hands of the military; Teller claims he was not aware that Oppenheimer and other scientists were being consulted as to the actual use of the weapon and implies that Oppenheimer was being hypocritical.[4]
Teller had used this quasi-anti-nuclear weapons stance (he would say that he believed nuclear weapons to be unfortunate, but that the arms race was unavoidable due to the intractable nature of Communism) to promote technologies such as SDI,[citation needed] arguing that they were needed to make sure that nuclear weapons could never be used again.[citation needed]
In 1987 he published a book supporting civil defense and active protection systems such as SDI which was titled Better a shield than a sword and his views on the role of lasers in SDI, as disclosed in live panel discussions, were published, and are available, in two 1986-7 laser conference proceedings.[5][6]
(my sources, not sure how to include this into the pre-existing article) 1.FitzGerald, Frances, Simon & Schuster; 1st Touchstone Ed edition (February 21, 2001) , Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0684844168 2.Wills, Reagan’s America, p. 258 3.FitzGerald, Frances, Simon & Schuster; 1st Touchstone Ed edition (February 21, 2001) , Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0684844168 4.Ibid
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In the "Nuclear technology and Israel" bit there WAS (I removed it) this phrasing that seems a bit odd: "At each of his talks with members of the Israeli security establishment's highest levels, he would make them swear that they would never be tempted into signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty."... Can't find evidence for this claim in the mentioned source or anywhere else. Also I'd think there's no way that an adviser could be able to make any country's officials to swear anything... Szilvesztercsaba (talk) 02:17, 3 August 2016 (UTC)
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Most of this article seems to lay inordinate emphasis on Edward Teller's character flaws. In wikipedia, WP:UNDUE means we need to show the notable information on the subject of an article presented with due weight (with a view to the reliability of who's saying what about the subject, and how important it is}. The reference to Teller's "difficult character" (as an example) seems to be a subjective comment about him. I'd like to see who said that about Teller and in which context. Teller made many enemies after testifying against J. Robert Oppenheimer, but some of their comments resemble the war of words between Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann, which were largely petty complaints about each other. loupgarous (talk) 12:50, 5 October 2017 (UTC)
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I just read Georg Solti and this article considering them both a "Good read". I made comments at the Georg Solti talk page that are applicable here concerning the "External links". Ten links need to be examined to see if things "just creep in" or if some can be either incorporated into the article or trimmed. Otr500 (talk) 11:41, 4 February 2020 (UTC)
So Teller said a meteorite could cause a tsunami, and Wikipedia spins this into him "predicting" the Touhoku earthquake and tsunami (that nobody says was caused by a meteorite)? What is he, Nostradamus?--2.204.225.246 (talk) 11:12, 28 March 2020 (UTC)