EDWARD TELLER (1908 - )

Ede Teller, better known as Dr. Edward Teller, was born on January. 15,1908 in Budapest; the capital of Hungary. Later, he moved to Germany to receive a post-secondary education. He received a doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Leipzig and studied atomic physics with Niels Bohr in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. In 1934, under the auspices of the Jewish Rescue Committee, Teller served as a lecturer at the University of London. He also spent two years as a research associate at the University of Gottingen.
 

Then in 1935, Teller accepted a post as visiting professor at George Washington University in Washington, D. C., and him and his wife decided to emigrate to the United States. The Teller became U. S. citizens in 1941. That same year, Teller joined the U. S. atomic bomb development project, later known as the Manhattan Project. For more than a decade, he worked with the Italian-born physicist Enrico Fermi and his research team on this and succeeding projects at Columbia University, at the University of Chicago and at Loos Alamos, New Mexico. It was this team of researchers that produced the first controlled nuclear chain reaction. His efforts during the war years also included theoretical calculations of the far-reaching effects of a fission explosion and research on a potential fusion reaction.
 

In 1943, J. Robert Oppenheimer set up the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory with the intent of designing an atomic fission bomb. Teller joined in the research, but he became increasingly interested on developing a thermonuclear hydrogen bomb that would be much more powerful than an atomic bomb. When two atomic bombs caused extreme destruction in Japan at the end of WWI, most Los Alamos scientists lost the desire to continue weapons research. They thought that the creation of an even more devastating hydrogen bomb would be immoral. But Teller was persistent in developing an advanced weapon that would ensure against future wars. Still, the lack of support from his co-workers and concern from authorities slowed work on the Super Bomb, as Teller called it, to a minimum. With this Teller became frustrated and accepted a University if Chicago professorship. He left Los Alamos in October 1945.
 

In April 1946, Teller returned to Los Alamos and led a secret conference on the Super. The conference reviewed his earlier work on fusion which led to his full time return to Los Alamos in 1949, to continue work on the hydrogen bomb. Then, in 1950, Klaus Fuchs admitted that he had supplied the Soviet Union with information for making atomic bombs. On January 31, 1950, president Truman approved and funded hydrogen bomb development and testing to develop the bomb as quickly as possible, partly as a result of the Soviet Atomic test the previous August. Teller was the principal architect of the hydrogen bomb. A finished bomb was detonated in the Pacific on November 1, 1952. Since then no thermonuclear weapons have been used in warfare, but many have been tested by various countries.
 

THE BOMB
 

The Hydrogen bomb, also called the H-bomb, or Super bomb is one of the most powerful explosive device produced by humans. This weapon has an explosive force a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb. The H-bomb can also produce radioactive fallout, or debris, with super killing power. In a hydrogen bomb, light weight nuclei are forced to fuse at very high temperatures into heavier nuclei, releasing energy along with a neutron. This thermonuclear reaction is the same process by which the sun and stars make their heat and light. In order to squeeze the two nuclei together to initiate the reaction, an atomic fission bomb is usually used as a trigger. The hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium are usually used in the production of hydrogen bombs. A fusion reaction released about four times more energy per unit mass than a fission reaction does. Also, because the size of a fusion bomb is limited only by the amount of fusion material available, it may release thousands of times more energy than an atom bomb in order to increase their destructive power, some thermonuclear bombs are covered with ordinary uranium. The uranium undergoes fission when bombarded by the neutrons released by the fusion reaction, making a big radioactive explosion.
 

Another weapons laboratory was created in Livermore, Cal.. In 1952, Teller became a consultant to the laboratory and from 1954-1958 he served as Associate Director. In 1958-1960 he was director of the lab, 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.
 

Today, Edward Teller is a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he specializes in international and national policies concerning defence and energy. His greatest accomplishments are as follows:

• •significant contributions to the demonstration of thermonuclear energy,
• •he added to the knowledge of the quantum theory, molecular physics, and astrophysics,
• •served as a member of the General Advisory Committee of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission ( 1956-58),
• •chairman of the first Nuclear Reaction Safeguard Committee.

 

• •the Albert Einstein Award,
• •the Enrico Fermi Award,
• •the Harvey Prize from the Technion-Israel Institute,
• •the National Metal of Science ( U. S.).

 

As a student I have never known the man Edward Teller existed until this term paper. It is obvious to me that this man has made a significant contribution to our world and mankind, but I cannot say that I think it was for the best. Whether war breaks out or not, the power of the hydrogen bomb makes me and many others uneasy. You don't make things for the plain reason of storing it your "shed."
 
 

Blumberg, Stanley A. ( 1990). Edward Teller: giant of the golden age of physics: a biography. New York:

Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia. ( 1998). Edward Teller. [ CD- Rom]
 

Encarta Encyclopedia. ( 1997-2000) Edward Teller. [ Online] Available: http://encarta.msn.com/find/concise [ 2001,Jan.3]
 

Hoover Institution. ( 1997) Edward Teller [ Online] Available: http://www-hover.stanford.edu/bois/teller/html [ 2001, Jan.8]
 

National Atomic Museum ( 2001) Edward Teller [ Online] Available: http://www.atomicmuseum.com/tour/cwl.cfm [ 2001, Jan.13]
 

The World Book Encyclopedia ( 2001). Hydrogen Bombs. [ Online] Available: http://www.worldbook.com/hydrogenbomb [ 2001, Jan.13]