September 10, 2003
Edward Teller
Edward Teller, the father of the H-bomb, died on Sept. 9. Cause of death was not released. He was 95.
Teller studied chemical engineering and theoretical physics in Germany under Niels Bohr, then earned a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Leipzig. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1930 to teach physics at George Washington University and Columbia University, but left academia in 1942 to join the Manhattan Project at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico and develop the first atomic bomb. The U.S. utilized those bombs in Japan to end World War II. Over 150,000 people died in the blasts.
"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 wrote in his autobiography, "Memoirs: A Twentieth-Century Journey in Science and Politics."
After the success of the Manhattan Project, Teller became a physics professor at the University of Chicago. But when the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb in 1949, Teller returned to Los Alamos to work on the hydrogen fusion bomb; its first megaton-scale explosion occurred at Eniwetok Island in the Pacific in 1952. Teller then spent 25 years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a site he helped found that uses science and technology to build national defense systems.
In later years, Teller became a staunch advocate of the anti-missile shield known as "Star Wars." He also received several awards, including the Albert Einstein Award, the National Medal of Science and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Posted on September 10, 2003 12:36 PM