Edward Teller

Edward Teller (original Hungarian name Teller Ede) (January 15, 1908 – September 9 2003) was a Hungarian-born American nuclear physicist of Jewish descent. He was known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb."

Legacy

In his early career, Teller made many important contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy (the Jahn-Teller and Renner-Teller effects), and surface physics. His extension of Fermi's theory of beta decay (in the form of the so-called Gamow-Teller transitions) provided an important stepping stone in the applications of this theory. The Jahn-Teller effect and the BET theory have retained their original formulation and are still mainstays in physics and chemistry. Teller also made contributions to Thomas-Fermi theory, the precursor of Density Functional Theory, a standard modern tool in the quantum mechanical treatment of complex molecules. In 1953, along with Nicholas Metropolis and Marshal Rosenbluth, Teller co-authored a paper which is a standard starting point for the applications of the Monte-Carlo method to statistical mechanics

Related Topics:
Nuclear - Molecular physics - Spectroscopy - Jahn-Teller - Renner-Teller effect - Surface - Gamow-Teller transitions - Thomas-Fermi - Density Functional Theory - Nicholas Metropolis - Monte-Carlo - Statistical mechanics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Teller's vigorous and unashamed advocacy for strength through nuclear weapons, especially when so many of his wartime colleages later expressed regret about the arms race, made him an easy target for the "mad scientist" stereotype (his accent and imposing eyebrows certainly did not help shake the image). In 1991 he was awarded one of the first Ig Nobel Prizes for Peace in recognition of his "lifelong efforts to change the meaning of peace as we know it". He was also rumored to be one of the inspirations for the character of Dr. Strangelove in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 satirical film of the same name (other inspirations have been speculated to be RAND theorist Herman Kahn, rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, and the political scientist and statesman Henry Kissinger). In the aforementioned Scientific American interview from 1999, he was reported as having bristled at the question: "My name is not Strangelove. I don't know about Strangelove. I'm not interested in Strangelove. What else can I say?... Look. Say it three times more, and I throw you out of this office." Nobel Prize winning physicist, and fellow Hungarian, Isidor I. Rabi once suggested that "It would have been a better world without Teller."

Related Topics:
Mad scientist - Ig Nobel Prize - Dr. Strangelove - Stanley Kubrick - RAND - Herman Kahn - Wernher von Braun - Henry Kissinger - Isidor I. Rabi

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Teller died in Stanford, California on September 9, 2003. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Nuclear Society. Among the honors he received were the Albert Einstein Award, the Enrico Fermi Award and the National Medal of Science. He was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush less than two months before his death.

Related Topics:
Stanford, California - September 9 - 2003 - American Academy of Arts and Sciences - American Association for the Advancement of Science - American Nuclear Society - Albert Einstein Award - Enrico Fermi Award - National Medal of Science - Presidential Medal of Freedom - George W. Bush

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~