author
Edward Teller
1908–2003
A brilliant and deeply controversial physicist, he helped shape the atomic age and became one of the most forceful advocates for the hydrogen bomb. His life moved from Europe’s upheavals to the heart of American science and Cold War politics.
1 Audiobook
Our Nuclear Future: Facts, Dangers and Opportunities
by Edward Teller, Albert L. Latter
About the author
Born in Budapest in 1908, Edward Teller studied in Germany before leaving Europe as Nazism rose. He eventually settled in the United States, where he became an American citizen and built a career as a theoretical physicist and chemical engineer.
Teller worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II and later became closely associated with the development of thermonuclear weapons. He is often called the “father of the hydrogen bomb,” though that label has long been debated; what is clear is that he was a central figure in the work that led to the Teller–Ulam design. He also contributed to other areas of physics, including molecular and surface physics.
Beyond his scientific work, Teller remained a major and often divisive public voice in U.S. defense policy. His role in debates around nuclear weapons and his testimony during J. Robert Oppenheimer’s 1954 security hearing made him one of the most controversial scientists of the 20th century. He died in Stanford, California, in 2003.