Edward Teller

Edward Teller Hungarian Teller Ede January 15 1908 September 9 2003 was a HungarianAmerican theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as the father of the hydrogen bomb see the TellerUlam design although he did not care for the title considering it to be in poor taste1 Throughout his life Teller was known both for his scientific ability and for his difficult interpersonal relations and volatile personality Born in Hungary in 1908 Teller emigrated to the United States in the 1930s one of the many socalled Martians a group of prominent Hungarian scientist émigrés He made numerous contributions to nuclear and molecular physics spectroscopy in particular the JahnTeller and RennerTeller effects and surface physics His extension of Enrico Fermis theory of beta decay in the form of GamowTeller transitions provided an important stepping stone in its application while the JahnTeller effect and the BrunauerEmmettTeller BET theory have retained their original formulation and are still mainstays in physics and chemistry2 Teller also made contributions to ThomasFermi 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 Arianna Rosenbluth Marshall Rosenbluth and his wife Augusta Teller Teller coauthored a paper that is a standard starting point for the applications of the Monte Carlo method to statistical mechanics and the Markov chain Monte Carlo literature in Bayesian statistics3 Teller was an early member of the Manhattan Project charged with developing the first atomic bomb He made a serious push to develop the first fusionbased weapons as well but these were deferred until after World War II He cofounded the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and was both its director and associate director for many years After his controversial negative testimony in the Oppenheimer security hearing convened against his former Los Alamos Laboratory superior J Robert Oppenheimer Teller was ostracized by much of the scientific community Teller continued to find support from the US government and military research establishment particularly for his advocacy for nuclear energy development a strong nuclear arsenal and a vigorous nuclear testing program In his later years he became especially known for his advocacy of controversial technological solutions to both military and civilian problems including a plan to excavate an artificial harbor in Alaska using thermonuclear explosive in what was called Project Chariot and Ronald Reagans Strategic Defense Initiative Teller was a recipient of numerous awards including the Enrico Fermi Award and Albert Einstein Award He died on September 9 2003 in Stanford California at 95 From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia