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[personal profile] sisyphusshrugged
First Leni Riefenstahl, now this.

Edward Teller, 95, the Hungarian-born physicist who blended a persuasive personality with keen scientific creativity to become known as the father of the hydrogen bomb, died yesterday in California.

...

After the war's end, when many of his fellow physicists, for a variety of reasons, appeared to show little enthusiasm for designing and developing the next and more powerful stage in nuclear explosives, Teller worked with steadfast vigor to persuade the nation's leaders to push ahead with the hydrogen bomb.

...

In the 1980s, undaunted by the controversies that continued to swirl around him, he was credited with playing a major role in convincing the Reagan administration of the value and feasibility of developing a space-based defense against nuclear missiles. This was the Strategic Defense Initiative, whose prospects remain uncertain.

He also was a key figure in the proceedings that stripped J. Robert Oppenheimer, the leader of the team that built the A-bomb, of his security clearance.

Teller's testimony at the proceedings, in which he maintained his belief in Oppenheimer's loyalty but complained that he nevertheless distrusted Oppenheimer's behavior, polarized intellectual circles and remains a subject of debate to this day.

...

Once, after he had suffered a stroke, he was asked by a doctor trying to assess his condition if he was the famous Dr. Teller.

No, he declared, "I am the infamous Dr. Teller."



Jesse Helms has got to be nervous, is all I'm saying.

Date: 2003-09-10 06:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] supergee.livejournal.com
You think it's the Rapture?

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