The quotation: “Life improves slowly and goes wrong fast and only catastrophe is clearly visible” is attributed to Edward Teller. This may have been a reference to the accident which caused him to lose a foot at the age of 20, at Budapest, Hungary where he was born. Preparing to go on a hiking trip, he slipped and fell in the path of an oncoming tram.
Later, he earned his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Leipzig in Germany and left for the United States in 1935, fleeing the Nazis. There he was a professor of Physics at Georgetown University until 1941 when he became a member of the scientific team at the Manhattan Project, directed by Robert Oppenheimer, where the first atom bombs were built.
Robert Oppenheimer, in conversation with fellow scientists, expressed doubts about military industrial control of atomic power after the end of World War II, - but Edward Teller had no such doubts. His life-long belief in “security” and military protection endeared him to those politicians and military who advocate such policies as “shock and awe”.
When President Truman was being advised against using the atom bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Edward Teller was the decisive voice he listened to.
Later, he was to lose many of his friends in the scientific community, due to his “betrayal” of his former superior at the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer. When Oppenheimer’s security clearance was reviewed by the American Energy Commission’s Board, Edward Teller was asked for his opinion and his reply led to Oppenheimer’s clearance not being renewed.
After having been associated with the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he worked on the development of the hydrogen bomb which was first exploded in 1952, he earned the soubriquet of “father of the hydrogen bomb”, although this has been disputed by some of his late former colleagues.
He went on to become Professor of Physics at the University of California and Director of the Livermore National Laboratory, which attracted many young physicists at the time. In 1962 he received the Enrico Fermi Award for his contribution to nuclear energy. He may also have been the model for Dr. Strangelove, interpreted by Peter Sellers in the film of that name.
Although he officially retired in 1975 he continued to research, write and advise politicians about the “deterrent” effects of nuclear weapons and with his continuing opposition to arms control, was probably the most influential advocate of Ronald Reagan’s “Strategic Defense Initiative”, better known as “Star Wars”.
This year, President Bush awarded Edward Teller with the U.S.’s highest civil honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which has also been awarded to the economist Milton Friedman and former President Ronald Reagan.
During his long life, Teller continued to defend the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a way to prevent far more deaths, elsewhere. The validity of this claim has been widely contested, particularly by the surviving victims, since both cities were devoid of military facilities and one happened to be home to a large Japanese Christian community. The latter there were not followers of the militaristic bent of Japan’s then rulers. Altogether 100,000 civilians were killed by atom bombs. Moreover, most of Japan’s cities had already been flattened by Alled fire bombing.
He was a life-long believer in the fact that only the United States - and maybe some of its Allies - should be the “guardians” of nuclear power. However, since the genie has slipped out of the bottle, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, both in the United States and elsewhere, has led to national economic miliary budgets out-running investment in national infrastructures and in the health and well-being of their citizenry.
The death of Edward Teller may be the beginning of another age, hopefully, a less dangerous one.
Christiane N. Martens
(Ed. Note: Will our readers in the United States please read the urgent message following the links.)
Please also see:
The Hiroshima/Nagasaki Legacy:
http://nuketesting.enviroweb.org/hew/Japan/Hirosh.html
Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/hiroshima.htm
FS2002 Boeing B-29A Superfortress "Enola Gay":
http://www.fsplanet.com/reviews64.htm
The Last Days Of Edward Teller: http://www.ralphmag.org/BJ/teller.html
Nuclear Atlas: http://www.antenna.nl/nukeatlas/
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: http://www.bullatomsci.org
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War: http://www.ippnw.org/
Photo courtesy of the National Atomic Museum: http://www.atomicmuseum.com
********************************************************************************
For our readers in the United States:
Please read the following urgent message.
********************************************************************************
NRDC's EARTH ACTION: The Bulletin for Environmental Activists
September 10, 2003
URGENT ALERT: Tell your senators to cut funding for new nuclear weapons
Take action now at:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=10064
Since the end of the Cold War, some military planners and nuclear scientists have argued for creating a new class of earth-penetrating nuclear weapons. These weapons are sometimes referred to as "bunker busters" because they are designed to burrow a few meters into the ground before detonating, increasing the amount of the bomb's energy that is transferred into shock waves below ground. A bunker buster's yield would be 25 to 70 times the size of the Hiroshima bomb.
The Bush administration is seeking $15 million to fund continued research on nuclear bunker busters and $6 million for research on other advanced nuclear weapons concepts. In a victory for arms control, the House in July cut $10 million of the $15 million bunker buster request and all of the $6 million allocated for other advanced nuclear weapons. But for this victory to be solidified, the Senate must also cut these funds.
The U.S. has strongly criticized Iran and North Korea for moving to obtain equipment to produce weapons-grade nuclear materials and the ability to deliver them as nuclear bombs. The U.S. has also expressed concerns about continuing nuclear programs in Pakistan and India, as well as growing concern that nuclear materials could fall into the hands of terrorist groups such as al Qaeda. America's influence within the international community would erode further if it seeks to upgrade its nuclear weapons while demanding that other countries such as Iran and North Korea disarm.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the administration's nuclear weapons funding
request (which is part of the energy and water appropriations bill) by the end of this week or early next. This will be one of the most crucial votes this year on nuclear weapons.
== What to do ==
Contact your senators *today* and urge them to vote for amendments to block funding for new nuclear weapons when the energy and water appropriations bill
reaches the Senate floor.
== Contact information ==
You can email or fax your senators directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=10064
If you prefer to call your senators, the Capitol switchboard number is
202-224-3121 (or toll-free at 800-839-5276).
About NRDC
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with more than 550,000 members nationwide and a staff of scientists, attorneys
and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the planet's wildlife and
wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
General email: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
Earth Action email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
Later, he earned his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Leipzig in Germany and left for the United States in 1935, fleeing the Nazis. There he was a professor of Physics at Georgetown University until 1941 when he became a member of the scientific team at the Manhattan Project, directed by Robert Oppenheimer, where the first atom bombs were built.
Robert Oppenheimer, in conversation with fellow scientists, expressed doubts about military industrial control of atomic power after the end of World War II, - but Edward Teller had no such doubts. His life-long belief in “security” and military protection endeared him to those politicians and military who advocate such policies as “shock and awe”.
When President Truman was being advised against using the atom bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Edward Teller was the decisive voice he listened to.
Later, he was to lose many of his friends in the scientific community, due to his “betrayal” of his former superior at the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer. When Oppenheimer’s security clearance was reviewed by the American Energy Commission’s Board, Edward Teller was asked for his opinion and his reply led to Oppenheimer’s clearance not being renewed.
After having been associated with the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he worked on the development of the hydrogen bomb which was first exploded in 1952, he earned the soubriquet of “father of the hydrogen bomb”, although this has been disputed by some of his late former colleagues.
He went on to become Professor of Physics at the University of California and Director of the Livermore National Laboratory, which attracted many young physicists at the time. In 1962 he received the Enrico Fermi Award for his contribution to nuclear energy. He may also have been the model for Dr. Strangelove, interpreted by Peter Sellers in the film of that name.
Although he officially retired in 1975 he continued to research, write and advise politicians about the “deterrent” effects of nuclear weapons and with his continuing opposition to arms control, was probably the most influential advocate of Ronald Reagan’s “Strategic Defense Initiative”, better known as “Star Wars”.
This year, President Bush awarded Edward Teller with the U.S.’s highest civil honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which has also been awarded to the economist Milton Friedman and former President Ronald Reagan.
During his long life, Teller continued to defend the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a way to prevent far more deaths, elsewhere. The validity of this claim has been widely contested, particularly by the surviving victims, since both cities were devoid of military facilities and one happened to be home to a large Japanese Christian community. The latter there were not followers of the militaristic bent of Japan’s then rulers. Altogether 100,000 civilians were killed by atom bombs. Moreover, most of Japan’s cities had already been flattened by Alled fire bombing.
He was a life-long believer in the fact that only the United States - and maybe some of its Allies - should be the “guardians” of nuclear power. However, since the genie has slipped out of the bottle, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, both in the United States and elsewhere, has led to national economic miliary budgets out-running investment in national infrastructures and in the health and well-being of their citizenry.
The death of Edward Teller may be the beginning of another age, hopefully, a less dangerous one.
Christiane N. Martens
(Ed. Note: Will our readers in the United States please read the urgent message following the links.)
Please also see:
The Hiroshima/Nagasaki Legacy:
http://nuketesting.enviroweb.org/hew/Japan/Hirosh.html
Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/hiroshima.htm
FS2002 Boeing B-29A Superfortress "Enola Gay":
http://www.fsplanet.com/reviews64.htm
The Last Days Of Edward Teller: http://www.ralphmag.org/BJ/teller.html
Nuclear Atlas: http://www.antenna.nl/nukeatlas/
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: http://www.bullatomsci.org
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War: http://www.ippnw.org/
Photo courtesy of the National Atomic Museum: http://www.atomicmuseum.com
********************************************************************************
For our readers in the United States:
Please read the following urgent message.
********************************************************************************
NRDC's EARTH ACTION: The Bulletin for Environmental Activists
September 10, 2003
URGENT ALERT: Tell your senators to cut funding for new nuclear weapons
Take action now at:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=10064
Since the end of the Cold War, some military planners and nuclear scientists have argued for creating a new class of earth-penetrating nuclear weapons. These weapons are sometimes referred to as "bunker busters" because they are designed to burrow a few meters into the ground before detonating, increasing the amount of the bomb's energy that is transferred into shock waves below ground. A bunker buster's yield would be 25 to 70 times the size of the Hiroshima bomb.
The Bush administration is seeking $15 million to fund continued research on nuclear bunker busters and $6 million for research on other advanced nuclear weapons concepts. In a victory for arms control, the House in July cut $10 million of the $15 million bunker buster request and all of the $6 million allocated for other advanced nuclear weapons. But for this victory to be solidified, the Senate must also cut these funds.
The U.S. has strongly criticized Iran and North Korea for moving to obtain equipment to produce weapons-grade nuclear materials and the ability to deliver them as nuclear bombs. The U.S. has also expressed concerns about continuing nuclear programs in Pakistan and India, as well as growing concern that nuclear materials could fall into the hands of terrorist groups such as al Qaeda. America's influence within the international community would erode further if it seeks to upgrade its nuclear weapons while demanding that other countries such as Iran and North Korea disarm.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the administration's nuclear weapons funding
request (which is part of the energy and water appropriations bill) by the end of this week or early next. This will be one of the most crucial votes this year on nuclear weapons.
== What to do ==
Contact your senators *today* and urge them to vote for amendments to block funding for new nuclear weapons when the energy and water appropriations bill
reaches the Senate floor.
== Contact information ==
You can email or fax your senators directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=10064
If you prefer to call your senators, the Capitol switchboard number is
202-224-3121 (or toll-free at 800-839-5276).
About NRDC
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with more than 550,000 members nationwide and a staff of scientists, attorneys
and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the planet's wildlife and
wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
General email: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
Earth Action email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org