Edward Teller dies at 95

Physicist Edward Teller, who helped develop both the atomic & hydrogen bombs and alienated many of his friends in the process, died yesterday at 95:

Few, if any, physicists of this century have generated such heated debate as Edward Teller. Much of it centered on his decade-long effort to produce the hydrogen bomb, his ardent promotion of nuclear weapons in general, his deep suspicion of Soviet intentions and his opposition to curtailment of nuclear testing.

His frustrations in seeking to win support for development of the hydrogen bomb led to his testimony that helped deprive J. Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the development of the first atomic bomb, of his security clearance. The result in much of the scientific community was a backlash against Dr. Teller that clouded the rest of his life.

I just finished reading about Teller in Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb; I had no idea he was still alive.

BTW, if you read to the end of the article, it says that Walter Sullivan, the author of the piece, who was “a science writer and editor for The New York Times, died in 1996.” An obituary within an obituary.