Edward Teller
Edward Teller
Edward Tellerwas a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who was born in Hungary, and is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb", although he claimed he did not care for the title. He made numerous contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopyand surface physics. His extension of Enrico Fermi's theory of beta decay, in the form of Gamow–Teller transitions, provided an important stepping stone in its application, while the Jahn–Teller effect and the Brunauer–Emmett–Tellertheory have retained their original formulation and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth15 January 1908
CityBudapest, Hungary
CountryUnited States of America
I hate doubt, yet I am certain that doubt is the only way to approach anything worth believing in.
There is a time for scientists and movie stars and those who have flown the atlantic to restrain their opinions lest they be taken more seriously than they should be.
In the history of physics, there have been three great revolutions in thought that first seemed absurd yet proved to be true. The first proposed that the earth, instead of being stationary, was moving around at a great and variable speed in a universe that is much bigger than it appears to our immediate perception. That proposal, I believe, was first made by Aristarchos two millenia ago ... Remarkably enough, the name Aristarchos in Greek means best beginning.
Two paradoxes are better than one they may even suggest a solution.
Secrecy, once accepted, becomes an addiction.
Science attempts to find logic and simplicity in nature. Mathematics attempts to establish order and simplicity in human thought.
[Chemistry] laboratory work was my first challenge. ... I still carry the scars of my first discovery-that test-tubes are fragile.
Had we not pursued the hydrogen bomb, there is a very real threat that we would now all be speaking Russian. I have no regrets.
Physics without mathematics is meaningless.
The main purpose of science is simplicity and as we understand more things, everything is becoming simpler.
I am guilty of the great crime of optimism.
Secrecy in science does not work. Withholding information does more damage to us than to our competitors.
It is often claimed that knowledge multiplies so rapidly that nobody can follow it. I believe this is incorrect. At least in science it is not true. The main purpose of science is simplicity and as we understand more things, everything is becoming simpler. This, of course, goes contrary to what everyone accepts.
I believe in good. It is an ephemeral and elusive quality. It is the center of my beliefs, but it cannot be strengthened by talking about it.