An Evening with Dr. Edward Teller

Former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Emeritus, Hoover Institution Senior Research Fellow, and distinguished physicist Dr. Edward Teller speaks to a group of Chico State students in May of 1988.
Moderator: Dr. Bill Wattenburg
Edited by: Brian McCallen

[@richardfeynman5560]

I'm impressed by how well he played the piano! He was a highly intellectually gifted man, a real genius!

[@u.v.s.5583]

He had a great command of language. His answers are full of little gems, with amazing precision capturing disturbing realities.

[@kyks6771]

💬wrt 📧Teller's "are Abnormalities harmful? Without them & such mutations, humankind wouldn't have evolved & we wouldn't be here[...] ; 💬was👻Hitler the best thing that happened to the US? The🪙 ? The shear scientists🥼 that🛬🗽 ?

[@TheJmkovacs]

What an image. Dr Teller sitting on a high table, his feet dangling over the side, not touching the floor. He uses a roughly cut shepherd's stick to help balance his body, effortlessly. Giving it a perfectly normal stature as if it were the most natural thing to do. His physical infirmity is not even noticed, yet that is the reason why he sits that way. He found a natural way to make us forget his physical infirmity and admire the way he solved this simple human problem with great dignity and with equally great simplicity and humility.

[@ekesandras1481]

From a tram accident as a student in Munich he had one foot amputated.

[@atg131000]

I knew him personally

[@jenko701]

Thank you for putting this up .

[@kedmark]

Amen Dr Teller

[@matteopiccioni196]

wonderful

[@coolcat23]

It is great to hear that he was in favour of a demonstration of the bomb first. Disappointing that Oppenheimer played him by telling him political advice was none of their business while advising politicians.

[@punypoppy9147]

Well, Teller was right about everything, including the Climate...

[@TheCorrectionist1984]

Totally. It's so obvious to anyone that understands how different molecules preferentially absorb infra red. So let's see, we have a molecule that will prevent the earth from radiating away heat. And we increase the amount of this molecule over time. What will happen then? Hmmmmm....

[@robbie_]

You completely failed to join the dots. Earlier he speaks about reliance on foreign oil in the context of the budget deficit. What he really means is in the context of national security. He then goes on to talk about global warming. It's very clear what his motive was. It was nothing to do with climate. It concerned only national security and oil supply being in the hands of other countries.

[@benschmidt3967]

a harsh critic to those who do not understand science and its 'responsibilities' Criticism is good when you need to make the audience think about new concepts as well as existing ones- from a different POV. They say if he verbally abused you as a student studying under him- you gained his respect or made him think... compared to day...we can see where we've ended up. Not Martians or aliens- just clever. better a shield than a sword- i agree. His taste in music could say allot to about the decline... they did not put rock music on the 'space sentinel' did they...

[@walterpay341]

I wonder if he was haunted or felt guilty by what happened to Oppenheimer