Edward Teller

Edward Teller was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1908. As a young scientist, he immigrated to the United States in 1935. By 1939, Teller was working with Leo Szilard and Enrico Fermi on the first nuclear chain reaction project. In the following selection, Teller gives a vivid portrait of these important men who were involved in these momentous discoveries. He shows how the brilliant and sometimes difficult scientists interacted. Teller often served as an intermediary between these great scientific minds who otherwise might not have been able to work together. In telling this story, he also outlines the progress of the significant early discoveries relating to the splitting of the atom.

Teller realized early on the dangers of atomic fission. He was one of the first to try to alert the U.S. government that an enemy power with nuclear...