Talk:Edward Teller

Development

What remains to be done with this article? It seems quite developed to me. Russell D. Jones 01:15, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

One note: it was less that the third-generation weapons and X-ray lasers were impractical, as that treaties, such as demilitarization of space, prevented any testing. --Howard C. Berkowitz 02:05, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, but that didn't matter to Teller. But Brown and May make no reference about the political infeasibility, only that it was "technically unworkable." Russell D. Jones 02:31, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Thus Brown and May don't really know if it was technically unworkable or not. You can't find out if an X-ray laser works without a nuclear explosion in space. --Howard C. Berkowitz 03:19, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Approval?

[Text copied from discussion page of Paul Wormer]:

Paul, what is lacking with Edward Teller that we would prevent it from being approved? Russell D. Jones 01:11, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Not much, maybe a few more references? On the other hand, as I stated several times on the Forum, once it is approved, it is hard to change it. And who knows, you or I may read something interesting in the future that then will be hard to add. --Paul Wormer 13:09, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Another thing: WP has a section about Teller and the Israel A- and H-bombs. Teller doesn't say anything about this in his Memoirs. The WP section is based on one book only (that I haven't seen and I don't know its trustworthiness). Since the fact whether or not Israel possesses nuclear weapons is formally top-secret, I decided not to chase after that book and to skip the topic altogether. Any opinion anyone? --Paul Wormer 14:04, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

As time permits in the next few days, I'll try to get more on the Israeli nuclear program and Teller, although the best use of time may simply be wikilink Israeli nuclear program and explore Teller's role there. Anyone have Mordechai Vanunu's or Avner Cohen's books at hand?

I can add some text about how Teller definitely was involved in establishing the United States intelligence community assumptions about the Israeli program. He contended that they would never do a full test, since that would be detectable and obviously end their policy of "strategic ambiguity".--Howard C. Berkowitz 18:08, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Let me underscore this: Is all we have to go on regarding Teller's role in the Israeli weapons program is Wikipedia and one book of unknown trustworthiness? I say our article merits ten words on the matter. "Teller also may have been involved in the Israeli weapons program." Sorry, that's eleven words....

Our biography should focus, foremost, on what Teller's fame is grounded: his physics, the H-Bomb, LLNL, and his backstabbing of Oppenheimer. His life after (say) 1970 is pretty much a coda. I'm not persuaded that we need extensive sections on his roles on intelligence or Israel because, as Howard asserts, he was only "involved" in these activities. If it merits longer discussion of Teller's involvement in these issues, let's put it in Israeli nuclear program and United States intelligence community because they don't seem to bear directly on the four main points of Teller's life. Russell D. Jones 15:47, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

I have a strong preference of not writing at all about the Teller-Israel connection, because as I wrote here it will by necessity unprovable guesswork. I'm puzzled, however, why Russell removed my deliberations about the matter from this talk page. Was I politically incorrect in American eyes? To avoid misunderstanding: I had not intended to include any of it in the article. --Paul Wormer 16:42, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, Paul, I may have been a little too strong and too little clear. I do agree with your sensibilities on this matter. And, I guess I was a little sloppy with the editing. I didn't see (or read) the article organization section. I'm puzzled at how I missed it. I'll restore it. Sorry for the confusion. Russell D. Jones 16:49, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

After some additional research, I have seen nothing to suggest Teller's direct involvement in Israel's nuclear program. U.S. intelligence, yes, and there are data to suggest that he might have been sympathetic, at the U.S. policy level, to Israel having a justification (remember, this was pre-NPT) to develop a program. Frankly, given his reputation among U.S. weaponeers, I'm not sure he would been an asset to the Israeli program -- he was at best a conceptual designer and never really contributed to implementation in the U.S.

We do address other aspects of his involvement in U.S. policy, and I do regard it as quite appropriate to mention these confirmed snippets in a sentence or two about intelligence and nonproliferation policy (i.e., he wasn't opposed to Israeli proliferation). Howard C. Berkowitz 16:47, 1 February 2010 (UTC)