Edward Teller - Discussing the compression ideas with Ulam (106/147)

Описание: To listen to more of Edward Teller’s stories, go to the playlist:    • Edward Teller (Scientist)  

Hungarian-American physicist, Edward Teller (1908-2003), helped to develop the atomic bomb and provided the theoretical framework for the hydrogen bomb. He remained a staunch advocate of nuclear power, calling for the development of advanced thermonuclear weapons. [Listener: John H. Nuckolls]

TRANSCRIPT: A few weeks later - I believe it was my 43rd, 43rd birthday, the 15th of January of 1951 - we had a session with all the senior people present that made the final decisions on what the tests that were to be made within a few months in the Pacific, what they would consist in. Bradbury said- Prior to those tests we should not think of any new approaches. It was a peculiar statement. I had discussed my novel ideas with a few people around me, but not in general. I wanted to present it at that meeting and Bradbury said- No. Tests first. No new proposals in the meantime. And there it stood, with one little exception; that within a few weeks Stan Ulam came to me with suggestions to use the nuclear explosion in order to compress some materials. That was not the first time that such a suggestion was made, but it was the first time that in a discussion with Ulam I took it very seriously. I told Stan- Indeed, you could compress and there are other methods to compress, which I will promptly- which I will very soon describe and that can then lead to the actual working of the hydrogen bomb. I'll write a paper and we'll publish together. And that is what happened.