Dr. Edward Teller, one of America’s preeminent scienitific minds has passed away at the age of 95. Teller was one of the leading developers of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon that has thankfully never been used in combat. When asked about his work in developing nuclear weapons, Teller had this to say:
"The second half of the century has been incomparably more peaceful than the first, simply by putting power into the hands of those people who wanted peace." In his memoirs, published several years ago, Teller added: "I deeply regret the deaths and injuries that resulted from the atomic bombings, but my best explanation of why I do not regret working on weapons is a question: What if we hadn’t?"
Indeed, had the United States not developed nuclear weapons and established a nuclear deterrent, the combat use of such weapons could have been far more widespread than just Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Teller is also correct in noticing that nuclear weapons ensured that widespread military conflicts between the United States and Russia, and more recently India and Pakistan have not occurred.
Teller is also one of the founders of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, an organization which has pioneered the development of many important and lifesaving technological advancements.
