Edward Teller - Discussing the atomic bomb with Leó Szilárd (63/147)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2017
- 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: There was one of my acquaintances who later became a very good friend. I had met him in Hungary when I was a high school student. His name was Leó Szilárd, perhaps - even including Johnny von Neumann - the most ingenious person whom I ever met. Some also thought the most disagreeable person. He paid no attention to people's feelings, he was ready to violate everybody's taste, except there was one thing, one bad thing he never did. Never, never did he bore anyone. Whatever he said may be objectionable, less often wrong, but boring or obvious, never. He was not invited to our conference, ever, but we knew each other. When the conference was over and Mici and I relaxed, we got a phone call. We'd got- had plenty of reasons to relax because most of the social entertainment for the conference was our job. And as I say, we'd said to each other- This was a nice conference, and thanks God it's over. And there goes the phone. Leó Szilárd- I heard about your conference, I am on my way to Washington. Meet me at the railroad station at such-and-such a time. OK. I told Mici and Mici said- Now, one thing, I am dead tired. Fine, but for God's sakes, not invite Szilárd to stay with us. So we went out, Mici was waiting in the car. I brought Szilárd and the first thing Mici says- Will you stay with us? Fine. Szilárd said- Of course. And this part of the story has a rapid and happy ending. We took Szilárd home, showed him to his room. He sat on the bed, he said- I slept here before and this bed is too hard. Is there a good hotel in the neighborhood? Well, Mici was exceedingly happy. The Wardman Park Hotel was visible from our place and there is where we put up Szilárd. But of course, the other part of the story was that Szilárd gave me a very detailed statement- Now is the time to make atomic bombs. That is what we did not discuss in the conference; that is what we avoided discussing. And I knew that this question in Szilárd's mind was not a novel one. Years before, just when I returned to England from Copenhagen, at that time I did not know Szilárd very well, but he came to me and he said- We now know that in nuclei there is a lot of energy. We now know that with the help of neutrons, this energy can be released. If we find a good way of doing it, that would lead to nuclear explosives. - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
That generation of scientists was some sort of miracle into itself. Einstein, Teller, Szilard, Fermi, Neumann, Ulam etc.
Ive often thought about that myself. What makes it even more astonishing is how many of the brilliant ppl all came from the same general region of Austria-Hungary, and regions near germany, during the first world war era. What was in the water over there for the 25yrs of the 1900's?!? Having so many revolutionary minds from the same generation is amazing, but having all them born in the same geographical region is a true miracle!! Makes me wonder what discoveries were lost to mankind as a result of all the ppl killed during ww1, who also shared the gift of a brilliant mind!
Will Thacker yes you are very right. It’s so sad to think of all the wasted human potential. But it is up to us to push science forward.
@@willthacker5182 Tesla smokes them all. Not a single destructive invention, only brilliant stuff that gave the entire human race a gigantic push forward. Tesla was also born in the Austria-Hungary, by the way, only some 50 years before the 'nuclear' generation.
@@agnezabarutanski1963
What is a “ destructive invention”?
@@agnezabarutanski1963 I completely 100% agree with you. Someone asked Einstein what’s it like to be the smartest man in the world and he said I don’t know ask Tesla.
He places Szilárd even above Von Neumann? Wow!
*cringe*
Neumann made the digital computer and binar language.
Szilárd made research in fission reactions, the nuclear power plant, particle accelerator and the electro microscope.
Everything happens for a reason, and we still need to applause them, though we need to think many times about what this reason is for our Planet's sake; for the future, now is the time to heal.
I can’t remember what I ate yesterday much less remember every day of my life
Teller surely forgot more amazing stories than most people will ever experience, his life was just that dense
Is Leo developer of first nuclear fission?
No, he took the idea from H.G. Wells - The world set free
Szilard was crossing a street and in his own description said that between the time the light turned green and he began to cross the street and the light turned red when he reached the other side, he had worked out the idea of nuclear fission. That is, neutrons doubling each time they hit another atom and releasing more neutrons, each time releasing huge amounts of energy. The idea of a nuclear bomb was obvious to every physicist who understood the fission process. Szilard read the H.G. Wells story and the idea of a bomb and its possible consequences became part of his life to the point he spent most of his efforts towards nuclear arms reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons. Szilard wrote, "Voice of the Dolphins: and Other Stories" which was an allegory for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Well, kind of, he certainly is the first to think of the use of a weapon WAY before anyone even dreamt about it, probably by like 5 years or so.
Fermi created the first chain reaction in nuclear fission
@@hcronoswith Leo Szilárd.
As more time goes on, and the more research I do, it was, indeed, Leo Szilard's idea to create a Nuclear bomb. It was his and his alone initially, perhaps for the first 3 or 4 years after he thought about an atom splitting. I researched and found Szilard would talk his mouth off at conferences he wasn't invited to and all he talked about was how a split atom could produce a weapon. It truly is Leo Szilard's 'invention'. God Bless Fermi, Oppenheim et all, they each got WAY WAY WAY too much credit when compared with Szilard with regard to the creation of the nuclear bomb. It's almost all Szilard. He has been forgotten by history while they have not, but it was all Szilard's idea initially.
hajrá magyarok
Does he call John von Neumann “Johnny” von Neumann???
Everyone who was a contemporary of Von Neumann and knew him called him "Johnny." That was his "nickname" used by people who were friends of his.
He was only Jancsi in Hungary. Neumann János from Budapest.
I do not believe Fermi was Jewish. His wife however. was Jewish.
Fermi was not Jewish.
Hungarian is not just a language, it is the ultimate tool to truly open your mind and take it miles beyond your believed maximum potential. It has to be the language of Gods. I know a few languages, even speak some fluent, but none of them open my mind as the Hungarian.
It's bullshit, man. And I'm a native Hungarian speaker.
I’m Hungarian, and this is nonsense
They changed the world probably more like Jesus did...
Jews always changed the world.
Jesus,
These scientists
ISRAEL herself is blooming the deserts
All Jews. And am not anti-Semitic here
all Hungarians brother
Both the Jewish and the Hungarian traditions include a deep and abiding respect for lifelong education, moral inquiry, and furtherance of the communal good.
Fermi wasnt jewish, heck most of the manhattan project wasnt
@@tomaspabon2484 search for " Jewish bomb" and you will be shown nuclear weapons. What does that mean?
Incredible, the comments here. This guy was reprehensible: pushed the creation of something that can obliterate humanity in a blink (and did, twice), even lying when he needed to push his own agenda. Even nature tried to stop him in his tracks...unfortunately he only lost a foot. Sobering to note that the focus is oh, how brilliant he was. His work created death. As for the wonder that so many scientists came from one region, there was nothing better to do - no distraction of Internet and TV, unfortunately just ego. If you're brilliant but can't see beyond promoting your own imagined grandeur, your brilliance is nothing. The other cursed one was Szilard who took the imaginings of a novelist to bring into being that which could annihilate us in a blink. What skewed focus is revealed here! Someone wrote: "But a 1949 committee of scientists, led by Oppenheimer, declared the Super both unnecessary and immoral. To Teller, this was dangerous advice. With the Cold War pulsing about them, Truman, at Teller's urging, overruled the scientific committee and went ahead with development of the fusion bomb. Teller contributed still-secret work on the design." They're still trying today to stop nuclear development, with good reason. Only a matter of time before another ego-maniac is in control of it.
You live in a fantasy world. The atom bomb saved millions of lives. There was no internet in the 1940s so of course it was not a distraction.
It seems your comments on Szilard's personality are misguided by an inaccurate account of history. Szilard ideated the bomb but didn't publish it until the German scientists were successfully bombarding U-235 albeit unsuccessfully (using contaminated graphite as housing). Szilard wrote his beliefs in a 10 commandments list - read them to understand why he didn't care about feelings. You should dig deeper on history as well as what Szilard did. On why he and Fermi were motivated to prove the bomb could be built as it seemed tragically inevitable that it would be needed as the German scientists discovered how to split the atom. How when Germany was beaten, how he pushed that the US not use the bomb on Japan, proposing if it must be used to demonstrate power, to let Japan know they would bomb one of ten or so cities ahead of time, but not which one, so that those cities could be evacuated of people. Roosevelt died, and Truman took over. Leo petitioned Truman but he was not heard. Szilard was pushed out of the Manhatten Project by General Groves and wasn't involved in the science lead by Oppenheimer ("I am destroyer of worlds"). Oppenheimer convinced Teller to ignore Szilard's petitions as well, thinking civilians didn't have enough information to make such decisions and that Szilard was abusing his fame as a scientist by trying to change history. Cheers
The Einstein letter was written by Szilard who was a founder of the Union of Concerned Scientists and had turned against nukes as had most of the scientists at the end of the war. Szilard was ahead of everyone almost always. Groves hated Szilard. Nuff said.
You are an illiterate idiot.
This is a stunningly ignorant take. Szilard didnt invent anything, he diacovered a basic fucking fact about nuclear physics. He then extrapolated from that than huge ammounts of energy might be created. Any form of power generation can be a weapon its not his fault that nuclear chain reactions are a thing