Edward Teller was a prominent but controversial nuclear physicist who played an important role in the development of the atomic bomb. Along with other physicists like Robert Jastrow and Fred Singer, Teller worked to defend the Strategic Defense Initiative, discredit Carl Sagan’s scientifically valid nuclear winter theory, and convince the U.S. government to develop and stockpile more nuclear weapons.
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Edward Teller Character Timeline in Merchants of Doubt
The timeline below shows where the character Edward Teller appears in Merchants of Doubt. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...conservative think tanks helped defeat Nixon’s plans to de-escalate tensions with the Soviet Union, physicists Edward Teller and Robert Jastrow decided to start a think tank to defend the SDI. Prominent astronomer...
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The Birth of Team B. In 1976, Edward Teller convinced the CIA to conduct an independent assessment of the Soviet Union’s military strength. The...
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Russell Seitz’s accusations were far from the truth. Conservative scientists still worked freely—in fact, Edward Teller and Fred Singer even published rebuttals to the nuclear winter theory in Science, the journal...
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