The Vast Visions of Edward Teller

Better a Shield Than a Sword: Perspectives on Defense and Technology. Edward Teller. The Free Press, New York, 1987. 225 pp. $19.95. Edward Teller has written a remarkable book. But then that should not be surprising. He is a very remarkable man. Teller is one of the great scientists of our time and his scientific contributions as sure him a place in the history of physics. He is also a philosopher and a man who has had a decisive influence on the thinking of America's major political leaders since the end of World War II. In Better a Shield Than a Sword, Teller deals with many subjects that have held his attention over the years. The nature of freedom has always been uppermost in his mind. He describes his experiences as a teenager in Hungary where, in quick succession, both fascist and communist tyrannies held sway. There is no doubt that these circumstances had a fundamental influence on Teller's life and he recognized early on that whatever the label, tyranny is al ways the same. Teller has a deep understanding of the nature of freedom and the uncertainty and ambiguity that inevitably accompany it. it is because he understands freedom that he has been one of the staunchest de fenders of free debate and a vigorous opponent of secrecy in politics as well as science. Teller was one of the first to warn against extensive secrecy in government and that secrecy is ultimately self-defeating. Events definitely have proved him right. It is Teller's habit of being right on most of the important issues of our time that has always amazed his friends and infuriated his opponents. He was, of course, correct in his efforts to persuade the U.S. government to build a hydrogen bomb when the great majority of American scientists, led by the charismatic J. Robert Oppenheimer, opposed the program. Oppenheimer acted from motives that were clearly confused and confusing, and Teller said as much. There are some who blame Teller for saying that, since they believe it ultimately cost Oppenheimer his security clearance. I believe that what Teller said about Oppenheimer was true but that it was not decisive. Oppenheimer, given his record and the tenor of the times, would have lost his clearance independently of what anyone said about him. There is a poignant chapter in the book about Andrei Sakharov. Teller clearly has great respect for Sakharov as a man who has the courage of his convictions. Al though Teller does not draw attention to it, the contrast between what happened to Oppenheimer and to Sakharov when each ran afoul of the powers that be is obvious. Although Oppenheimer lost his security clearance, he remained a leading figure in American science as the director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton until his death in 1967. Sakharov was not that fortunate. He lost his job, was not permitted to work in physics and was finally subjected to internal exile for seven years. The two stories speak volumes about the difference between freedom and tyranny. Physics and its application to technology are never far from Teller's thinking, and it is here that he gives free reign to his vivid imagination. He writes about laboratories on the moon, dealing with safety problems in nuclear reactors, and computers and automation—all with the same enthusiasm. There is, of course, a discussion of strategic defense, from which the title of the book is derived. Those of us who have worked with Teller for many years were not surprised by his recent advocacy of developing defenses against nuclear-armed intercontinental missiles. I remember becoming involved in programs related to strategic defense inspired by Teller as early as 1957. The book begins with a lucid and simply worded argument for developing a strategic defense system. Teller makes the case by arguing that the technology to do the job is on the horizon, and that if defenses could be developed, the world is likely to be a safer place. Compared to Teller's arguments, the ones made by opponents of strategic defense seem both timid'(those arguing that a strategic defense can never be built) and convoluted (those arguing that terror is better than hope). My guess is that history, once again, will prove Teller correct and that in the coming de cades we will deploy a strategic defense system to preserve what Teller calls "the miracle of freedom." Mark is chancellor of The University of Texas System, Austin, 78701. He is former secretary of the US. Air Force and the author of The Space Station: A Personal Journey (Duke University Press, 1987).

The Vast Visions of Edward Teller

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