Teller

Teller, Edward, 1908-2003, American physicist, b. Budapest, Hungary, Ph.D. Univ. of Leipzig, 1930, where he studied under Werner Heisenberg. Fleeing the Nazis, he came to the United States in 1935 and was naturalized in 1941. He was (1935-41) a professor of physics at George Washington Univ. and during World War II he worked on atomic bomb research at a number of facilities. Later he was (1946-52) professor of physics at the Univ. of Chicago. He was also associated (1949-51) with the thermonuclear research program of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. From 1952, Teller was professor of physics at the Univ. of California and director of the Livermore division of its radiation laboratory. In 1960 he resigned from his laboratory post to devote his time to teaching and research; he retired in 1975.

Teller worked on the physics of the hydrogen bomb from 1941 forward and was instrumental in making possible the first successful U.S. explosion of the device on Nov. 1, 1952. Robert Oppenheimer had opposed the develop of the bomb on technical and moral grounds, and Teller later publicly called (1954) for his colleague's removal from positions involving national security, an act that alienated many within the scientific community. Teller received the 1962 Enrico Fermi Award For his contributions to the development, use, and control of nuclear energy; in 2003 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Teller, who distrusted arms control, was a supporter of a nuclear-powered X-ray laser missile defense system and a major proponent of President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. His writings include The Legacy of Hiroshima (with Allen Brown, 1962), The Constructive Uses of Nuclear Explosives (with others, 1968), and Memoirs: A Twentieth-Century Journey in Science and Politics (2001).

Teller, Henry Moore, 1830-1914, American statesman, b. Allegany co., N.Y. A lawyer, he practiced in Colorado after 1861. He commanded a militia district in the Civil War period. When Colorado became (1876) a state, Teller was elected U.S. Senator as a Republican. He resigned in 1882 to become Secretary of the Interior under President Arthur. Teller returned (1885) to the Senate and was reelected in 1891. As the leader of a group of silver Republicans, Teller supported William J. Bryan, Democratic and Populist candidate for President in 1896, and was returned to the Senate as an independent silver Republican. In 1902, he was elected on the Democratic ticket. In 1898, he secured the adoption of the Teller Resolution to the declaration of war against Spain, which pledged the United States to an independent Cuba.

orig. Ede Teller

(born Jan. 15, 1908, Budapest, Hung., Austria-Hungary—died Sept. 9, 2003, Stanford, Calif.) Hungarian-born U.S. nuclear physicist. Born to a prosperous Jewish family, he earned a Ph.D. at the University of Leipzig (1930) before leaving Nazi Germany (1933) and settled in the U.S. in 1935. In 1941 he joined Enrico Fermi's team in the effort to produce the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction, and in 1943 J. Robert Oppenheimer recruited him for the Manhattan Project. At the war's end, Teller advocated development of a fusion bomb, and he won permission after initial government resistance. With Stanislaw Ulam he developed a workable hydrogen bomb in 1952. That same year he helped establish the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (Livermore, Calif.), which became the chief U.S. factory for nuclear weapons. In 1954 he joined the opposition to Oppenheimer's continued security clearance. A staunch anticommunist, he devoted much energy to his crusade to keep the U.S. ahead of the Soviet Union in nuclear arms; he opposed nuclear weapons treaties, and he was principally responsible for convincing Pres. Ronald Reagan of the need for the Strategic Defense Initiative. In 2003 Teller was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Learn more about Teller, Edward with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Ede Teller

(born Jan. 15, 1908, Budapest, Hung., Austria-Hungary—died Sept. 9, 2003, Stanford, Calif.) Hungarian-born U.S. nuclear physicist. Born to a prosperous Jewish family, he earned a Ph.D. at the University of Leipzig (1930) before leaving Nazi Germany (1933) and settled in the U.S. in 1935. In 1941 he joined Enrico Fermi's team in the effort to produce the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction, and in 1943 J. Robert Oppenheimer recruited him for the Manhattan Project. At the war's end, Teller advocated development of a fusion bomb, and he won permission after initial government resistance. With Stanislaw Ulam he developed a workable hydrogen bomb in 1952. That same year he helped establish the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (Livermore, Calif.), which became the chief U.S. factory for nuclear weapons. In 1954 he joined the opposition to Oppenheimer's continued security clearance. A staunch anticommunist, he devoted much energy to his crusade to keep the U.S. ahead of the Soviet Union in nuclear arms; he opposed nuclear weapons treaties, and he was principally responsible for convincing Pres. Ronald Reagan of the need for the Strategic Defense Initiative. In 2003 Teller was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Learn more about Teller, Edward with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Teller is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 268.

It is situated on the southern half of the spit called Nook (or "Nooke") in Inupiaq, which separates Port Clarence (see also Port Clarence, Alaska) and Grantley Harbor, at the outlet of the Imuruk Basin.

Geography

Teller is located at (65.257294, -166.353807).

Teller is located on a spit 116 km (72 miles) northwest of Nome on the Seward Peninsula.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.1 square miles (5.5 km²), of which, 1.9 square miles (5.0 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) of it (9.00%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 268 people, 76 households, and 61 families residing in the city. The population density was 139.9 people per square mile (53.9/km²). There were 87 housing units at an average density of 45.4/sq mi (17.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 7.46% White and 92.54% Native American. 0.37% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 76 households out of which 53.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.8% were married couples living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.7% were non-families. 18.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.53 and the average family size was 3.80.

In the city the population was spread out with 41.4% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 15.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 135.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 134.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,000, and the median income for a family was $20,000. Males had a median income of $25,625 versus $31,250 for females. The per capita income for the city was $8,617. About 33.9% of families and 37.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 45.0% of those under the age of eighteen and 27.8% of those sixty five or over.

History

The Inupiat had a fishing camp called Nook 32 km (20 miles) south of Teller in the early 1800s. The 1825-28 Beechey expedition found three camps with a total of some 400 inhabitants and a winter camp site with burial grounds in a roughly 10-mile (15 km) radius around the later site of Teller on September 1, 1827.

An expedition from the Western Union telegraph spent the winter at the present site of Teller in 1866 and 1867; they called it "Libbyville" or "Libby Station". When the United States Government introduced reindeer herding in Alaska, a reindeer station operated from 1892 to 1900 at a site near Teller. The station was named for United States Senator and Secretary of the Interior Henry Moore Teller in 1892 by Sheldon Jackson.

Teller was established in 1900 after the Bluestone Placer Mine discovery 25 km (15 miles) to the south. It took its name from the reindeer herding station. During the boom years in the early 1900s, Teller had a population of about 5,000 and was a major regional trading center. Natives from Diomede, Wales, Mary's Igloo, and King Island came to trade there.

The Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church built Teller Mission across the harbor from Teller in 1900. The mission was renamed Brevig Mission in 1903, after the Reverend T.L. Brevig, who also served briefly as Teller's first postmaster, a post to which he was appointed 2 April 1900.

The dirigible "Norge" detoured to Teller on its first flight over the North Pole from Norway to Nome in 1926. Many present residents of Teller came from Mary's Igloo. Mary's Igloo is now a summer fishing camp and has no permanent residents.

Today, Teller is an Inupiat village that depends on subsistence hunting and fishing.

When the airship Zeppelin flow around the world and flew over Siberia they came to Alaska - Teller was named as the first spot they reached in US.

Education

Teller is served by the Bering Strait School District. James C. Isabell School serves grades Pre-K through 12.

References

External links

• Grantley Harbor Tours website