An Inventory of the Edward Teller Papers 1910-2005 561 manuscript boxes, 49 oversize boxes, 10 open reel boxes, 3 cubic foot boxes, 2 card file boxes, 1 oversize folder, 2 album boxes, 11 slide boxes, 6 envelopes, 7 motion picture film reels, 8 phonorecords (287 linear feet) Hoover Institution Archives Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-6010 Phone: (650) 723-3563, Fax: (650) 725-3445 Email: [email protected] http://www.hoover.org/library-and-archives Prepared by Linda Bernard, 1992, revised 1996 Beth Goder, Garrett Morton, and Pat Wandro, 2009-2013 © 2013 Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved. Collection Summary Collection Title Edward Teller papers, 1910-2003 Collection Number 76074 Creator Teller, Edward, 1908- Extent 561 manuscript boxes, 49 oversize boxes, 10 open reel boxes, 3 cubic foot boxes, 2 card file boxes, 1 oversize folder, 2 album boxes, 11 slide boxes, 6 envelopes, 7 motion picture film reels, 8 phonorecords (287 linear feet) Repository Hoover Institution Archives Stanford University, Stanford CA, 94305-6010 http://www.hoover.org/library-and-archives Abstract Correspondence, speeches and writings, reports, studies, memoranda, printed matter, photographs, motion picture film, video tapes, sound recordings, and memorabilia, relating to chemical, molecular and nuclear physics; development of new energy resources; national energy research planning; space exploration; and national and international security issues, including nuclear weapons and arms control. Physical Location Hoover Institution Archives Language of the materials The collection is in English, with some materials in Hungarian. 2 Information for Researchers Access The collection is open for research. The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible. Publication Rights For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Edward Teller papers, [Box no.], Hoover Institution Archives Acquisition Information Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1976, with increments acquired through 2003. Accruals Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at http://searchworks.stanford.edu/. Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the catalog is larger than the number of boxes listed in this finding aid. Related Collections A is for atom, B is for bomb : video tape, Hoover Institution Archives Ultimate weapon: the H-bomb dilemma video tape, Hoover Institution Archives Maria Goeppert Mayer Papers, Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego Leo Szilard Papers, Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in Stanford University’s online catalog. Nuclear energy. Nuclear weapons. Energy policy--United States. Physics. United States--Politics and government. United States--Foreign relations. United States--Armed Forces. United States--Defenses. Arms control. Space sciences. Video tapes. Phonotapes. Phonorecords. Slides (Photography) Moving-pictures. Edward Teller Biographical Note 15 January 1908 Born, Budapest, Hungary 1926-1928 Student, Karlsruhe Technical Institute, Karlsruhe, Germany 1928 Student, University of Munich, Germany 1929-1931 Research associate, University of Leipzig, Germany 1930 Ph.D., University of Leipzig 1931-1933 Research associate, Göttingen, Germany 1934 Married Augusta (Mici) Harkanyi Rockefeller fellow, Copenhagen, Netherlands 1934-1935 Lecturer, University of London, United Kingdom 1935-1941 Professor of physics, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 1939 Drove Leo Szilard to the summer house of Albert Einstein, where they drafted a letter to Franklin Roosevelt 1941 Naturalized, Washington, D.C. 1941-1942 Professor of physics, Columbia University, New York City 1942-1943 Physicist, University of Chicago, Illinois 1942-1946 Physicist, Manhattan engineer, District of Columbia 1943-1946 Physicist, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, University of California, Los Alamos, New Mexico 1946-1952 Professor of physics, University of Chicago 1947 Appointed chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Reactor Safeguards 1949 Author (with Francis Owen Rice), The Structure of Matter 1949-1952 Assistant director, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory 1952-1953 Consultant, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, University of California, Livermore, California 1953-1960 Professor of physics, University of California, Berkeley Edward Teller Biographical Note (Contd.) 1954 Served as a witness at the Atomic Security Commission's security hearing of J. Robert Oppenheimer 1954-1958, 1960-1975 Associate director, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory 1956-1958 Served on the General Advisory Committee to the Atomic Energy Commission 1957 Awarded the Joseph Priestley Memorial Award by Dickinson College 1958 Author (with Albert L. Latter), Our Nuclear Future 1958-1960 Director, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory 1960-1970 Professor of physics-at-large, University of California 1962 Author (with Allen Brown), The Legacy of Hiroshima 1972 Author, The Miracle of Freedom 1973 Appointed to Nelson Rockefeller's Commission on Critical Choices for Americans 1975 Author, Energy: A Plan for Action 1975- University professor emeritus, University of California Director emeritus and consultant, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Senior research fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford, California 1977 Author, Nuclear Energy in the Developing World 1979 Author, Energy from Heaven and Earth 1980 Author, The Pursuit of Simplicity 1982-1989 Served on White House Science Council 1987 Author, Better a Shield than a Sword: Perspectives on Defense and Technology 1989 Awarded Presidential Citizens Medal 1991 Author, Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics 1998 Awarded a Magyarsag Hirneveert Dij, the highest official Hungarian government award 2001 Author, Memoirs: A Twentieth-Century Journey in Science and Politics Edward Teller Biographical Note (Contd.) 2002 Department of Energy Gold Award July 2003 Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom 9 September 2003 Died at his home on Stanford campus Edward Teller Papers, 1910-2005 Scope and Content Note Edward Teller was a nuclear physicist whose work was instrumental in the development of the hydrogen bomb. His papers, which document his life and career, include correspondence, speeches and writings, reports, studies, memoranda, printed matter, photographs, motion picture film, video recordings, sound recordings, and memorabilia related to chemical, molecular and nuclear physics; development of new energy resources; national energy research planning; space exploration; and national and international security issues, including nuclear weapons and arms control. The majority of the material was received as an increment to the original collection, with documents originating from offices at the Hoover Institution, where Teller was a fellow, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, an organization which Teller helped to found and where he later served as director. The original accession contains Correspondence with Hans Bethe, Cresson Kearny, Nelson A. Rockefeller, and Lewis Strauss, as well as documents concerning the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans. Born in Hungary in 1908, Teller received his Ph.D. while studying in Germany. In 1935, he immigrated to the United States, where he became a professor at George Washington University and was later employed at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a member of the Manhattan Project. During his career, Teller taught at various universities and authored several books. The Incremental biographical file contains book-length works written about Teller's life, as well as a booklet created from an exhibit on Teller at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The file also includes calendars and documents related to Teller's birthday celebrations. See the Incremental oversize material for a scrapbook of letters given to Teller upon his retirement and certificates awarded to Teller. The incremental correspondence is arranged in three series based on provenance of material. The Incremental general correspondence includes letters of Teller's family members, in addition to correspondence from both offices where he worked. The Incremental Hoover Institution correspondence contains letters of Hans Bethe, Sidney Drell, Freeman Dyson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Henry A. Kissinger, Eugene Wigner, and Lowell Wood, as well as autograph requests that Teller received. The Incremental Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory correspondence as well as the Incremental Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory alphabetical file include letters related to Teller's scientific work, political advocacy, and business dealings. The correspondence regarding his professorial work is related to his research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and his position at the Department of Applied Science, a joint program of LLNL and the University of California, Davis.