Edward Teller the Communist? American Scientists and the National Security State during the Cold War (4PM in McCune Room; 6th Floor HSSB)

The recent release of the FBI files on Edward Teller has revealed the bureau’s suspicion and investigation of the “father” of the American hydrogen bomb as a possible communist. Almost certainly the result of a mistaken identity, the FBI’s case on Teller, one of the most outspoken anti-communist Hungarian-American scientists, nevertheless sheds lights on the complex relationships between American scientists and the national security state during the Cold War, especially when compared with the experiences of his political rivals J. Robert Oppenheimer and members of the President’s Science Advisory Committee. This paper is co-authored by Lawrence Badash who will be present at the talk and lead the question period.