March 7, 2005

The New York Times > Science > Hans Bethe, Father of Nuclear Astrophysics, Dies at 98

I am fortunate to have been in the presence of both Bethe and Teller in my lifetime. I attended Cornell in the late '50s - early '60s and attended a lecture given by Bethe. While at a summer course at Stanford in 1978, I heard Teller speak.

America is so very fortunate to have had men of the caliber of both Teller and Bethe on the team that enabled the U.S. to beat the Nazis to the atomic and hydrogen bombs. The world would be a far different place if we had not won the nuclear race. Their political and social views also provided essential viewpoints to help us through the policy maze of the times.

This superb article by William Broad captures the tension of the times and the persona of Hans Bethe, a towering genius of my lifetime.

"Politically, Dr. Bethe was the liberal counterpoint (and proud of it) to Edward Teller, the physicist and conservative who played a dominant role in developing the hydrogen bomb. That weapon brought to earth a more furious kind of solar fusion, and Dr. Bethe opposed its development as immoral."

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