He took credit for Elam's work - that which permitted 'Mike' to demonstrate the means for achieving trigger-temps (however impractical for the liq. D₂ employed). He'd never have gotten to the more practicable FFF methodology of tampers, etc. - without Elam's massive [and still classified, though the fact of it is not] insight.

His remarks at the Kangaroo Court of Oppenheimer are legendary and notorious.. I have the 9xx page transcript if you want to review it. And as to motive -?- for this perfect symbolic-knifing of Oppenheimer's character and competence, via McCarthyesque innuendo du jour

- that which history never can assign with the Certainty that all fanatics imagine might exist somewhere:

He Really Wanted his own sinecure: called Livermore Now LLL (despite E O Lawrence's widow's insistence upon erasing her husband's name from that institution). Repeatedly..

In brief, I have been interested in the entire history of things since Lise Meitner's and others investigations leading to finding fission products - and what ensued. Beginning as a kid. I think I've read most of the relevant participants' books and some other documents, now quite declassified and so obtainable. Except maybe not in This Ashcroft dead-world (?)

I've worked for years around groups led by a few of the principals, been privileged to speak with them occasionally about This All - as forms my own opinion of Teller's character and his machinations re 'Power' from the first - in Oppenheimer's office at UCB. Oppenheimer hired him!

As to Teller's spoon-feeding the enile willfully-gullible Reagan Star Wars - that was an execrable anti-scientific fantasy act IMO [then as now, and for all good reasons you are fully aware of] - a stupidity haunting us right on through the brain-dead Dubya and for a while longer; entirely based upon Teller's puff-reputation and his Ego, IMhO. In my book

Teller was right all down the line. He was a good man.

could not be farther from any one - or even 15 sentence summary of his life.


Ashton

About the possibility. Obv.

No matter the visceral grounds for Teller's persistence - Oppie Hoped It Wouldn't Work, as would any sane person, I think.

But he was wrong, and Teller's desire to see him replaced as leader - would have been reasonable on just the grounds of a misplaced (lack of enthusiasm?)

I disliked, mistrusted hTeller for his indulgence in feeding the hysteria of the times: Oppie's naive dabbling in the theoreticals of approaches other than capitalism - were ripe for suggestibility; this despite the Haakon Chevalier matter, about which O. eventually informed Groves anyway..

Maybe disliking him for dishonorable behavior is also a luxury of mine - for while the Hearings stripped O. of all access / thus further contribution of his excellent mind for delegating tasks to 'strengths', perhaps O. could not have functioned except As Leader (?!)

So does that make Teller OK, now - however via bad juju?
(I get so confused by homo-sap machinations)


Ashton
make a lousy Judge of 'transgressions' VS 'punishments'