Edward Teller

last updated 8 January 2015

Dr. Edward Teller, a theoretical physicist who was central to the development of the hydrogen bomb, is the author of Memoirs: A Twentieth Century Journey in Science and Politics (Perseus Books, $35). Here he selects his six favorite books.

Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (W. W. Norton & Company, $21). The play begins with God and the Devil having a conference; God leaves, and the scene closes with the Devil talking to himself: “From time to time I’m happy to see the old guy. I’m careful to see we don’t quarrel. It is wonderful for such a great authority to speak so humanely with me, the Devil.” The play closes with these words from God: “The one who always tries his best, him we can save.”

Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler (Bantam Books, $7). This book had a great effect on me at a critical time in my life. Koestler’s account of the Moscow trials of the late 1930s balances the accusations and the answering defense in so even-handed a manner that until the final pages, Koestler’s position is uncertain. In the end, this book crystallizes the objections to the methods of control used by Russian communism.

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Anthony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare (Oxford University Press, $7). I deeply enjoy Shakespeare’s plays, especially his historical plays, which insightfully describe human motives and foibles and their central place in political history. This one involves romance, betrayal, misjudgment, and a choice between death and dishonor.

The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 by John Toland (out of print). This book enables European and American readers to grasp their cultural differences from pre-World War II Japan. Toland reports the developments between 1940 and 1946 in wonderful detail-for example, the role of General Anami, who ended the Palace Coup and enabled the Emperor to plead for surrender, then felt honor-bound to take his own life.

Around the World in Eighty Days: The Extraordinary Journeys by Jules Verne (Oxford University Press, $10). I have enjoyed this book since my childhood. Phileas Fogg, a British traveler and bettor, and his French assistant Passepartout discover when their 80-day time limit seems to be lost by an hour that Passepartout, like a good Frenchman, has never adjusted his watch, so in fact the bet is won by a day.

The Man Who Could Work Miracles by H.G. Welles (McFarland & Company, updated edition not yet released). A skeptic discovers he can work miracles, and commands the earth to stand still. This is a catastrophe, because he fails to command the atmosphere to stand still too, so everything blows away in the resulting storm. The story ends happily when the skeptic performs his greatest miracle: He undoes his recent past, and loses his talent forever.