"Naturally, the next question was: “How accurate is the nuclear data you used in your calculation?” As only Edward Teller is capable of doing, he replied, with a smirk-smile going from ear to ear: “Well, it’s possible that the data might be off by a factor of ten.” Which way, he didn’t profess to know, but I suspect that much of the audience didn’t sleep too well that night. (If you’re beginning to worry that you might not be sleeping too well from now on, I have to tell you that as it turned out, after careful nuclear measurements and detailed calculations were made, we were safe by far more than a factor of ten. It simply couldn’t happen.)"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Atheists from the United StatesAcademics from the United StatesJews from the United StatesPeople from New York CityPhysicists from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Cohen
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Samuel T. Cohen
Samuel Theodore Cohen (January 25, 1921 – November 28, 2010) was an American Jewish nuclear physicist. A former employee of RAND, he is most famous for being known as the inventor of the Neutron Bomb.
9 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Samuel T. Cohen →
Related Quotes
"Knowledge or no knowledge, the intelligence community is obliged to furnish estimates to military planners, even if t…"
"He was all in favor of fighting an all-out thermonuclear war that might devastate a fair fraction of civilization, to…"
"As you can well imagine, any nuclear bombing study that neglected to target Moscow would be laughed out of the room. …"
"The next day, I called one of them and asked if I could come to his office to discuss the briefing. Fine with him, so…"
"People are people, and all people have emotions and biases, rarely understood: intellectual and emotional behavior do…"
"The briefing was over, there were lots of questions that Teller handled with aplomb, knowing far more about the subje…"
"Teller’s irascible behavior forced him out of the mainstream but not out of the lab, thanks to Oppenheimer who didn’t…"
"5. He changed the title of his book Shame: Confessions of the Father of the Neutron Bomb to Fuck You! Mr. President a…"
"For him delicious flavors dwell In books as in old Muscatel."
"And in the evening, everywhere Along the roadside, up and down, I see the golden torches flare Like lighted street-la…"