A stands for atom; it is so small
No one has ever seen it at all.B stands for bombs; the bombs are much bigger.
So, brother, do not be too fast on the trigger.F stands for fission; that is what things do
When they get wobbly and big and must split in two.
And just to confound the atomic confusion
What fission has done may be undone by fusion.H has become a most ominous letter;
It means something bigger, if not something better.S stands for secret; you can keep it forever —
Provided there’s no one abroad who is clever.Edward Teller (1908-2003) Hungarian-American theoretical physicist
“Atom Alphabet,” Alamogordo Daily News (14 Nov 1957)
(Source)
Attributed to Teller, as composed for his children. More discussion and sources: Edward Teller's "Atom Alphabet" (<=1946) : unsong.
Quotations about:
nuclear
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Person after person has said to me in these last few days that this new world we face terrifies them. I can understand how that feeling would arise unless one believes that men are capable of greatness beyond their past achievements. The times have usually brought us a leader when we needed him. The times now call for mankind as a whole to rise to great heights.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1945-08-10), “My Day”
(Source)
After the dropping of the atomic bomb.
Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) German-American psychologist, writer
Man’s Search for Meaning (1959)
