A Terrifying Interview That Led to Time-Travel Physics

A Terrifying Interview That Led to Time-Travel Physics

Gregory Benford recounts a tense job interview with the legendary physicist Edward Teller at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, revealing Teller’s sharp intellect and openness to unconventional ideas. Their interaction led Benford to explore deep theoretical questions, including time-travel paradoxes and faster-than-light particles known as tachyons. These ideas later inspired his novel Timescape. The story highlights how real scientific discovery often emerges from bold imagination and intellectual risk, not just careful data.
Gregory Benford, Timescape (1980)
— Science-fiction novel inspired by Benford’s real research on tachyons and time-causality.

Gregory Benford, essays and memoir pieces
— Particularly his personal recollections of working at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and interactions with Edward Teller (often published in science magazines and essay collections).

Edward Teller
— Contributions to theoretical physics and his role at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (now Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory).

Tachyons and Time Paradoxes
— Feinberg, G. (1967), Possibility of Faster-Than-Light Particles, Physical Review
— Classic paper introducing tachyons and their theoretical implications.

Science and Science Fiction Interface
— Benford, G., Deep Time and The Physics of Immortality (selected essays on science creativity and speculation).