Named in honor of the distinguished Hungarian-born, U.S. physicist Edward Teller {1908– }. Known for his seminal work in physics and astrophysics, notably on the Gamow-Teller relationship, he has also made significant contributions in chemical physics, molecular physics and quantum theory. He has been a professor of physics at George Washington University, the University of Chicago and the University of California. He inspired the creation of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and has served as its director. Senior research associate at the Hoover Institute, Stanford University, since 1975, he has been highly effective in promoting open international science free of secrecy. Having entered the world a few months before the Tunguska {see planet  (5471)} event, Teller was honored by the naming of this minor planet by his colleagues on his eighty-fourth birthday, 1992 Jan. 15, during his participation in a NASA Workshop... _ _.