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George Gamow

! scientist · # tag · @ author
1904-1968 · nuclear physics, cosmology, astrophysics, molecular biology
Theoretical physicist with an incredible breadth of interests, who first applied quantum mechanics to atomic nuclei, explained alpha decay via tunneling, was one of the originators of the Big Bang theory, and predicted the cosmic microwave background. His work also covers nuclear astrophysics and the genetic code.

Biography

Born in Odessa. Studied at Leningrad University, then trained in Göttingen, Copenhagen (under Niels Bohr), and Cambridge (under Ernest Rutherford). In 1933, disillusioned with the Soviet regime, he made a daring escape with his wife — first attempting to cross the Black Sea by kayak, then crossing the border into Turkey. Settled in the USA, worked at George Washington University, then at the University of Colorado Boulder. He actively popularized science, writing a series of books about Mr. Tompkins. Awarded the Kalinga Prize by UNESCO.

Key discoveries

💡 Gamow was a renowned prankster. When writing a famous paper on nucleosynthesis, he included Hans Bethe as a co-author, who contributed nothing, just to create a pun on the first three letters of the Greek alphabet: Alpher, Bethe, Gamow. Bethe later joked it was his only paper where he did no work, but his name is immortalized in alphabetical order.
Quote: "The Big Bang happened so long ago that there was no 'then' then."
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Related tags
big bangquantum tunneling
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tunnel effect
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Arno PenziasRalph AlpherStephen HawkingEdwin HubbleFred HoyleGeorges LemaîtreLeo EsakiBrian Schmidt

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