Physicist, born in Odessa, S Ukraine. He studied at Leningrad University, where later he was professor of physics (19314). He did research at Göttingen, developing a quantum theory for radioactivity, then moved to the USA as professor of physics at George Washington University (193455) and at Colorado (195668). In 1948, with Ralph Alpher, he developed the big bang theory of the origin of the universe. In molecular biology he hypothesized that patterns within DNA chains formed a genetic code, a proposal shown by the mid-1950s to be correct. He was also a writer, and received acclaim as a popularizer of science, beginning with Mr Tomkins in Wonderland (1936).
George Gamow (pronounced "GAM-off") (March 4, 1904 – August 19, 1968) , born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov (Георгий Антонович Гамов), was a Ukrainian born physicist and cosmologist. He worked on subjects including the atomic nucleus, star formation, stellar nucleosynthesis, big bang nucleosynthesis, nucleocosmogenesis and genetics.
Life and career
Gamow was born in Forben, in the Russian Empire, now in Ukraine. Gamow studied under Alexander Friedmann for some time in Leningrad, though Friedmann died in 1925.
On graduation, he studied quantum theory in Göttingen, where his research into the atomic nucleus provided the basis for his doctorate. He then worked at the Theoretical Physics Institute of the University of Copenhagen, from 1928 to 1931, with a break to work with Ernest Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge.
In the early 1900s, radioactive materials were known to have characteristic exponential decay rates or half lives. By 1928, Gamow had solved the theory of the alpha decay of a nucleus via tunnelling. Gamow solved a model potential for the nucleus and derived a relationship between the half-life of the particle and the energy of the emission.
Gamow then worked at a number of Soviet establishments before deciding to flee Russia because of increased oppression. Gamow became a naturalized American in 1940.
Big bang theory work
Gamow produced an important cosmogony paper with his student Ralph Alpher, which was published as "The Origin of Chemical Elements" (Physical Review, April 1, 1948). (Gamow had added the name of Hans Bethe, listed on the article as "H. Bethe, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York" (who had not had any role in the paper) to make a pun on the first three letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha beta gamma.)
The paper outlined how the present levels of hydrogen and helium in the universe (which are thought to make up over 99% of all matter) could be largely explained by reactions that occurred during the "big bang".
In the paper, Gamow made an estimate of the strength of residual cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB).
Gamow published another paper in the British journal Nature later in 1948, in which he developed equations for the mass and radius of a primordial galaxy (which typically contains about one hundred billion stars, each with a mass comparable with that of the sun).
Astronomers and scientists did not make any effort to detect this background radiation at that time, due to both a lack of interest and the immaturity of microwave observation. Consequently, Gamow's prediction in support of the big bang was not substantiated until 1964, when Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson made the accidental discovery for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1978. Their work determined that the universe's background radiation was 2.7 degrees above absolute zero, just 2.3 degrees lower than Gamow's 1948 prediction.
DNA and later career
After the discovery of the structure of DNA, Gamow realized that the sequence of nucleotides formed a code. Gamow made a major contribution to the problem of how the order of the four different kinds of bases (adenine, cytosine, thymine and guanine) in DNA chains could control the synthesis of proteins from amino acids.
Gamow remained in Washington until 1954, then worked at University of California, Berkeley (1954), and University of Colorado at Boulder (1956–1968).
Gamow died in Boulder, Colorado on August 19, 1968, aged 64.
Writings
Gamow was a highly successful science writer, with several of his books still in print. Gamow himself prepared the illustrations for his books, which added a new dimension to and complemented what Gamow intended to convey in the text.
In 1956, he was awarded the Kalinga Prize by UNESCO for his work in popularizing science with his Mr. Tompkins... series of books (1939–1967), One Two Three ...
Gamow was working on a textbook entitled Basic Theories in Modern Physics, with Richard Blade, but it was not completed before he died. The Americans were apparently not swayed by the arguments that Gamow was only given officer status so that he could teach science courses to soldiers and that the USSR had sentenced him to death for his defection. The two tallest buildings on the University of Colorado-Boulder main campus are named the Gamow Towers in his honor.
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