George Gamow: scientific amateur and polymath (Q5950605)

In this account of the life and work of the physicist George Gamow (1904-1968), the author presents a substantial description of Gamow's scientific achievements, such as the application of quantum mechanics to the atomic nucleus, the explanation of alpha decay by quantum tunneling, the liquid-drop model of the nucleus, and the application of nuclear physics to astrophysics and cosmology. Special paragraphs are devoted to Gamow's contributions to unravel the secret of the genetic code, to the reasons for his exclusion from the American atomic bomb project, and to his remarkable success as a popular science writer. In the biographical part of the paper, the author gives many details about Gamow's early years in Russia, the circumstances of his escape from the Soviet Union, and his splendid career in the US, where he was most successful as the organizer of the famous Washington Conferences on Theoretical Physics that brought together all of the best physicists in (or visiting) the United States between 1935 and 1942.