Editing George Gamow

{{Short description|Ukrainian-American theoretical physicist and cosmologist (1904–1968)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = George Gamow
| birth_name = Georgiy Antonovich Gamov
| image = George Gamow.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|3|4}} ([[Old Style|O.S.]] February 20, 1904)
| birth_place = [[Odessa]], [[Kherson Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]] (now [[Ukraine]])
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1968|8|19|1904|3|4}}
| death_place = [[Boulder, Colorado]], U.S.
| spouse      = Rho (m. 1931, div. 1956)<br/>[[Barbara Perkins Gamow|Barbara]] (m. 1958)
| children    = 1 ([[Igor Gamow]])
| citizenship = [[Soviet Union]] <br/> United States
| field = [[Physicist]], [[science writer]]
| work_institutions = {{Plain list|
* [[University of Göttingen]]
* [[Niels Bohr Institute]]
* [[Cavendish Laboratory]]
* [[George Washington University]]
* [[University of California, Berkeley]]
* [[University of Colorado Boulder]]
}}
| alma_mater = [[Leningrad State University]]
| doctoral_advisor = [[Alexander Alexandrovich Friedman|Alexander Friedmann]]
| doctoral_students = {{Plain list|
* [[Ralph Asher Alpher]]
* [[Vera Rubin]]
}}
| known_for = {{Plain list|
* [[Gamow factor]]
* [[Gamow–Teller transition]]
* [[Alpher–Bethe–Gamow paper]]
* [[Alpha decay]]
* [[Big Bang]]
* [[cGh physics]]
* [[Liquid drop model]]
* [[Quantum tunnelling]]
* [[Urca process]]
* ''[[One Two Three ... Infinity]]''
}}
| prizes = [[Kalinga Prize]] (1956)<ref name="Kalinga"/>
| signature = Solvay1933Signature Gamow.jpg
}}
{{Cosmology|scientists}}

'''George Gamow''' (sometimes '''Gammoff'''; born '''Georgiy Antonovich Gamov'''; {{langx|uk|Георгій Антонович Гамов}}; 4 March 1904 – 19 August 1968) was a Soviet and American [[polymath]], [[Theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]] and [[cosmologist]].  He was an early advocate and developer of [[Georges Lemaître]]'s [[Big Bang theory]]. Gamow discovered a theoretical explanation of [[alpha decay]] by [[quantum tunneling]], invented the [[liquid drop model]] (the first mathematical model of the [[atomic nucleus]]), worked on [[radioactive decay]], [[stellar evolution|star formation]], [[stellar nucleosynthesis]], [[Big Bang nucleosynthesis]] (which he collectively called [[nucleocosmogenesis]]), and predicted the existence of the [[cosmic microwave background radiation]] and [[molecular genetics]]. Gamow was a key figure in the development and understanding of [[Quantum tunnelling|quantum tunneling]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Merzbacher |first=Eugen |date=2002-08-01 |title=The Early History of Quantum Tunneling |url=https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/55/8/44/412308/The-Early-History-of-Quantum-Tunneling-Molecular |journal=Physics Today |language=en |volume=55 |issue=8 |pages=44–49 |doi=10.1063/1.1510281 |bibcode=2002PhT....55h..44M |issn=0031-9228}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Abu-Shawareb |first1=H. |last2=Acree |first2=R. |last3=Adams |first3=P. |last4=Adams |first4=J. |last5=Addis |first5=B. |last6=Aden |first6=R. |last7=Adrian |first7=P. |last8=Afeyan |first8=B. B. |last9=Aggleton |first9=M. |last10=Aghaian |first10=L. |last11=Aguirre |first11=A. |last12=Aikens |first12=D. |last13=Akre |first13=J. |last14=Albert |first14=F. |last15=Albrecht |first15=M. |date=2024-02-05 |title=Achievement of Target Gain Larger than Unity in an Inertial Fusion Experiment |url=https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.065102 |journal=Physical Review Letters |language=en |volume=132 |issue=6 |page=065102 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.065102 |bibcode=2024PhRvL.132f5102A |issn=0031-9007}}</ref>

In his middle and late career, Gamow directed much of his attention to teaching and wrote popular books on science, including ''[[One Two Three... Infinity]]'' and the ''[[Mr Tompkins]]'' series of books (1939–1967). Some of his books remain in print more than a half-century after their original publication. The [[George Gamow Memorial Lectures]] at the [[University of Colorado at Boulder]] are given in his honor.

== Early biography and career ==
Gamow was born in [[Odessa]], [[Russian Empire]] (now [[Odesa]], [[Ukraine]]). His father taught Russian language and literature in [[secondary school]]s, and his mother taught geography and history at a school for girls. In addition to Russian, Gamow learned to speak some French from his mother and German from a tutor. Gamow learned English in his college years and became fluent. Most of his early publications were in German or Russian, but he later used English both for technical papers and for the lay audience.

He was educated at the [[Odessa University|Institute of Physics and Mathematics in Odessa]]<ref>{{cite web|title= History of the University of Odessa (in Ukrainian)|url= http://onu.edu.ua/uk/geninfo/history|website= History of the University of Odessa (in Ukrainian)|publisher= University of Odessa|access-date= 16 December 2016}}</ref> (1922–23) and at the [[Saint Petersburg State University|University of Leningrad]] (1923–1929). Gamow studied under [[Alexander Alexandrovich Friedman|Alexander Friedmann]] in [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]], until Friedmann's early death in 1925, which required him to change dissertation advisors.  At the university, Gamow made friends with three other students of theoretical physics, [[Lev Landau]], [[Dmitri Ivanenko]] and [[Matvei Petrovich Bronstein|Matvey Bronshtein]]. The four formed a group they called the [[Three Musketeers]], which met to discuss and analyze the ground-breaking papers on [[quantum mechanics]] published during those years. He later used the same phrase to describe the [[Ralph Alpher| Alpher]], [[Robert Herman| Herman]] and Gamow group.

Upon graduation, he worked on [[quantum mechanics|quantum theory]] in [[Göttingen]], where his research into the atomic nucleus provided the basis for his doctorate. He then worked at the [[Niels Bohr Institute|Theoretical Physics Institute]] of the [[University of Copenhagen]] from 1928 to 1931, with a break to work with [[Ernest Rutherford]] at the [[Cavendish Laboratory]] in [[Cambridge]]. He continued to study the atomic nucleus (proposing the [[liquid drop model|"liquid drop" model]]), but also worked on stellar physics with [[Robert d'Escourt Atkinson|Robert Atkinson]] and [[Fritz Houtermans]].

In 1931, Gamow was elected a corresponding member of the [[Soviet Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences of the USSR]] at age 28 – one of the youngest in its history.<ref>[http://www.khlopin.ru/youth.php Радиевый институт имени В. Г. Хлопина. Для молодёжи (Radium Institute named after V. G. Khlopin. For the young).] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100323163823/http://www.khlopin.ru/youth.php |date= 2010-03-23 }}</ref>{{efn | He was expelled from the Academy in 1938, but his membership was restored posthumously in 1990.}}{{efn | The youngest corresponding member elected to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR was the Armenian mathematician [[Sergey Mergelyan]] (1928-2008), elected at age 24.}} During the period 1931–1933, Gamow worked in the Physical Department of the [[V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute|Radium Institute (Leningrad)]] headed by {{Interlanguage link|Vitaly Khlopin|2=ru|3=Хлопин, Виталий Григорьевич|preserve=1}}. Europe's first [[cyclotron]] was designed under the guidance and direct participation of [[Igor Kurchatov]], Lev Mysovskii and Gamow. In 1932, Gamow and Mysovskii submitted a draft design for consideration by the Academic Council of the Radium Institute, which approved it. The cyclotron was not completed until 1937.<ref>V. G. Khlopin Radium Institute. [http://www.khlopin.ru/english/memorial.php History / Memorial] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110426000000/http://www.khlopin.ru/english/memorial.php |date= April 26, 2011 }} and [http://www.khlopin.ru/english/hronology.php History / Chronology] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110426000000/http://www.khlopin.ru/english/hronology.php |date= April 26, 2011 }}. Retrieved 25 February 2012.</ref>

[[File:Bragg lab1 1930.jpg|thumb|Staff of William Bragg's laboratory in 1931: [[William Henry Bragg|W. H. Bragg]] (sitting, center): physicist A. Lebedev (leftmost), G. Gamow (rightmost)]]

== Radioactive decay ==
In the early 20th century, radioactive materials were known to have characteristic exponential decay rates, or half-lives. At the same time, radiation emissions were known to have certain characteristic energies. By 1928, Gamow in Göttingen had solved the theory of the [[alpha decay]] of a nucleus via [[Quantum tunnelling|tunnelling]], with mathematical help from [[Nikolai Kochin]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4325.html |title=Interview with George Gamow by Charles Weiner at Gamow's home in Boulder, Colorado, April 25, 1968. (In the transcript Kochin is spelled Kotshchin.) |access-date=April 11, 2008 |archive-date=November 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124151512/http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4325.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>''Z. Physik'' '''5'''1, 204 (1928) G. Gamow, "Zur Quantentheorie des Atomkernes".</ref> The problem was also solved independently by [[Ronald Wilfred Gurney|Ronald W. Gurney]] and [[Edward Condon|Edward U. Condon]].<ref>R. W. Gurney and E. U. Condon, "Quantum Mechanics and Radioactive Disintegration" ''Nature'' '''122''', 439 (1928); ''Phys. Rev.'' 33, 127 (1929).</ref><ref name = "Nuc&RadChem">{{Cite book |author1=Friedlander, Gerhart |author2=Kennedy, Joseph E |author3=Miller, Julian Malcolm | title=Nuclear and Radiochemistry | edition=2nd | date=1964 | publisher=John Wiley & Sons | location=New York, London, Sydney | isbn=978-0-471-86255-0 | pages=225–7}}</ref> Gurney and Condon did not, however, achieve the quantitative results achieved by Gamow.

Classically, the particle is confined to the nucleus because of the high energy requirement to escape the very strong nuclear [[potential well]]. Also classically, it takes an enormous amount of energy to pull apart the nucleus, an event that would not occur spontaneously. In [[quantum mechanics]], however, there is a probability the particle can "tunnel through" the wall of the potential well and escape. Gamow solved a model potential for the nucleus and derived from first principles a relationship between the [[half-life]] of the alpha-decay event process and the energy of the emission, which had been previously discovered empirically and was known as the [[Geiger–Nuttall law]].<ref>[http://www.phy.uct.ac.za/courses/phy300w/np/ch1/node38.html Gamow's derivation of this law] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224200050/http://www.phy.uct.ac.za/courses/phy300w/np/ch1/node38.html |date=February 24, 2009 }}.</ref> Some years later, the name [[Gamow factor]] or Gamow–Sommerfeld factor was applied to the probability of incoming nuclear particles tunnelling through the electrostatic [[Coulomb barrier]] and undergoing nuclear reactions.

== Defection ==
Gamow worked at a number of Soviet establishments before deciding to flee the Soviet Union because of increased oppression. In 1931, he was officially denied permission to attend a scientific conference in Italy. Also in 1931, he married Lyubov Vokhmintseva ({{langx|ru|Любовь Вохминцева}}), another physicist in the Soviet Union, whom he nicknamed "Rho" after [[rho|the Greek letter]]. Gamow and his new wife spent much of the next two years trying to leave the Soviet Union, with or without official permission. [[Niels Bohr]] and other friends invited Gamow to visit during this period, but Gamow could not get permission to leave.

Gamow later said that his first two attempts to defect with his wife were in 1932 and involved trying to [[kayak]]: first a planned 250-kilometer paddle over the [[Black Sea]] to [[Turkey]], and another attempt from [[Murmansk]] to [[Norway]]. Poor weather foiled both attempts, but they had not been noticed by the authorities.<ref>''My World Line'' G. Gamow, Viking Press, 1970, chap. 5 ''The Crimean campaign''.</ref>

In 1933, Gamow was suddenly granted permission to attend the 7th [[Solvay Conference]] on physics, in [[Brussels]]. He insisted on having his wife accompany him, even saying that he would not go alone. Eventually the Soviet authorities relented and issued passports for the couple. The two attended and arranged to extend their stay, with the help of [[Marie Curie]] and other physicists. Over the next year, Gamow obtained temporary work at the [[Curie Institute (Paris)|Curie Institute]], [[University of London]], and the [[University of Michigan]].

== Move to America ==
In 1934, Gamow and his wife moved to the United States. He became a professor at [[George Washington University]] (GWU) in 1934 and recruited physicist [[Edward Teller]] from London to join him at GWU.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Astrophysics at GW {{!}} Department of Physics {{!}} Columbian College of Arts & Sciences {{!}} The George Washington University |url=https://physics.columbian.gwu.edu/history-astrophysics-gw |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Department of Physics {{!}} Columbian College of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> In 1936, Gamow and Teller published what became known as the "[[Gamow–Teller transition|Gamow–Teller selection rule]]" for [[beta decay]]. During his time in Washington, Gamow would also publish major scientific papers with [[Mário Schenberg]] and [[Ralph Alpher]]. By the late 1930s, Gamow's interests had turned towards [[astrophysics]] and [[cosmology]].

When recruited in GWU, Gamow started the [[Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics]]. A series of small conferences from 1935–1947, that brought up experts in theoretical physics to discuss different subjects.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=History of Astrophysics at GW {{!}} Department of Physics {{!}} Columbian College of Arts & Sciences {{!}} The George Washington University |url=https://physics.columbian.gwu.edu/history-astrophysics-gw |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Department of Physics {{!}} Columbian College of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> During the 1939 conference, Bohr announced publicly the discovery of [[nuclear fission]].<ref name=":0" />

In 1935, Gamow's son, [[Igor Gamow]] was born (in a 1947 book, Gamow's dedication was "To my son IGOR, Who Would Rather Be a Cowboy"). George Gamow became a [[naturalized citizen|naturalized American]] in 1940. He retained his formal association with GWU until 1956.

During World War II, Gamow continued to teach physics at [[George Washington University]] and consulted for the US Navy.

Gamow was interested in the processes of [[stellar evolution]] and the early history of the [[Solar System]]. In 1945, he co-authored a paper supporting work by German theoretical physicist [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker]] on planetary formation in the early Solar System.<ref name=Gamow>{{cite journal|last=Gamow|first=G.|author2=Hynek, J. A.|title=A New Theory by C. F. Von Weizsacker of the Origin of the Planetary System|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|date=1 March 1945|volume=101|page=249|doi=10.1086/144711|bibcode = 1945ApJ...101..249G }}</ref> Gamow published another paper in the British journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 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).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102_2009/images/extgamow.htm|title=George Gamow|website=ircamera.as.arizona.edu|access-date=2018-01-28|archive-date=2018-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129140434/http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102_2009/images/extgamow.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Big Bang nucleosynthesis ==
Gamow's work led the development of the hot "big bang" theory of the expanding universe. He was the earliest to employ [[Alexander Friedmann]]'s and [[Georges Lemaître]]'s non-static solutions of Einstein's gravitational equations describing a universe of uniform matter density and constant spatial curvature. Gamow's crucial advance would provide a physical reification of Lemaître's idea of a unique primordial quantum. Gamow did this by assuming that the early universe was dominated by radiation rather than by matter.<ref>Gamow, G. (1946, October 1 & 15), Physical Review.</ref> Most of the later work in cosmology is founded in Gamow's theory. He applied his model to the question of the creation of the chemical elements <ref>for example, Gamow, G. (1942), Jour. Washington Academy of Sciences, Vol. 32</ref> and to the subsequent condensation of matter into galaxies,<ref>Gamow, G. (1968) 'On the Origin of Galaxies', Properties of Matter under Unusual Conditions (Edward Teller 60th Birthday Volume). New York; John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Interscience Publishers.</ref> whose mass and diameter he was able to calculate in terms of the fundamental physical parameters, such as the speed of light ''c'', the Newtonian constant of gravitation ''G'', the fine-structure constant ''α'', and the Planck constant ''h''.

Gamow's interest in cosmology arose from his earlier interest in energy generation and element production and transformation in stars.<ref>Gamow, G. (1935), Ohio Journal of Science, 35, 5.</ref><ref>Chandrasekhar, S., Gamow, G. and Tuve, M., (1938), Nature, May 28.</ref><ref>Gamow, G., Schoenberg, M., (1940), Physical Review, December 15.</ref> This work, in turn, evolved from his fundamental discovery of [[quantum tunneling]] as the mechanism  of nuclear [[alpha decay]], and his application of this theory to the inverse process to calculate rates of thermonuclear reaction.

At first, Gamow believed that all the elements might be produced in the very high temperature and density early stage of the universe. Later, he revised this opinion on the strength of compelling evidence advanced by [[Fred Hoyle]] and others, that elements heavier than lithium are largely produced in [[stellar nucleosynthesis|thermonuclear reactions in stars]] and in supernovae. Gamow formulated a set of coupled differential equations describing his proposed process and assigned, as a PhD dissertation topic, his graduate student [[Ralph Alpher]] the task of solving the equations numerically. These results of Gamow and Alpher appeared in 1948 as the [[Alpher–Bethe–Gamow paper]].<ref>Alpher, R. A., Bethe, H., Gamow, G., (1948), Phys. Rev., April 1. The inclusion of Bethe's name is explained at [[αβγ paper]].</ref> Before his interest turned to the question of the genetic code, Gamow published about twenty papers on cosmology. The earliest was in 1939 with Edward Teller on galaxy formation,<ref>Gamow, G., Teller, E., (1939), Nature, January 21 and March 4.</ref> followed in 1946 by the first description of cosmic nucleosynthesis. He also wrote many popular articles as well as academic textbooks on this and other subjects.<ref>Gamow and Critchfield (1949), "Theory of Atomic Nucleus and Energy Sources", Clarendon Press, Oxford</ref>

In 1948, he published a paper dealing with an attenuated version of the coupled set of equations describing the production of the proton and the deuteron from thermal neutrons. By means of a simplification and using the observed ratio of hydrogen to heavier elements, he was able to obtain the density of matter at the onset of nucleosynthesis and from this the mass and diameter of the early galaxies.<ref>Gamow, G., (1948), Nature, 162, October 30.</ref> In 1953 he produced similar results, but this time based on another determination of the density of matter and radiation, at the time at which they became equal.<ref>Gamow, G., (1953), Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 39</ref> In this paper, Gamow determined the density of the relict background radiation, from which a present temperature of 7 K was predicted – a value which was slightly more than twice the presently-accepted value.

In 1967, he published reminiscences and recapitulation of his own work as well as the work of Alpher and Robert Herman (both with Gamow and also independently of him).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alpher |first1=Ralph A. |last2=Gamow |first2=George |last3=Herman |first3=Robert |title=Thermal Cosmic Radiation and the Formation of Protogalaxies |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=1967 |publisher=NIH |volume=58|issue=6 |pages=2179–2186 |doi=10.1073/pnas.58.6.2179 |doi-access=free |pmid=16591578 |pmc=223817 |bibcode=1967PNAS...58.2179A }}</ref> This was prompted by the discovery of the [[cosmic microwave background radiation]] by Penzias and Wilson in 1965; Gamow, Alpher, and Herman felt that they did not receive the credit they deserved for their theoretical predictions of its existence and source.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} Gamow was disconcerted by the fact that the authors of a communication<ref>Dicke, R. H., Peebles, P. J. E., Roll, P. G., and Wilkinson, T. D. (1965), ''Astrophysical Journal'', 142, 414</ref> explaining the significance of the Penzias/Wilson observations failed to recognize and cite the previous work of Gamow and his collaborators.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

== DNA and RNA ==
In 1953, [[Francis Crick]], [[James Watson]], [[Maurice Wilkins]] and [[Rosalind Franklin]] discovered the [[Nucleic acid double helix|double helix]] structure of the [[DNA]] macromolecule. Gamow attempted to solve the problem of how the ordering of four different bases ([[adenine]], [[cytosine]], [[thymine]] and [[guanine]]) in DNA chains might control the synthesis of proteins from their constituent amino acids.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Segrè|first=Gino|title=The Big Bang and the genetic code|journal=Nature|volume=404|issue=6777|page=437|date=2000-03-30|quote=the first serious theories of both these key ideas were formulated by the same man, a colourful, irresistibly playful physicist named George Gamow. |doi=10.1038/35006517|pmid=10761891|s2cid=205005362|doi-access=free}}</ref> Crick has said that Gamow's suggestions helped him in his own thinking about the problem.<ref>{{cite web|title=DNA: An "Amateur" Makes a Real Contribution|website=[[Library of Congress]]|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr115.html|access-date=2007-07-11}}</ref> As related by Crick,<ref>Crick, Francis "What Mad Pursuit" (Basic Books 1998), Chap.8 The Genetic Code</ref> Gamow observed that the 4<sup>3</sup> = 64 possible [[permutation]]s of the four DNA bases, taken three at a time, would be reduced to 20 distinct [[combination]]s if the order was irrelevant.<ref>The twenty distinct combinations are:(3A)(3C)(3G)(3T),(ACG)(ACT)(AGT)(CGT),(2A,C)(2A,G)(2A,T)(2C,A)(2C,G)(2C,T)(2G,A)(2G,C)(2G,T)(2T,A)(2T,C)(2T,G).</ref> Gamow proposed that these 20 combinations might code for the twenty amino acids which, he suggested, might well be the sole constituents of all proteins. Gamow's contribution to solving the problem of genetic coding gave rise to important models of [[Degeneracy (biology)|biological degeneracy]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mason |first=P. H. |year=2010 |title=Degeneracy at multiple levels of complexity |journal=Biological Theory |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=277–288 |doi=10.1162/BIOT_a_00041 |s2cid=83846240 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Mason |first=P. H. |year=2014 |title=Degeneracy: Demystifying and destigmatizing a core concept in systems biology |journal=Complexity |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=12–21 |doi=10.1002/cplx.21534 }}</ref>

{{anchor|Diamond code}}The specific system that Gamow was proposing (called "Gamow's diamonds") proved to be incorrect. The triplets were supposed to be overlapping, so that in the sequence GGAC (for example), GGA could produce one amino acid and GAC another, and also [[Degeneracy of the genetic code|non-degenerate]] (meaning that each amino acid would correspond to one combination of three bases – in any order). Later protein sequencing work proved that this could not be the case; the true [[genetic code]] is non-overlapping and degenerate, and changing the order of a combination of bases does change the amino acid.

In 1954, Gamow and Watson co-founded the [[RNA Tie Club]]. This was a discussion group of leading scientists concerned with the problem of the genetic code, which counted among its members the physicists [[Edward Teller]] and [[Richard Feynman]]. In his autobiographical writings, Watson later acknowledged the great importance of Gamow's insightful initiative. However, this did not prevent him from describing this colorful personality as a "zany", card-trick playing, limerick-singing, booze-swilling, practical–joking "giant imp".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Watson|first=J. D.|date=2002|title=Genes, Girls, and Gamow: After the Double Helix|location=New York|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-375-41283-7|oclc=47716375|url=https://archive.org/details/genesgirlsgamowa00wats}}</ref>

== Late career and life ==
[[File:Gamow George grave.jpg|thumb|Gamow's grave in Green Mountain Cemetery, Boulder, Colorado, US]]
[[File:George Gamow tower.jpg|thumb|The George Gamow Tower at the [[University of Colorado Boulder]]]]
Gamow worked at George Washington University from 1934 until 1954, when he became a visiting professor at the [[University of California, Berkeley]]. In 1956, he moved to the [[University of Colorado Boulder]], where he remained for the rest of his career. In 1956, Gamow became one of the founding members of the [[Physical Science Study Committee]] (PSSC), which later reformed teaching of high-school physics in the post-[[Sputnik]] years.

In 1959, Gamow, [[Hans Bethe]], and [[Victor Weisskopf]] publicly supported the re-entry of [[Frank Oppenheimer]] into teaching college physics at the [[University of Colorado]], as the [[Red Scare]] began to fade ([[J. Robert Oppenheimer]] was the older brother of Frank Oppenheimer, and both of them had worked on the [[Manhattan Project]] before their careers in physics were derailed by [[McCarthyism]]).<ref name="Cole">{{Cite book| last = Cole| first = K.C.| date = 2009| title = Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens: Frank Oppenheimer and the World He Made Up| publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt| isbn = 978-0-15-100822-3| url = https://archive.org/details/somethingincredi00cole}}</ref>{{rp|130}} While in Colorado, Frank Oppenheimer became increasingly interested in teaching science through simple hands-on experiments, and he eventually moved to [[San Francisco]] to found the [[Exploratorium]].<ref name="Cole" />{{rp|130–152}}  Gamow would not live to see his colleague's opening of this innovative new science museum, in late August 1969.<ref name="Cole" />{{rp|152}}

In his 1961 book ''The Atom and its Nucleus'', Gamow proposed representing the [[periodic system]] of the [[chemical elements]] as a continuous tape, with the elements in order of [[atomic number]] wound round in a three-dimensional helix whose diameter increased stepwise (corresponding to the longer rows of the conventional periodic table).

Gamow continued his teaching at the University of Colorado Boulder and focused increasingly on writing textbooks and books on science for the general public. After several months of ill health, surgeries on his circulatory system, diabetes, and liver problems, Gamow was dying from [[liver failure]], which he had called the "weak link" that could not withstand the other stresses.

In a letter written to Ralph Alpher on August 18, he had written, "The pain in the abdomen is unbearable and does not stop". Prior to this, there had been a long exchange of letters with his former student, in which he was seeking a fresh understanding of some concepts used in his earlier work, with Paul Dirac.  Gamow relied on Alpher for deeper understanding of mathematics.

On August 19, 1968, Gamow died at age 64 in [[Boulder, Colorado]], and was buried there in Green Mountain Cemetery. The physics department tower at the University of Colorado at Boulder is named after him.

== Personal life ==
Gamow had a son, [[Igor Gamow]], with his first wife Rho in 1935. Their son later became a professor of [[microbiology]] at the [[University of Colorado]], as well as an inventor.

In 1956, Gamow divorced his wife Rho. In 1958 he married [[Barbara Perkins Gamow|Barbara Perkins]], an editor for one of his publishers.

Gamow was a well-known prankster, who delighted in practical jokes and humorous twists embedded in serious scientific publications.<ref name="Antunes">{{cite web |last1=Antunes |first1=Alex "Sandy" |title=8 Great Scientist Pranksters |url=https://www.science20.com/daytime_astronomer/8_great_scientist_pranksters-77733 |website=Science 2.0 |access-date=2020-04-04 |language=en |date=27 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Segre">{{cite journal |last1=Segrè |first1=Gino |title=The Big Bang and the genetic code |journal=Nature |pages=437 |language=en |doi=10.1038/35006517 |date=March 2000|volume=404 |issue=6777 |pmid=10761891 |s2cid=205005362 |doi-access=free }}</ref> His most famous prank was the pioneering [[Alpher–Bethe–Gamow paper]] (1948), which was serious in its style and content. However, Gamow could not resist adding his colleague [[Hans Bethe]] to the list of authors, as a [[pun]] on the first three letters of the [[Greek alphabet]].<ref name="Antunes"/><ref name="Falk">{{cite web |last1=Falk |first1=Dan |title=The Secret Jokes Scientists Slip Into Research Papers Are Delightfully Nerdy—Here's Proof |url=https://slate.com/technology/2016/05/the-best-jokes-scientists-sneak-into-the-research-papers-to-make-them-slightly-less-boring.html |website=Slate Magazine |access-date=2020-04-04 |language=en |date=19 May 2016}}</ref><ref name="Segre"/>

Gamow was an atheist.<ref>ANDERSON: "What, uh, one thing I'm fascinated with is, of course, George Gamow left the university in '59 [1956], and Edward Teller had left in 1946 [1945] and went to the University of Chicago. But do you have any recollections of maybe some of the, anything between Dr. Marvin and Dr. Gamow, as far as, just before he left and went to Colorado?" NAESER: "Ah, no, I don't know of any. I know Gamow made no, never did hide the fact that he was an atheist, but whether that came into the picture, I don't know. But the story around the university was that Gamow and Mrs. Gamow were divorced, but they were in the same social circles some of the time, he thought it was better to get out of Washington. That's why he went to Ohio State." ''The George Washington University and Foggy Bottom Historical Encyclopedia'', [http://encyclopedia.gwu.edu/gwencyclopedia/index.php?title=Gamow%2C_George_and_Edward_Teller Gamow, George and Edward Teller] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613094539/http://encyclopedia.gwu.edu/gwencyclopedia/index.php?title=Gamow%2C_George_and_Edward_Teller |date=2010-06-13 }}, October 23, 1996.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Big Bang Is Bunk|url=http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/Articles_2011/BigBang_Bunk.pdf|publisher=21st Century Science Associates.|access-date=28 May 2012|author=Grote Reber|page=44|quote=After the initial mathematical work on relativity theory had been done, the Big Bang theory itself was invented by a Belgian priest, Georges Lemaître, improved upon by an avowed atheist, George Gamow, and is now all but universally accepted by those who hold advanced degrees in astronomy and the physical sciences, despite its obvious absurdity.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Big Bang|date=2010|publisher=HarperCollins UK|isbn=9780007375509|author=Simon Singh|quote=Surprisingly, the atheist George Gamow enjoyed the Papal attention given to his field of research.|title-link=Big Bang (Singh book)|author-link=Simon Singh}}</ref>

== Writings ==
Gamow was a highly successful science writer, with several of his books still in print more than a half-century after their initial publication. As an educator, Gamow recognized and emphasized fundamental principles that were unlikely to become obsolete, even as the pace of science and technology accelerated. He also conveyed a sense of excitement with the revolution in physics and other scientific topics of interest to the common reader. Gamow himself sketched the many illustrations for his books, which added a new dimension to and complemented what he intended to convey in the text. He was unafraid to introduce mathematics wherever it was essential, but he tried to avoid deterring potential readers by including large numbers of equations that did not illustrate essential points.

In 1946 Gamow was a proponent of [[human spaceflight]] propelled by atomic energy.<ref>G. Gamow (1946) ''Atomic Energy in Human and Cosmic Life'', Preface, page ix, Cambridge University Press and Macmillan Company</ref> "We may prepare ourselves for a trip to the moon and to various planets of our solar system in a comfortable rocketship driven by atomic power." He also wrote "the ordinary chemical fuels which could be used in the motor of such a rocketship could not possibly give it the necessary velocity...".<ref>''Atomic Energy'', page 155</ref>
By 1965 he moderated his expectations though he re-stated his atomic-power prognostication:
{{blockquote|Whereas we may be able to study the forms of life that may have developed on Mars and Venus (the best "inhabitable" planets of the solar system) in the not too distant future by means of an adventuresome trip to these planets on a "nuclear power propelled space ship," the question about the possible existence and the forms of life in other stellar worlds hundreds and thousands of light-years away, will probably remain forever an unsolvable problem of science.<ref>G. Gamow (1965)[1947] [[One Two Three ... Infinity]], page 315</ref>}}
By that  time the [[space race]] was underway with conventional chemical rockets.

His book, ''The Creation of the Universe'', was first published in 1952, concluding: "It took less than an hour to make all the atoms in the universe, a few hundred million years to make the stars and planets but three billion years to make man."<ref>{{cite news |last=Kaempffert |first=Waldemar |title=At First It Was Ylem |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/07/06/93378609.html?pageNumber=64 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 6, 1952}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gamow |first=George |title=The Creation of the Universe |url=https://archive.org/details/creationofuniver0000gamo |date=1952 |publisher=Viking Press}}</ref>

In 1956, he was awarded the [[Kalinga Prize]] by [[UNESCO]] for his work in popularizing science with his ''[[Mr Tompkins|Mr. Tompkins...]]'' series of books (1939–1967), his book ''[[One Two Three ... Infinity|One, Two, Three...Infinity]]'', and other works.<ref name="Kalinga">{{cite web |title=Kalinga 1956 |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/science-technology/sti-policy/global-focus/science-popularization/prizes/kalinga-prize/kalinga-winners/kalinga-1956/ |website=www.unesco.org |publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |access-date=2020-05-16}}</ref>

Before his death, Gamow was working with Richard Blade on a textbook ''Basic Theories in Modern Physics'', but the work was never completed or published under that title.  Gamow was also writing ''My World Line: An Informal Autobiography'', which was published posthumously in 1970.

A collection of Gamow's writings was donated to The [[George Washington University]] in 1996.  The materials include correspondence, articles, manuscripts and printed materials both by and about George Gamow.  The collection is currently under the care of GWU's Special Collections Research Center, located in the Estelle and Melvin [[Gelman Library]].<ref>{{cite web |title=George Gamow papers |url=https://searcharchives.library.gwu.edu/repositories/2/resources/141 |publisher=GW Libraries / Gelman Library |access-date=15 September 2021}}</ref>

== Books ==

=== Popular ===
* ''[[The Birth and Death of the Sun]]'' (1940, revised 1952)
* ''The Biography of the Earth'' (1941)
* ''Atomic Energy in Cosmic and Human Life'' (1946)
* ''[[One Two Three ... Infinity]]'' (1947, revised 1961), Viking Press (copyright renewed by Barbara Gamow, 1974), Dover Publications, {{ISBN|0-486-25664-2}}, illustrated by the author. Dedicated to his son, [[Igor Gamow]], it remains one of the most well received ever in the popular science genre. The book winds from [[mathematics]] to [[biology]], to [[physics]], [[crystallography]], and more.
* ''The Moon'' (1953)
* {{Cite book|last1=Gamow|first1=George|last2=Stern|first2=Marvin|title=Puzzle-Math|publisher=Viking Press|isbn=978-0-333-08637-7|date=1958}}
* ''Biography of Physics'' [[Harper & Brothers]] (1961) {{ASIN|B000UULZIG}}
* ''Gravity'' (1962) Dover Publications, {{ISBN|0-486-42563-0}}. Profiles of [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]], [[Isaac Newton|Newton]], and [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]]
* ''A Planet Called Earth'' (1963)
* ''A Star Called the Sun'' (1964)
* ''Thirty Years That Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory'', 1966, Dover Publications, {{ISBN|0-486-24895-X}}.
* ''My World Line: An Informal Autobiography'' (1970) Viking Press, {{ISBN|0-670-50376-2}}

==== ''Mr Tompkins'' series ====
Throughout these books, [[Mr Tompkins]] is introduced as "C. G. H. Tompkins" to emphasize the notion of [[cGh physics]].
* ''Mr Tompkins in Wonderland'' (1940) originally published 1938 in serial form in ''Discovery'' magazine (UK)
* ''Mr Tompkins Explores the Atom'' (1945)
** ''Mr Tompkins in Paperback'' (1965), combines ''Mr Tompkins in Wonderland'' with ''Mr Tompkins Explores the Atom'', Cambridge University Press; 1993 Canto edition, foreword by [[Roger Penrose]]
** ''The New World of Mr Tompkins'' (1999), coauthor [[Russell Stannard]] updated ''Mr Tompkins in Paperback'' ({{ISBN|9780521630092}} hardcover)
* ''Mr Tompkins Learns the Facts of Life'' (1953), about biology
** ''Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself'' (1967), coauthor [[Martynas Yčas]] revised ''Mr Tompkins Learns the Facts of Life'' giving a broader view of biology, including recent developments in molecular biology
[[File:Theory of Atomic Nucleus-2.jpg|alt=Title page of a 1949 copy of "Theory of Atomic Nucleus and Nuclear Energy-Sources"|thumb|282x282px|Title page of a 1949 copy of "Theory of Atomic Nucleus and Nuclear Energy-Sources"]]

=== Science textbooks ===
* ''The Constitution of Atomic Nuclei and Radioactivity'' (1931)
* ''Structure of Atomic Nuclei and Nuclear Transformations'' (1937)
* ''Atomic Energy in Cosmic and Human Life'' (1947)
* ''[https://libserv.aip.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=16J66V3G13383.481233&profile=rev-all&source=~!horizon&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100006~!44519~!4&ri=5&aspect=power&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Theory+of+Atomic+Nucleus+and+Nuclear+Energy-Sources&index=.GW&uindex=&aspect=power&menu=search&ri=5 Theory of Atomic Nucleus and Nuclear Energy Sources]'' (1949) coauthor [[Charles Critchfield|C. L. Critchfield]]
* ''The Creation of the Universe'' (1952)
* ''Matter, Earth and Sky'' (1958)
* ''Physics: Foundations & Frontiers'' (1960) coauthor John M. Cleveland
* ''The Atom and its Nucleus'' (1961)
* ''Mr. Tompkins Gets Serious: The Essential George Gamow'' (2005). edited by Robert Oerter, Pi Press, {{ISBN|0-13-187291-5}}. Incorporates material from ''Matter, Earth, and Sky'' and ''The Atom and Its Nucleus''. Notwithstanding the title, this book is ''not'' part of the [[Mr. Tompkins]] series.

== See also ==
* [[George Gamow Memorial Lectures]]
* [[Urca process]]
* [[Ylem]]

== References ==
{{notelist}}
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Interviews with Ralph A. Alpher and Robert C. Herman conducted by Martin Harwit in August, 1983, for the Archives at the Niels Bohr Library, American Institute of Physics, College Park, Maryland.
* "Ralph A. Alpher, Robert C. Herman, and the Prediction of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation," Physics in Perspective, 14(3), 300–334, 2012, by Victor S. Alpher.

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}{{Commons category}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|about=yes|onlinebooks=no|onlinebooksby=no}}
<!-- Following spoken article is obsolescent, probably is better to use modern text-to-speech on current article -->
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* [https://www.colorado.edu/physics/events/outreach/george-gamow-memorial-lecture-series Memorial Lecture Series (University of Colorado Boulder)] – includes link to documentary about Gamow, hosted by his son Igor Gamow
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927033649/http://www.norskfysikk.no/nfs/old/epsbiografer/GAMOW.PDF Biographic sketch] (in [[Portable Document Format|PDF]])
* [http://www.kolmogorov.com/Gamow.html Gamow Books]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060828135200/http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people%2FGamow%2C+George Annotated bibliography for George Gamow from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]
* [http://www.dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0001387.htm Gamow memorial] at George Washington University
* [http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4325.html Oral History interview transcript with George Gamow] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124151512/http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4325.html |date=2009-11-24 }} – a lengthy interview, a few months before Gamow died; includes reminiscences about his family, education, career, and writing.
* [http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nndb.com/people/349/000099052/george-gamow-1-sized.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nndb.com/people/349/000099052/&usg=__UkHGUg2JUgBaAcpy9IVOqOSyT_s=&h=323&w=241&sz=23&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=hMllLEm587Ba7M:&tbnh= Gamow 25 April 1968, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives]
* [http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/gamow-george.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir]
* {{cite web|last=Bowley|first=Roger|title=αβγ – The Alpha Beta Gamma Paper|url=http://www.sixtysymbols.com/videos/alphabetagamma.htm|work=Sixty Symbols|publisher=[[Brady Haran]] for the [[University of Nottingham]]|author2=Merrifield, Michael |author3=Padilla, Antonio (Tony)}}
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