George Gamow: scientific amateur and polymath
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: George Gamow: scientific amateur and polymath
zbMATH Open document ID: 0999.01028
DOI: 10.1007/PL00000536
author: Eamon Harper
published in: Physics in Perspective
publication date: 2002-01-02T00:00:00Z
review text: 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.
reviewed by: Andreas Kleinert
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A70
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 81-03
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 83-03
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 85-03
zbMATH DE Number: 1684767
zbMATH Keywords: quantum mechanics
zbMATH Keywords: alpha decay
zbMATH Keywords: liquid-drop model
zbMATH Keywords: nuclear physics
zbMATH Keywords: astrophysics
zbMATH Keywords: cosmology
zbMATH Keywords: genetic code
zbMATH Keywords: popular science writer
Wikidata QID: Q56639891
MaRDI profile type: MaRDI publication profile
full work available at URL: pl00000536
OpenAlex ID: W2060877856
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description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1684767