“He would not probably say at once the result of seven being multiplied by eight, but his brain was capable of grasping the Universe,” this is how American astronomer Vera Rubin described American physicist George Gamow, to be more precise, the native of Odessa Georgy Gamov who was predestined to become a famous American physicist. The inquisitive boy would pester high school teachers with questions about origin of the Universe. Then he grew up, emigrated to the USA in 1930s and answered this question himself having suggested the Big Bang Theory. This theory was confirmed later and awarded with the Nobel Prize. However, Gamow failed to live to this acknowledgement. He failed to live to decoding of genetic code either, though was the first to raise this problem. The list of Gamow’s most outstanding achievements includes the theory of alpha decay, which was berhymed by the way.
“Millions of atoms on a needle point!
While he – how clever his mechanics looks –
Got to the nucleus of atom!” proletarian poet Demyan Bedny admired Soviet guy Gamov.
Living in the USA, Gamow continued to work in the field of nuclear physics. In company with Edward Teller, he summarized Fermi’s theory of beta decay. Later, Teller took part in Manhattan project for development of atomic bomb, while Gamow could not due to his Russian origin.
