GAMOV George (Gamow George)

(1904-1968) (also Gamow, Georgy Antonovich)
Born March 4, 1904 in Odessa. In 1922-1923 he studied at the Novorossiysk University in Odessa, then - in Petrograd (Leningrad). In 1926 he graduated from Leningrad University and in 1928 - postgraduate. In 1928-1931 was a Fellow of GцІttingen, Copenhagen and Cambridge universities. In 1931-1933 worked as a senior fellow at the Physico-Technical Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences and a senior radiologist State Radium Institute in Leningrad. In 1933 participated in the Solvay Congress in Brussels, after which did not return to the USSR. In 1934 he emigrated to the U.S.. Prior to 1956 - professor at George Washington University, from 1956 - University of Colorado.
Gamow devoted to quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics, astrophysics, cosmology, biology. In 1928, working at Gottingen University, he formulated the quantum theory of a-decay (independent of R. Gurney and E. Condon), giving the first successful explanation of the behavior of radioactive elements. Showed that the particles even with not very high energy can be with a certain probability to penetrate through the potential barrier (tunneling effect). In 1936, together with Edward Teller selection rules found in the theory of b-decay. Interested in the link between nuclear processes and cosmology, in 1937-1940 built the first consistent theory of stellar evolution fusion energy. In 1942, together with Teller proposed a theory of the structure of red giants. In 1946-1948 developed the theory of formation of chemical elements by successive neutron capture and model 'hot universe' (the Big Bang theory), in which predicted the existence of cosmic microwave background radiation and estimated its temperature. In 1954 Gamow's interests shifted to the field of biology. He first proposed the concept of the genetic code, postulating that it was based on triplets of nucleotides. This hypothesis was further confirmed with the subsequent development of molecular genetics.

Gamow is author of popular science books - "Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland (Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland, 1939); trilogy Birth and Death of the Sun (The Birth and Death of the Sun, 1940); Biography of the Earth (Biography of the Earth, 1941); Creation of the Universe (The Creation of the Universe, 1952), "One, two Three ... infinity (One, Two, Three ... Infinity, 1947), Thirty Years that Shook Physics (Thirty Years that Shook Physics, 1966), My World Line: an informal autobiography (My World Line: An Informal Autobiography, 1970). In 1956 he received from the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for his contribution to the popularization of science. Gamow died in Boulder (pc. Colorado) August 19, 1968.