Gamow, George

(born March 4, 1904, Odessa, Russian Empire—died Aug. 19, 1968, Boulder, Colo., U.S.) Russian-born U.S. nuclear physicist and cosmologist. After studying at Leningrad University with Aleksandr Friedmann (1888–1925), he subsequently developed his quantum theory of radioactivity, the first successful explanation of the behaviour of radioactive elements. His “liquid drop” model of atomic nuclei served as the basis for modern theories of nuclear fission and fusion. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1934, he collaborated with Edward Teller in researching beta decay (1936) and developing a theory of the internal structures of red giant stars (1942). In the 1950s he became interested in biochemistry, proposing theories of genetic code structure that were later found to be true. Throughout his career he also wrote popular works on such difficult subjects as relativity and cosmology.