Apr 26, 2012 modern science made easy by one of the leading physicists of the twentieth century, george gamows one, two, threeinfinity is one of the most memorable popular books on physics, mathematics, and science generally ever written, famous for having, directly or indirectly, launched the academic andor scientific careers of many young people whose first real encounter with the wonders and. His most important achievement is the discovery of the quantum tunneling effect. Wolfgang pauli, joking in a way that evoked its raining again when new papers by gamow appeared, quoted in oral history interview transcript with george gamow 25 april 1968, american institute of physics, niels bohr library and archives. George gamow was a leading scientist of the 20th century, a man whos name frequents the pages of modernday science. Facts and speculations of science is a popular science book by theoretical physicist george gamow, first published in 1947, exploring some fundamental concepts in mathematics and science, written at a level understandable by middle school students up through intelligent layman adults. Gamow presents complex subjects with simple analogies and clever cartoons. George gamow 19041968, was a russianborn american nuclear physicist and cosmologist who was one of the foremost advocates of the big bang theory, according to which the universe was formed in a colossal explosion that took place billions of years ago.
George gamow one two three infinity pdf one of the worlds foremost nuclear physicists celebrated for his theory of radioactive decay, among other accomplishments, george gamow possessed th. Infinity, subtitled facts and speculations of science, was originally written by george gamow in 1947 and then revised somewhat in 1961. A big, sombrelooking waiter came to his table with a bill, and mr tompkins began to search in his pockets for change. The russianamerican physicist george gamow made important contributions to nuclear physics. Gamow is regarded as one of the greatest science popularisers of all time. He is perhaps best known for his discovery of alpha decay via quantum tunneling, and for his work on the radioactive. The ala is the aminoacid nickname for alanine gamow selected in the rna tie club he started with 20 members one for each amino acid, including watson, crick, and feynman. It belongs in the library of anyone curious about the wonders of the scientific universe. George gamow pronounced gamoff march 4 1904 august 19 1968 was a ukrainian born physicist and cosmologist. His science, rivets like a jackhammer, pounding out universal revelations with each new page.
He developed the big bang theory of cosmology, using it to predict the existence of cosmic background radiation, and his insight that dna nucleotides probably formed a a triplet code of four symbols was influential on very. No, todays post is not about the sitcom which i detest, it is about george gamow who was born on this date in 1904 and was an early advocate and developer of lemaitres big bang theory of the origins of the cosmos. Modern science made easy by one of the leading physicists of the twentieth century, george gamows one, two, threeinfinity is one of the most memorable popular books on physics, mathematics, and science generally ever written, famous for having, directly or indirectly, launched the academic andor scientific careers of many young people whose first real encounter with the wonders and. One of the great services offered by dover books is the manner in which they have made timeless books by the worlds great scientists available at a reasonable price. George gamow worked on radioactive decay affecting the nucleus of atoms, on stellar nucleosynthesis and star formation. The great physicists from galileo to einstein by george gamow. He was an early advocate and developer of lemaitres big bang theory. George gamow march 4, 1904 august 19, 1968, born georgiy antonovich gamov, was a sovietamerican theoretical physicist and cosmologist. Vg in its pictorial wrappers, with light creasing at the spine crown and at the front panels lower tip. On august 19, 1968, george gamow died at age 64 in boulder, colorado, and was buried there in green mountain cemetery. George gamow his original name in russian was george antonovich gamow was born on march 04, 1904 in odessa, russia.
Modern science made easy by one of the leading physicists of the twentieth century, george gamows one, two, threeinfinity is one of the most memorable popular books on physics, mathematics, and science generally ever. Modern science made easy by one of the leading physicists of the twentieth century, george gamows one, two, threeinfinity is one of the most memorable popular books on physics, mathematics, and science generally ever written, famous for. He discovered alpha decay via quantum tunneling and worked on radioactive decay of the atomic nucleus, star formation, stellar nucleosynthesis, big bang nucleosynthesis. Jun 23, 2009 george gamow was a leading scientist of the 20th century, a man whos name frequents the pages of modernday science. A solid copy to boot of the 1966 1st french edition. George gamow was a ukrainianborn physicist that studied a variety of topics. Infinity,george gamow is one of the founders of the big bang theory. George gamow biography childhood, life achievements. This was the first acknowledged explanation of the mannerism of radioactive components using quantum theory. George gamow important scientists the physics of the. George gamow, original russian georgy antonovich gamov, born march 4, 1904, odessa, russian empire now in ukrainedied august 19, 1968, boulder, colorado, u. George gamow important scientists the physics of the universe. Vg in its pictorial wrappers, with light creasing at the spine crown and at the front panels lower. Modern science made easy by one of the leading physicists of the twentieth century, george gamows one, two, threeinfinity is one of the most memorable popular books on physics, mathematics, and science generally ever written, famous for having, directly or indirectly, launched the academic andor scientific careers of many young people whose first real encounter with the wonders.
Facts and speculations of science is a popular science book by theoretical physicist george gamow, first published in 1947, exploring. Get it today with same day delivery, order pickup or drive up. A single cyclist was coming slowly down the street and, as he approached, mr tompkins eyes opened wide. Modern science made easy by one of the leading physicists of the twentieth century, george gamow s one, two, three infinity is one of the most memorable popular books on physics, mathematics, and science generally ever written, famous for having, directly or indirectly, launched the academic andor scientific careers of many young people whose first real encounter with the wonders and. Nobody believes it, but that doesnt make any difference to him. The great physicists from galileo to einstein by george. George gamow department of physics columbian college of. George gamow pronounced gamoff march 4, 1904 august 19, 1968, born georgiy antonovich gamov, was a ukrainian born physicist and cosmologist. Gamow was a theoretical physicist and cosmologist who would lend his expertise to furthering the credibility of the theory about the big bang theory.
He discovered a theoretical explanation concerning alpha decay by way of quantum tunneling and was one of the earliest advocates of the big bang theory, which he revised and extended. George gamow was a ukrainianamerican theoretical physicist and cosmologist, who worked with many of the pioneers of quantum theory. The great physicists from galileo to einstein george. The hands of the big clock on the tower down the street were pointing almost to noon and the streets were nearly empty. After relocating to the us in 1934, gamow started working as a professor of. Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app.
It is great to see that this book is still available after so many years this book. George gamow and his fundamental views on the foundations of. George gamow was a russian theoretical physicist and cosmologist, perhaps best known for his contributions to george lemaitres theory of the big bang. He discovered a theoretical explanation of alpha decay via quantum tunneling, invented the first mathematical model of the atomic. George gamow 19041968, was a russianborn american nuclear physicist and cosmologist who was one of the foremost advocates of the bigbang theory, according to which the universe was formed in a colossal explosion that took place billions of years ago. George gamow 169 followers george gamow russian pronunciation. His predictions of cosmic microwave background radiation and.
Facts and speculations of science george gamow over 120 delightful pen and ink illustrations by the author, add another dimension of goodnatured charm to these wideranging explorations. George gamow, one, two, three infinity 1947 george gamow early years. A renowned physicist and author of the bestseller one two three. So, buckle up for some real physics, not tv playacting seasoned with perpetual mistakes. As a child, george loved astronomy and he was given a telescope for his thirteenth birthday.
Other contributions that gamow made to the sciences included theoretical explanations of alpha decay based on quantum tunneling. Jan 23, 2003 modern science made easy by one of the leading physicists of the twentieth century, george gamows one, two, threeinfinity is one of the most memorable popular books on physics, mathematics, and science generally ever written, famous for having, directly or indirectly, launched the academic andor scientific careers of many young people whose first real encounter with the wonders and. This is just the warmup wrestling with number theory the purest branch of. Facts and speculations of science george gamow over 120 delightful penandink illustrations by the author, add another dimension of goodnatured charm to these wideranging explorations. Modern science made easy by one of the leading physicists of the twentieth century, george gamows one, two, threeinfinity is one of the most memorable popular books on physics, mathematics, and science generally ever written, famous for having, directly. Inscribed by george gamow in french on the halftitle. After relocating to the us in 1934, gamow started working as a professor of physics at the university of george washington. Courier corporation, jan 1, 1988 science 340 pages. Two, three infinity and thirty years that shook physics. He is perhaps best known for his discovery of alpha decay via quantum tunneling, and for his work on the radioactive decay of the atomic nucleus, including an early liquid drop model of the atom. This is not only a popular science classic written by one of the originators of the big bang theory not called that by. He was also a great popularizer of science with a wonderful sense of humor. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read one two three.
George gamow quotes 12 science quotes dictionary of. Infinity dover books on mathematics by george gamow paperback at target. He also did significant work in the fields of astrophysics and biology and wrote books popularizing science. Facts and speculations of science ebook written by george gamow. February 20 1904 august 19, 1968, born georgiy antonovich gamov russian. Gamow was a highly successful science writer, with several of his books still in print. George attended novorossiya university in odessa from 19221923 moving to the university of leningrad in 1923, where his studies included optics and cosmology. After the war he became one of the chief advocates of the big bang theory. I have read a fair number of pop science books over the last year, and most of. Gamow was born in odessa, russian empire now in ukraine. Infinity is one of the most memorable popular books on physics, mathematics, and science generally ever written, famous for having, directly or indirectly, launched the academic andor scientific careers of many young people whose first real encounter with the wonders and. George gamow, visiting professor from george washington university, pretends he does.
Modern science made easy by one of the leading physicists of the twentieth century, george gamows one, two, three. Infinity mass market paperback 1953 by george gamow author. Infinity, as in his other books, george gamow succeeds where others fail because of his remarkable ability to combine technical accuracy, choice of material, dignity of expression, and readability. He discovered a theoretical explanation of alpha decay by quantum tunneling, invented the liquid drop model and the first mathematical model of the atomic nucleus, and worked on. Adam, the first man, didnt know anything about the nucleus but dr. He conveyed the excitement of the revolution in physics and other scientific topics of interest to the common reader. Its an amazing tour of some of the more interesting bits of physics, with a bit of mathematics and biology thrown in, covering in some depth more separate topics in under 350 pages of any nonfiction book i. Infinity by george gamow, 9780486256641, available at book depository with free delivery. Infinity, george gamow is one of the founders of the big bang theory. George gamow and his fundamental views on the foundations. Infinity walks us through the worlds of nuclear physics, cosmology, biology, relativity, quantum theory, and astrophysics without skipping a beat. This is not only a popular science classic written by one of the originators of the big bang theory not called that by gamow, it was the book that got me interested. Its an amazing tour of some of the more interesting bits of physics, with a bit of mathematics and biology thrown in, covering in some depth more separate topics in under 350 pages of any non.
George gamow was born in odessa, russia, on march 4, 1904. One, two, three infinity mass market paperback june 1, 1971 by george gamow author. When george gamow defected from the former soviet union to the united states, america gained valuable help from a great scientist. Gamow is considered one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century. Gamow did not learn english until he was in college, becoming a fluent speaker. It opens with a discussion of mathematics, specifically very large numbers, with two examples of the power of exponential growth that i still. George gamow department of physics columbian college. The year 2004 is the birth centenary of george gamow, a highly creative scientist and who by his superb popular writings made abstract concepts of science accessible to millions of laypersons or the uninitiated ones. He suggested how dna might provide the code for protein synthesis. George gamow biography, birth date, birth place and pictures. I studied this book in high school c1964 and from the beginning to end i was amazed to its. It is highbrow entertainment at its best, a teasing challenge to all who aspire to. Facts and speculations of science dover books on mathematics on.