Article in a Box - Resonance

	journal of science education
Advanced Search About Resonance Editorial Board Guidelines Subscribe Current Issue July 2004 (Contents) Back Issues	Article-in-a-Box George Gamow – a Biographical Sketch Seldom does it happen that the ideas of a single scientist influence research in a variety of topics and spawn a few new ones. It is a rare event if the scientist also happens to be a great populariser of science. George Antonovich Gamow explained radioactive decay, described the rates and mechanisms of nuclear reactions inside stars, proposed how the elements were synthesized, and suggested how DNA might provide the code for protein synthesis. He is also well known for writing several popular books, including the famous ‘Mr Tompkins’ series. Gamow was born on 4th March 1904 in Odessa, Ukraine. He was fascinated by astronomy during his school days, and his father, a school-teacher, gave him a telescope on his thirteenth birthday. After a brief stint at the Novorossia University at Odessa he went to study physics at the University of Leningrad in 1923. After receiving his PhD in 1928, he went to Copenhagen to work with Niels Bohr. Read full article (45 Kb) Address for Correspondence Biman Nath Raman Research Institute, Bangalore 560 080. Email: biman@rri.res.in

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