March 4, 1904

George Gamow (March 4, 1904 to August 19, 1968), was born in Odessa, and died in Boulder, Colorado. After defecting from the USSR in the early 1930s, Gamow worked longest as a physics professor at George Washington University.

George Gamow was one of the earliest physicists to publicize the implications of
Georges Lemaître's concept of "the primeval atom." This Jesuit priest's vision of an expanding universe became better known as the "Big Bang" theory. Gamow's genius extended to science writing, and one of these efforts to convey to the non-mathematical the excitement of science was titled Mr. Tompkins in Paperbook (1965). We quote:

'...[W]hy are such terrific efforts made just to find new particles'? asked Mister Tompkins.
     'Well, this is science,' replied the professor, 'the attempt of the human mind to understand everything around us, be it giant stellar galaxies, ...or these elementary particles. It is interesting and exciting and that is why we are doing it.'
     ' But doesn't the development of science serve practical purposes by improving the comfort and well-being of people?'
     'Of course it does, but ...this is only a secondary purpose. Do you think that the main purpose of music is to teach buglers to awaken soldiers in the morning...? They say "curiosity kills the cat"; I say "curiosity makes the scientist.".'

Mr. Tompkins in Paperbook  succeeded other books Gamow wrote with this purpose, such as Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland (1940). Mr. Tompkins is Gamow's description of a bank clerk.