George Gamow was a celebrated physicist best known for his work dealing with the origins of the universe. Gamow also made important contributions to the unraveling of the genetic code in molecular biology.

In addition to his research, Gamow was a great popularizer of physics and astronomy, particularly in his books dealing with a fictional character by the name of "Mr. Tompkins." Born in Russia, Gamow was trained in physics at the University of Leningrad shortly after the Russian Revolution, and his earliest important work on the theory of alpha decay of radioactive nuclei was carried out at the University of Göttingen in the late 1920s. As the political situation in his homeland gradually became more difficult, he decided to defect to the United States, and in 1933 became a professor at George Washington University.

Gamow was born in Odessa, Russia, on March 4, 1904, the son of Anthony...