george gamow photo from early career

    Caption: George Gamow (1904-1968)---second row at the right in the image---was born in Russia and had defected from Soviet Union (1922--1991) He was briefly a colonel in Red Army (1918--1946)---his military rank was assigned on the basis of his academic status---he was in the cavalry---he rode a pony. Later he settled in the USA---where explaining his service record required some delicacy when applying for security clearance.

    Gamow (pronounced Gamov) is the main early developer of the Big Bang theory.

    The image is of the participants at the Washington Theoretical Physics Conference,1937. Notable participants:
    1. Edward Teller (1908--2003): Second row from the back, near center, with dark hair and face partially hidden.
    2. Eugene Wigner (1902--1995): Second row, 1st from the left.
    3. Felix Bloch (1905--1983): Front row, 1st from the right.
    4. George Gamow (1904-1968): Second row, 1st from the right.
    5. Gregory Breit (1899--1981): Maybe back row, 2nd from the left.
    6. Hans Behte (1906--2005): Front row, 3rd from the right. Yours truly never had the luck to meet Hans Behte, but yours truly is a friend of a friend---so 2 degrees of separation.
    7. I. I. Rabi (1898--1988): Second row, 2nd from the right. The academic genealogy of theoretical physicists, AKA Ph.D. advisor lineage: ... → 1) August Franz Josef Karl Mayer (1787--1865) → 2) Johannes Peter Mueller (1801--1858) → 3) Hermann von Helmholtz (1821--1894) → 4) Arthur Gordon Webster (1863--1923) → 5) Albert Potter Wills (1873--1937) → 6) I. I. Rabi (1898--1988) → 7) Julian Schwinger (1918--1994) → 8) Gordon Baym (1935--) → 9) Peter G. Sutherland → 10) yours truly.
    8. James Franck (1882--1964) Maybe second row from the back, 2nd from the left.
    9. John A. Wheeler (1911--2008): Maybe third row, 1st from the right.
    10. Niels Bohr (1885--1962): Front row, 2nd from the right.

    Credit/Permission: Anonymous photographer, 1937 / Public domain probably.
    Image link: History of Astrophysics at George Washington University: See also 1937: Third Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics: Problems of Elementary Particles and Nuclear Physics---alas, now a dead link.
    Local file: local link: george_gamow.html.
    File: Astronomer file: george_gamow.html.