What do you exactly know about Ukrainian scientists? Student Melaniya Podolyak who now studies abroad says it’s rather difficult to explain to foreign co-eds and friends that Ukraine and its scientists is a bright example of tech success, though they are thought to be a part of “Russian” or “post-USSR” culture and science.
«Some time ago, the topic of the Paris Air Show came up while I was hanging out with two American friends of mine. One of them takes particular interest in technology, engineering, and the like, so I asked him if he had yet seen the newest Ukrainian military plane AN-178, manufactured by “Antonov”. “Ukrainian? Isn’t “Antonov” a Russian company?” I can’t say that his answer struck me as odd – I mean, being a Ukrainian among foreigners means these thing will occasionally happen — but getting rid of the nasty USSR legacy is tough» — says Malanka in her blog where she decided to make a list of scientists of Ukrainian origin. She remarks that there is no need to say things like “George Gamow was Ukrainian, and that’s final“, because technically it’s not right — he and many others (like Levchin from PayPal) were citizens of the Soviet Union born into Ukrainian families, later emigrated to the USA. Yet there are names which are worth mentioning, she adds.
We in our editorial team liked her list of scientists and we decided to show it to our readers — there are names which are not well-known not just abroad but in Ukraine itself as well.
George Gamow
1904 (Odessa, Ukraine) — 1968 (Boulder, CO, United States)
Gamow was a theoretical physicist and cosmologist — most notably, an early advocate and developer of Lemaître’s Big Bang theory. He discovered a theoretical explanation of alpha decay via quantum tunneling and worked on radioactive decay of the atomic nucleus, star formation, stellar nucleosynthesis, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and molecular genetics. Some of his books are still in print more than half a century after their original publication and have become classic, yet ever-relevant introductions to the fundamental principles of mathematics and science. In his middle and late career, Gamow focused more on teaching, and became well known as an author of popular books on science, including One Two Three … Infinity, and the Mr. Tompkins … series of books. As an educator, Gamow recognized and emphasized fundamental principles that were unlikely to become obsolete, even as the pace of science and technology accelerated. He also conveyed a sense of excitement with the revolution in physics and other scientific topics of interest for the common reader.
