Alpher, Bethe, Gamow

Martin Harwit, in his memorial to Ralph Alpher (Physics Today, December 2007, page 67 ), mentions that Alpher and Robert Herman were overlooked when the 1978 Nobel Prize was given for the discovery of the Big Bang’s background radiation. Joseph D’Agnese quotes Alpher’s reaction to not getting credit for his seminal work, “I would rather not have gone through that experience, to put it mildly. It was very painful.” ¹

Perhaps the slighting of Alpher’s contribution can be traced to the following: After his adviser, George Gamow, read Alpher’s thesis, he wanted to include Hans Bethe’s name on the resulting paper, so that its author list would be a wordplay on “alpha, beta, gamma.” Bethe had not seen the paper, nor did he contribute to it. Alpher, suspecting his work would not get full credit, opposed including Bethe. D’Agnese quotes Alpher as saying, “This is my dissertation. How can Gamow kid around like this?” But Alpher finally assented.

Much later, while he was at the General Electric Research Laboratory, Alpher chaired the American Physical Society’s committee on opportunities in physics. In 1981, because a publisher had infringed on my intellectual property, I petitioned to appear before the committee. When I met with the committee, which included physicists who were officers of major corporations, one of its members vehemently opposed its involvement in my case and immediately walked out. Alpher was resolute that the committee hear my case. No doubt because of its involvement, the case was later resolved to my satisfaction.

When I first met Alpher at that hearing, I did not know his feelings about Bethe’s being included as an author of the famous Alpher, Bethe, Gamow paper. I mentioned that everyone knew of that paper. Alpher took the reference with equanimity.

Besides his great intellectual achievements, Ralph Alpher was a gentleman of unfailing kindness and a keen sense of justice.