[Physicist]

You know the story about how he got roped into putting his name on a paper along with Hans Bethe and Alpher, don't you?

Actually, it was Gamow's idea. Gamow and Alpher wrote a paper and Gamow, on an impish whim, put Bethe's name on it, with the affiliation "in absentia".

Many people at the time took the paper as a joke because of the names, but it wasn't: the paper was one of the most important of the 20th century, the first on Big Bang nucleosynthesis.

[longshadow]

Actually, it was Gamow's idea. Gamow and Alpher wrote a paper and Gamow, on an impish whim, put Bethe's name on it, with the affiliation "in absentia".

Many people at the time took the paper as a joke because of the names, but it wasn't: the paper was one of the most important of the 20th century, the first on Big Bang nucleosynthesis.

Very cool.

Thanks for filling in "the rest of the story!"