Gamow Explains Radioactive Alpha Decay (Great Events: 1900-2001)
Article abstract: George Gamow applied the newly developed
quantum mechanics to the atomic nucleus to explain alpha decay
and founded the field of nuclear physics.  Solving the Atom
Puzzle  In 1911, Ernest Rutherford’s experiments, in which he
bounced alpha particles off the atoms of a very thin gold foil,
showed that all the positive charge and more than 99 percent of
the mass of atoms is concentrated in a tiny central region of
the atom called the “nucleus.” The diameter of the nucleus is
1/100,000 of the diameter of the atom. By 1913, Niels Bohr had
developed a model of the atom in which the negatively charged
electrons orbited the nucleus in specific allowed orbits. Bohr's
model explained Rutherford's results and accurately predicted
certain atomic spectra.  Bohr’s theory left an unanswered
question: Why are electrons allowed only in certain orbits?
Answering this question showed that electrons must behave
sometimes like waves and sometimes