Gamow, quoted in Ruth Moore's book,

  "Niels Bohr: The Man, His Science, and the World They Changed"

  1966


...that handsome, hearty British lord
We knew as Ernest Rutherford.
New Zealand's farmer's son by birth,
He never lost the touch of earth;
His booming voice and jolly roar
Could penetrate the thickest door,
But if to anger he inclined
You should have heard him speak his mind
In living language of the land
That anyone could understand!

One day George Gamow, as his guest
By Rutherford was so addressed
At tea in honour of Niels Bohr
(Of whom you may have heard before).
The men talked golf, and cricket too;
The ladies gushed, as ladies do,
About a blouse, a sash, a shawl --
And Bohr grew weary o f it all.
"Gamow," he said, "I see below
Your motorcycle. You will show
Me how it works? Come on, let's run!
This party isn't any fun."

So to the motorcycle Bohr,
With Gamow running after, tore.
Gamow explained the this and that
And Bohr, who on the saddle sat,
Took off to skim along the Backs,
A threat to humans, beasts and hacks,
But though he started full and strong
He didn't sit it out for long.
No less than fifty yards ahead
He killed the engine dead
And turning wildly as he slowed
Stopped traffic up and down Queen's Road.
While Gamow rushing to the fore,
Was doing what he could for Bohr
Who should like Jove himself appear
But Rutherford. In Gamow's ear
He thundered: "Gamow! If once more
You give that buggy to Niels Bohr
To snarl up traffic with, or wreck,
I swear I'll break your bloody neck."