On the article of G. Gamow, D. Ivanenko, and L. Landau “World Constants and Limiting Transition”

This brief preface explains why the editorial board of the journal Yadernaya Fizika (Physics o f Atomic Nuclei) decided to reprint the article of the three authors, which was published in 1928 and which is hardly accessible to the present-day reader; tells briefly the history of its creation; and traces, from 1881 to 2001, the fate of the questions discussed in it and the impact of this article on modern fundamental physics.