Did Einstein really say that ?

This is a very nice, readable article challenging the myth that Einstein never called the cosmological constant his biggest blunder. In brief, the popular story goes (and still dominates today) that Einstein introduced this as an otherwise-unjustified term in his equations : he preferred a static universe, which the equations didn't allow. Later, on Hubble's discovery (simplifying) that the Universe was actually expanding, he changed his mind and regretted missing out on an amazing prediction that observations would have proven, famously using the expression that it was his "biggest blunder".

The now rather popular skeptical position is that actually he never used that term, and may not even have regarded it as such an important failure (https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/einstein-likely-never-said-one-of-his-most-oft-quoted-phrases/278508/). The quote is incredibly widely reported, so if nothing else it'd be nice to know if he really used it or not. The skeptical argument rests on there being only one source for the original quote : George Gamow, who wrote it down with a condescending sneer that Einstein was old and befuddled.

This article challenges this quite strongly, finding two other, independent sources of the quote. That alone makes it far more plausible. Less important for exact history, but much more interesting for the context, are their examinations of Gamow's character and the intent of his remark that "of course the old man agrees with anything nowaday". Gamow, they say, was underrated as a physicist precisely because of his mischevous humour, and they say this remark could be interpreted as Gamow actually being self-deprecating - essentially saying that Einstein's agreement with Gamow's theory wasn't the great honour one would normally assume it to be. A sort of backhanded insult, but more jovial and without the viciousness evident by reading the quote without context.

The most interesting part for me was a slightly tangential look at Gamow as a science populariser and how this wasn't seen as the desirable activity it's generally regarded as today. Paying tributed to Gamow, Wolfgang Yourgrau remarked :

Gamow committed an unforgivable sin. He wrote popular books on physics, biology and cosmology. Moreover, the books were bestsellers because they enabled the uninitiated not only to understand scientific discoveries and theories, but also to understand the human, often humorous facets of the researching men engaged in all of these mysterious ventures…. Most scientists do not fancy the oversimplifying, popularizing of our science…it is tantamount to a cheapening of the sacred rituals of our profession… many of us considered him washed up, a has-been, an intemperate member of our holy order.

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018arXiv180406768O