Nor is there any mention of Ralph Alpher, who predicted the cosmic microwave background as a consequence of the big bang, well before it was accidentally discov

Nor is there any mention of Ralph Alpher, who predicted the cosmic microwave background as a consequence of the big bang, well before it was accidentally discovered, and also showed that the cosmic abundances of hydrogen and helium can be predicted from the big bang - two results important to the theory's acceptance. Alpher was a doctoral student of Gamow's. To be fair, we can't expect a book review to be a comprehensive review article on a big topic.