  In this paper, we first briefly review some recent results on the
distribution of the maximal eigenvalue of a $(N\times N)$ random matrix drawn
from Gaussian ensembles. Next we focus on the Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (GUE)
and by suitably adapting a method of orthogonal polynomials developed by Gross
and Matytsin in the context of Yang-Mills theory in two dimensions, we provide
a rather simple derivation of the Tracy-Widom law for GUE. Our derivation is
based on the elementary asymptotic scaling analysis of a pair of coupled
nonlinear recursion relations. As an added bonus, this method also allows us to
compute the precise subleading terms describing the right large deviation tail
of the maximal eigenvalue distribution. In the Yang-Mills language, these
subleading terms correspond to non-perturbative (in $1/N$ expansion)
corrections to the two-dimensional partition function in the so called `weak'
coupling regime.
