Charles Hard Townes (born July 28, 1915) is an American Nobel Prize-winning physicist and educator. Townes is known for his work on the theory and application of the maser, on which he got the fundamental patent, and other work in quantum electronics connected with both maser and laser devices. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (640x979, 42 KB) Summary Photograph of Charles H. Townes taken 9/1968 from: Magnet, Vol. ... is the 209th day of the year (210th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Greenville is a mid-sized city located in the upstate of South Carolina. ... Official language(s) English Capital Columbia Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Columbia Area  Ranked 40th  - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 260 miles (420 km)  - % water 6  - Latitude 32° 2′ N to 35° 13′ N  - Longitude 78° 32′ W to 83... Not to be confused with physician, a person who practices medicine. ... Bell Telephone Laboratories or Bell Labs was originally the research and development arm of the United States Bell System, and was the premier corporate facility of its type, developing a range of revolutionary technologies from telephone switches to specialized coverings for telephone cables, to the transistor. ... The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) is a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) focusing on defense issues. ... Mapúa Institute of Technology (MIT, MapúaTech or simply Mapúa) is a private, non-sectarian, Filipino tertiary institute located in Intramuros, Manila. ... Sather tower (the Campanile) looking out over the San Francisco Bay and Mount Tamalpais. ... The Bell Tower Furman University is a private, coeducational, non-sectarian university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. ... Duke University is a private coeducational research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. ... The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech)[1] is a private, coeducational research university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ... Ali Javan (Persian: علی جوان , born 1928 in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian inventor and physicist at MIT. He invented the gas laser in 1960. ... A hydrogen radio frequency discharge, the first element inside a hydrogen maser (see description below) A maser is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification due to stimulated emission. ... Image File history File links Nobel_prize_medal. ... Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) accepting the Nobel Prize for his work on magnetohydrodynamics [1]. List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... Disambiguation: This article is about the United States denomination known as United Church of Christ. ... is the 209th day of the year (210th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Nobel Prize (Swedish: ) was established in Alfred Nobels will in 1895, and it was first awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace in 1901. ... Not to be confused with physician, a person who practices medicine. ... A hydrogen radio frequency discharge, the first element inside a hydrogen maser (see description below) A maser is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification due to stimulated emission. ... Quantum electronics is an area of physics dealing with the effect of quantum mechanics on the behaviour of electrons in solid-state matter. ... For other uses, see Laser (disambiguation). ... Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) accepting the Nobel Prize for his work on magnetohydrodynamics [1]. List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ...

Biography

Townes was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on July 28, 1915, the son of Henry Keith Townes, an attorney, and Ellen (Hard) Townes. He attended the Greenville public schools and then Furman University in Greenville, where he completed the requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and the Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern Languages, graduating summa cum laude in 1935, at the age of 19. Physics had fascinated him since his first course in the subject during his sophomore year in college because of its "beautifully logical structure". He was also interested in natural history while at Furman, serving as curator of the museum, and working during the summers as collector for Furman's biology camp. In addition, he was busy with other activities, including the swimming team, the college newspaper and the football band.

Townes completed work for the Master of Arts degree in Physics at Duke University in 1936, and then entered graduate school at the California Institute of Technology, where he received the Ph.D. degree in 1939 with a thesis on isotope separation and nuclear spins.

A member of the technical staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1933 to 1947, Dr. Townes worked extensively during World War II in designing radar bombing systems and has a number of patents in related technology. From this he turned his attention to applying the microwave technique of wartime radar research to spectroscopy, which he foresaw as providing a powerful new tool for the study of the structure of atoms and molecules and as a potential new basis for controlling electromagnetic waves.

At Columbia University, where he was appointed to the faculty in 1948, he continued research in microwave physics, particularly studying the interactions between microwaves and molecules, and using microwave spectra for the study of the structure of molecules, atoms, and nuclei. In 1951, Dr. Townes conceived the idea of the maser, and a few months later he and his associates began working on a device using ammonia gas as the active medium. In early 1954, the first amplification and generation of electromagnetic waves by stimulated emission were obtained. Dr. Townes and his students coined the word "maser" for this device, which is an acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. In 1958, Dr. Townes and his brother-in-law, Dr. A.L. Schawlow, for some time a professor at Stanford University but now deceased, showed theoretically that masers could be made to operate in the optical and infrared region and proposed how this could be accomplished in particular systems. This work resulted in their joint paper on optical and infrared masers, or lasers (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation). Other research has been in the fields of nonlinear optics, radio astronomy, and infrared astronomy. He and his assistants detected the first complex molecules in interstellar space and first measured the mass of the black hole in the center of our galaxy.

Having joined the faculty at Columbia University as Associate Professor of Physics in 1948, Townes was appointed Professor in 1950. He served as Executive Director of the Columbia Radiation Laboratory from 1950 to 1952 and was Chairman of the Physics Department from 1952 to 1955.

From 1959 to 1961, he was on leave of absence from Columbia University to serve as Vice President and Director of Research of the Institute for Defense Analyses in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit organization which advised the U.S. government and was operated by eleven universities.

In 1961, Dr. Townes was appointed Provost and Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As Provost he shared with the President responsibility for general supervision of the educational and research programs of the Institute. In 1966, he became Institute Professor at M.I.T., and later in the same year resigned from the position of Provost in order to return to more intensive research, particularly in the fields of quantum electronics and astronomy. He was appointed University Professor at the University of California in 1967. In this position Dr. Townes is participating in teaching, research, and other activities on several campuses of the University, although he is located at the Berkeley campus.

During 1955 and 1956, Townes was a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fulbright Lecturer, first at the University of Paris and then at the University of Tokyo. He was National Lecturer for Sigma Xi and also taught during summer sessions at the University of Michigan and at the Enrico Fermi International School of Physics in Italy, serving as Director for a session in 1963 on coherent light. In the fall of 1963, he was Scott Lecture at the University of Toronto. More recently (2002-2003) he has been the Karl Schwarzschild Lecturer in Germany and the Birla Lecturer and Schroedinger Lecturer in India.

In addition to the Nobel Prize, Townes has received the Templeton Prize, for contributions to the understanding of religion, and a number of other prizes as well as 27 honorary degrees from various universities.

Dr. Townes has served on a number of scientific committees advising governmental agencies and has been active in professional societies. This includes being a member, and vice chairman, of the Science Advisory Committee to the President of the U.S., Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the first human landing on the moon, and chairman of the Defense Department’s Committee on the MX missile. He also served on the boards of General Motors and of the Perkins Elmer Corporations.

Dr. Townes and his wife (the former Frances H. Brown; they married in 1941) live at 1988 San Antonio Avenue, Berkeley, California. They have four daughters, Linda Rosenwein, Ellen Anderson, Carla Kessler, and Holly Townes.

Research

Charlie Townes was the lead researcher in the construction of the Infrared Spatial Interferometer, the first astronomical interferometer to operate in the mid-infrared. He continues researching into astrophysics and astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. With Arthur Leonard Schawlow, he wrote the book Microwave Spectroscopy, published in 1955. The Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI) is an astronomical interferometer array of three 65 inch (1. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Spiral Galaxy ESO 269-57 Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties (luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition) of celestial objects such as stars, galaxies, and the interstellar medium, as well as their interactions. ... For other uses, see Astronomy (disambiguation). ... Sather tower (the Campanile) looking out over the San Francisco Bay and Mount Tamalpais. ... Arthur Leonard Schawlow (May 5, 1921 – April 28, 1999) was an American physicist. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ...

During his time at Bell Labs Townes was asked to help with the development of a new radar system for aircraft in World War II. He never served in the military, but felt he was helping his country from within the lab. Townes and his team were successful in creating more accurate and precise radar systems, but none of them were ever mass produced by the military. Some of the new systems developed were used as prototypes in early B-52 Bombers. After the war, Townes continued to work at Bell Labs, creating new radar by experimenting with different radio wavelengths. For other uses, see Radar (disambiguation). ... “B-52” redirects here. ...

Moving from Bell Labs in 1948, to the physics department of Columbia University allowed Townes to return to experimental physics and away from the applications of physics. At Columbia, his research was still partially funded by the US Navy’s desire for even smaller radar. At Bell Labs Townes helped develop a radar system with a 1.25 centimeter wavelength. After moving to Columbia, the military wanted radar systems with wavelengths only a few millimeters. The shortening of the wavelength led Townes and his colleagues to focus on microwave research. In 1951, the idea of the maser was proposed to Townes' superiors. After three years and many experiments, Townes and Jim Gordon created a working maser. Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alma Mater Columbia University is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter), symbol mm is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A hydrogen radio frequency discharge, the first element inside a hydrogen maser (see description below) A maser is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification due to stimulated emission. ...

Awards

Townes has been widely recognised for his scientific work and leadership.

• 1956 - elected Full Member of the National Academy of Sciences.
• 1961 - awarded the David Sarnoff Electronics Award given by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Rumford Medal awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• 1962 - The John Carty Award given by the National Academy of Science.
• 1963 - Young Medal and Prize, for distinguished research in the field of optics presented by the Institute of physics.
• 1964 - The Nobel Prize in Physics with N. G. Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov for contributions to fundamental work in quantum electronics leading to the development of the maser and laser.
• 1979 - He was awarded the Niels Bohr international medal awarded for contributions to the peaceful use of atomic energy.
• 1980 - Townes was inducted by his home state into the South Carolina Hall of Science and Technology, and has also been awarded a South Carolina Hall of Science and Technology Citation.
• 1982 - He received the National Medal of Science, presented by President Ronald Reagan.
• 1994 - elected Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
• 1998 - awarded the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship by the American Astronomical Society.
• 2000 - awarded the Lomonosov Medal by the Russian Academy of Sciences.
• 2003 - awarded the Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology in Telluride, Colorado.
• 2005 - awarded the Templeton Prize for "Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities."
• He has also been awarded the LeConte Medallion.
• 2006 - Along with associate Raj Reddy, Townes was awarded the Vannevar Bush Award for Lifetime Contributions and Statesmanship to Science

A car from 1956 Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... President Harding and the National Academy of Sciences at the White House, Washington, DC, April 1921 The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sarnoff redirects here. ... Not to be confused with the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). ... In 1796, Benjamin Thompson, known as Count Rumford, gave $5000 separately to the Royal Society of London and the other by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to give awards every two years for outstanding scientific research on heat or light. ... The House of the Academy, Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... 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List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... Nikolay G. Basov. ... Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov (Russian: Александр Михайлович Прохоров) (July 11, 1916 – January 8, 2002) was an Australian-Russian physicist. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Niels Henrik David Bohr (October 7, 1885 – November 18, 1962) was a Danish physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Official language(s) English Capital Columbia Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Columbia Area  Ranked 40th  - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 260 miles (420 km)  - % water 6  - Latitude 32° 2′ N to 35° 13′ N  - Longitude 78° 32′ W to 83... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. ... Reagan redirects here. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... Russian Academy of Sciences: main building Russian Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к) is the national academy of Russia. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... The Henry Norris Russell Lectureship is awarded each year by the American Astronomical Society in recognition of a lifetime of excellence in astronomical research. ... The American Astronomical Society (AAS) is a US society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The main aim of the AAS is provide a political voice for its members and organise their lobbying. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... The Lomonosov Gold Medal, named after Russian scientist and polymath Mikhail Lomonosov, is awarded each year since 1959 for outstanding achievements in the natural sciences and the humanities by the USSR Academy of Sciences and later the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). ... Russian Academy of Sciences: main building Russian Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к) is the national academy of Russia. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities was until 2001 awarded for Progress in Religion. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dabbala Rajagopal Raj Reddy (born June 13, 1937 in Katoor, India, near Chennai) is a world-renowned researcher in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Human-Computer Interaction. ... The Vannevar Bush Award has been given each year since 1980 by National Science Foundation to persons who contributed most toward the welfare of mankind and the nation. The award is named after the American scientist Vannevar Bush (1890-1974). ...

Representation

• Between 1966 and 1970 he was chairman of the NASA Science Advisory Committee for the Apollo lunar landing program.

Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see NASA (disambiguation). ... Project Apollo was a series of human spaceflight missions undertaken by the United States of America (NASA) using the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicle, conducted during the years 1961 – 1975. ...

Personal details

He was born in Greenville, South Carolina to Baptist parents. He is a brother of Pi Kappa Phi, Delta Chapter. He is a Protestant Christian, and is a member of the United Church of Christ. His father was an attorney. He has four daughters and seven grandchildren. He considers that "science and religion [are] quite parallel, much more similar than most people think and that in the long run, they must converge"^[1] Greenville is a mid-sized city located in the upstate of South Carolina. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Baptist is... Pi Kappa Phi is a national social fraternity that was founded in the spirit of nu phi, meaning non-fraternity. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... Disambiguation: This article is about the United States denomination known as United Church of Christ. ...

Bibliography

• R.Y. Chiao, Amazing Light : A Volume Dedicated To Charles Hard Townes On His 80th Birthday, Springer, 1996.
• J. Hecht, Beam: The Race to Make the Laser, Oxford University Press, 2005.
• J. Hecht, Laser Pioneers, Academic Press, 1991.
• N. Taylor, Laser: The Inventor, the Noble Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War, Citadel, 2003.
• C.H. Townes, Making Waves, AIP Press, 1995.
• C.H. Townes, How the Laser Happened: Adventures of a Scientist, Oxford University Press, 2000.

References

1. ^ Harvard Gazette June 16, 2005 Laser's inventor predicts meeting of science, religion

External links

• http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2005/06.16/05-laser.html
• Charles Hard Townes
• Amazing Light: Visions of Discovery (Symposium in honor of Charles Townes
• Infrared Spatial Interferometer Array
• Research page