Charles H. Townes

Charles Hard Townes
File:Nlchtownes.jpeg Charles Townes in 1968
Born	28 July 1915 Greenville, South Carolina
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Furman University Duke Caltech
Known for	Inventing the maser
Awards	File:Nobel.svg Nobel Prize in Physics (1964)
Scientific career
Fields	Physics
Institutions	Bell Labs Institute for Defense Analyses Columbia MIT Berkeley
Doctoral advisor	William Smythe
Doctoral students	James P. Gordon Ali Javan Ray Chiao

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 a B.A. and B.S. from Furman University, an M.A. from Duke University, and a Ph.D. from Caltech.

Education

He received his bachelor's degrees in physics and modern languages from Furman University in 1935 and his M.A. in physics from Duke University in 1936. Townes came to the California Institute of Technology as a graduate student in 1937, and got his PhD in 1939. Later that year he became a member of the technical staff at Bell Labs, where he stayed until 1948. He then joined the faculty at Columbia University, and began the work that in 1953 produced the maser. From 1959 to 1961 he headed the Institute for Defense Analyses in Washington, D.C. He then served as provost and professor of physics at MIT for six years. In 1967, he went to the University of California, Berkeley, where his pioneering program in radio and infrared astronomy led to the discovery of ammonia and water molecules in the interstellar medium.

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.

Awards

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

• 1961 - He was 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 planetary thermal radiation. (He shared his prize money with Cornell Mayer of the US Naval Research Laboratory who had been a collaborator.)
• 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.
• 1998 - awarded the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship by the American Astronomical Society.
• 2000 - awarded the Lomonosov Medal by the Russian Academy of Sciences.
• 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

Representation

• Between 1966 and 1970 he was chairman of the NASA Science Advisory Committee for the Apollo lunar landing program.
• He currently serves on the board of advisors of Scientists and Engineers for America, an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government.

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 six grandchildren.

Partial 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.

External links

• Charles Hard Townes
• Amazing Light: Visions of Discovery (Symposium in honor of Charles Townes
• Infrared Spatial Interferometer Array
• Research page
• fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle.