He shared the nobel prize in physics in 1964 for his work leading to the development of the maser and his research and ideas were instrumental in the development of the laser by theodore maiman. Townes speaks of his childhood in greenville, sc, and his interest in science as a boy. In 2006 he was our most important supporter when we were out of the nasa budget. Were speaking with professor townes in the berkeley physics department and with me is robert seidel.
The papers of charles hard townes 19152015 span the years 18982009, with the bulk of the material dating from 1948 to 2000. Greenville county school district gcsd is not responsible for the content on these friends pages. Charles townes, nobel prize winning american physicist, and inventor of the maser and laser. I like the stars, i studied birds, flowers, insects, collected butterflies.
I watched him go off the first morning with the older girl next door, seeing clearly that an era of. Townes center for science, furman university, november 1, 2008. I watched him go off the first morning with the older girl next door, seeing clearly that an era of my life was ended, my sweetvoiced nurserys. Townes, the nobel prizewinning physicist who developed the theory that led to the laser, believed that science and faith were similar and ought to interact with one another. Townes using resources in your school or local library or on the internet with your parents or guardians permission and guidance. In 1958, along with arthur schawlow, his brotherinlaw and a future nobel prizewinner, townes published a description of how to construct a version of the maser using visible light a laser. I did save a few papers, a few informal technical papers, from the bell labs days. See the complete profile on linkedin and discover charlies. And in 1967, he accepted a position at the university of california at berkeley, and entered a new discipline. He shared the 1964 nobel prize in physics with nikolay basov and alexander prokhorov.
Publication date 1955 topics gases spectra, microwave spectroscopy. Townes, charles born july 28, 1915, in greenville, s. Along the way, youll learn about how townes came upon his surprising findings and how he managed to avoid obstacles in his path. Greenville county school district gcsd is not responsible for the content. Charles hard townes july 28, 1915 january 27, 2015 was an american physicist. Charles hard townes, corecipient of the 1964 nobel. The subject was the relationship of science to religion, and dr. Harry kreislers conversations with history interview with charles townes, february 2000. I see that for the discovery of the high frequency, high intensity sound waves, a number of press releases went out for example, the aip issued a press release in. We are beginning an interview emphasizing your involvement in science policy and science advising, and it will deal particularly in detail with the origins of jason and your involvement in that. Furthermore, in certain new domains, like cavity quantum electrodynamics, the quantization of the field becomes essential. Charlie could talk on any topic, except maybe pro sports, hollywood gossip and fashion, said john taylor, his nephew. It is awarded annually to a graduate student who exemplifies the many qualities townes had.
Townes is the 2010 recipient of the gold medal of spie in recognition of his extraordinary foresight in recognizing the potential of the laser and coherent light 50 years ago, for his. Townes was a student in greenville in the period 1937, and from 1937 to 1939 he did graduate work at the california institute of technology. Townes 20 and 21 may 1987, american institute of physics, niels bohr library and archives dedication program for the charles h. Charles had two brothers and three sisters, and the family lived on a 20acre farm. The charles hard townes graduate fellowship is considered a great honor among graduate students studying physics. The corresponding doublet is called the autlertownes doublet, or the dynamic stark splitting. Charles townesnobel laureate for maserlaser work ncbi. Jan 27, 2015 charles townes lived an intentional life. Townes was born in greenville, south carolina, july 28, 1915, and grew up on a farm. A look through popular sciences coverage of his work shows the famed physicists wide interests. Using a dressedatom approach, 1 would like to show in this paper that the basic features of the autler townes effect show themselves in several new. The papers are organized into the following series. A man of seemingly unbounded curiosity, not only about the world of science that he shaped but also the world at large. Prize in physics for his co inventions of the maser and laser, died peacefully on january 27, 2015 in.
Townes, the dis tinguished scientist, was talking with a bible class. The following 7 files are in this category, out of 7 total. He died on january 27, 2015 in oakland, california, usa. His father was a lawyer, but the family owned a small farm outside the city limits. But i want to start with the beginning and talk a little bit about your childhood and your schooling, as it pertains to your motivation for going into physics and your motivation then for. Charles townes was a physicist whose work concentrated on the development of highresolution spectroscopy of gasses in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. He attended the greenville public schools and graduated from the furman university in 1935 with a bachelor of science degree in physics and a bachelor of arts degree in modern languages. Charles townes charlie to his family, friends and close colleagues was born on july 28, 1915, in greenville, south carolina, the fourth of six. So i was very interested in natural history and what the world was like. Maiman of the hughes research laboratory, california, was the first scientist who experimentally demonstrated. Jan 28, 2015 charles hard townes was born in greenville, s. He received his masters at duke university a year later, and his ph. Townes, the nobel prizewinning physicist who developed the theory that led to the laser, believed that science and faith were similar and ought to.
Townes and his group successfully demonstrated the maser in the laboratory in 1954 using ammonia gas. Charles townes center greenville, south carolina facebook. Charles hard townes july 28, 1915 january 27, 2015 was an american nobel prizewinning 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. The subject was the relationship of science to religion.
From 1966 until 1970, townes was chairman of nasas science advisory ommittee for the apollo lunar landing program. Charles townes, nobel prize winner, greenville native. Charles hard townes, corecipient of the 1964 nobel prize in physics for his coinventions of the maser and. In 1964, charles townes shared the nobel prize in physics for his work on maser and laser devices. His influence as a scientist shifted paradigms and his voice as a government advisor was heard at important times. Charles by shirley jackson the day my son laurie started kindergarten he renounced corduroy overalls with bibs and began wearing blue jeans with a belt. Townes studied at furman and duke universities, then headed west to cal tech. The american physicist charles hard townes shared the 1964 nobel prize in physics with 2 soviet physicists, aleksandr m. He personally introduced me to both hanspeter roeser hawaii. Charles hard townes originally hailed from greenville, south carolina, and graduated summa cum laude from furman university in 1935 at the age of 19 with degrees in both physics and modern languages.
Publication date 1955 topics gases spectra, microwave spectroscopy publisher new york. Charles had two brothers and three sisters, and the. Charles townes and sofia charlie was one of the key people that sold sofia to nasa and the us congress in mid 1990s. In how the laser happened, nobel laureate charles townes provides a highly personal look at some of the leading events in twentiethcentury physics. War ii, kelley also recruited claude shannon, william shockley, and charles townes. Then discuss what you learned with your mentor, including answers to the following questions. Charles hard townes article about charles hard townes by.
One was this memorandum of mine, trying to persuade bell labs to let. Charles hard townes biography, birth date, birth place and. General correspondence, personal file, alphabetical file. His father, henry townes, was a lawyer and newspaper editor. As i said, there are just a few points i want to clear up for my own questions and then turn it over to bob. In 1958, townes and schawlow showed in a theoretical paper that optical masers could be constructed by embedding the active medium of inverted states in an open, fabryperot type resonator, and coupling out the light in one of the resonator modes. He personally introduced me to both hanspeter roeser hawaii 1982 and rolf guesten mid. The oxygen is the most common type, with a mixture of composing of carbon dioxide co2. Townes was urging that sci entific and religious thought, far from conflicting, are today finding more and more in common and are destined ultimately to merge.
Townes was a vital and beloved member of the physics department at the university of california, berkeley for almost 50 years. We will therefore introduce here the autler townes effect from a dressedatom point of view. He shared the 1964 nobel prize in physics with nikolay basov and alexander. A man of seemingly unbounded curiosity, not only about the world of science that he shaped but also. Charles townes, left, talks with former south carolina governor dick riley before a meeting at the westin poinsett honoring dr. Townes, whose work on the maser won him a nobel prize in 1964, is provost and professor of physics at mit. View charlie townes profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community. Townes was inventor of the maser, of which the laser is one example. Townes worked on the theory and application of the maser, for which he obtained the fundamental patent, and other work in quantum electronics associated with both maser and laser devices. Charles townes session ii american institute of physics. Nobel prize winner charles townes on evolution and. Charles hard townes was born into a prosperous family on july 28, 1915 in greenville, south carolina, usa. Townes, inventor of the maser and coinventor, with arthur schawlow, of the laser, takes us on a behindthescenes tour of his unique and startlingly productive and creative way of working.
Charles hard townes was born on july 28 1915, in greenville, south carolina. He begins his interview talking about what he considers to be his greatest accomplishments, what inspires him, and how he would like to be remembered. Checklist for nova start your engines checklist for nova whoosh. Calvin fuller, an expert on xray polymer characterization, was bakers supervisor and mentor. Charles townes president braden townes, llc linkedin. We shah neglect this dependence here, assuming that the field wl is initially excited in. He was the son of ellen sumter townes and henry keith townes, an attorney. Townes is the 2010 recipient of the gold medal of spie in recognition of his extraordinary foresight in recognizing the potential of. From 1939 to 1948 he worked at bell telephone laboratories, inc. Maiman actually built his first laser using a crystal, a ruby in his case. Charles hard townes july 28, 1915 january 27, 2015 was an american nobel prizewinning 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 shared the nobel prize in physics in 1964 with nikolay. Download a pdf of towness essay, the convergence of science and religion, first published in ibms think magazine, marchapril 1966. He was a key inventor of the laser and won the nobel prize for his discovery. But there could be a few early things among the columbia things that i brought along with me for the files.
Speak with your teachers at school or your parents if you are homeschooled or one of your cub scout leaders about your interest in earning the webelos scout supernova award. Charles townes was born on july 28, 1915 in greenville, south carolina, usa as charles hard townes. Charlie townes manager, creative technologies l brands. He was the first chair of the sofia science council 1997 to 2003. Earn the scholar and scientist and engineer webelos scout activity badges. Jan 29, 2015 charles hard townes, physicist, born 28 july 1915. Charles hard townes simple english wikipedia, the free. Jun 17, 2005 harry kreislers conversations with history interview with charles townes, february 2000. Jan 27, 2015 the following 7 files are in this category, out of 7 total. Baker joined a chemistry group, closely coupled to engineering and manufacturing, that focused on materials in the bell system. Charles hard townes wikipedia, a enciclopedia livre.
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