Charles Hard Townes

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 obtained 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 received 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.

He was awarded in 1961 David Sarnoff Electronics Award given by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the 1961 Rumford Medal awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He received the 1962 John Carty Award given by the National Academy of Science.
He shared the 1964 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.)
In 1979 he was awarded the Niels Bohr international medal awarded for contributions to the peaceful use of atomic energy.
In 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.
He received the 1982 National Medal of Science, presented by President Ronald Reagan.
In 1998 he was awarded the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship by the American Astronomical Society.
In 2000 he was awarded the Lomonosov Medal by the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 2005 he was awarded the "Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities".
He has also been awarded the LeConte Medallion.
Along with associate Raj Reddy, Townes was awarded the 2006 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.

Personal details

He was born in Greenville, South Carolina to Baptist parents. He is a brother of Pi Kappa Phi, Delta Chapter. He is still 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