what did charles townes invent

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What was Dr Townes most famous invention?

the laserCharles H. Townes, a renowned physicist who invented the laser and the maser, died in Oakland, California on Tuesday at the age of 99. Townes' inventions earned him the Nobel Prize in physics in 1964. Laser stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

What is Charles Townes known for?

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.

When did Charles Townes invent the laser?

While Townes and Schawlow are the names most often associated with the invention of the laser because of their 1958 paper and subsequent patent, numerous others made vital contributions.

What very important award did Dr Townes earn?

1964: Charles Townes at the Nobel Prize Ceremony. His Nobel Prize was awarded for “work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle.”

Who invented the laser?

Theodore MaimanGordon GouldCharles H. TownesDennis GaborJun‑ichi NishizawaNikolay BasovLaser/Inventors

Who was the original inventor of the laser?

NIHF Inductee Arthur Schawlow Invented the Laser.

What was the first laser used for?

Advancing Science: Before any other application, lasers were used for scientific research. At first, like masers, they were used to study atomic physics and chemistry. But uses were soon found in many fields.

When was the first laser invented?

The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow.

Why was the laser invented?

The laser is an outgrowth of a suggestion made by Albert Einstein in 1916 that under the proper circumstances atoms could release excess energy as light—either spontaneously or when stimulated by light.

What is difference between laser and maser?

A MASER is a device that emits coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation. A LASER is a device which emits light by a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of radiation.

What's a physicist do?

Physicists explore the fundamental properties and laws that govern space, time, energy, and matter. They may study theory, design and perform experiments, or apply their knowledge in developing materials or equipment.

Where did Charles Townes go to college?

California Institute of Technology1937–1939Duke UniversityFurman UniversityCharles H. Townes/College

How was tenille Townes discovered?

At the age of 15, she released the single "Home Now," which gained the attention of the Canadian country industry. Another single, "Wendy (Can You Hear Me Peter Pan)," followed in 2010, and she issued her full-length debut, Real, in 2011.

Where did Charles Townes go to college?

California Institute of Technology1937–1939Duke UniversityFurman UniversityCharles H. Townes/College

What is difference between laser and maser?

A MASER is a device that emits coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation. A LASER is a device which emits light by a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of radiation.

How does a laser work?

A laser is created when electrons in the atoms in optical materials like glass, crystal, or gas absorb the energy from an electrical current or a light. That extra energy “excites” the electrons enough to move from a lower-energy orbit to a higher-energy orbit around the atom's nucleus.

Who was Charles Townes?

Image from Radio-Electronic Engineering Magazine. In 1950, age 35, Charles Townes was made full professor of physics at New York’s Columbia University. Prior to this he worked at Bell Telephone Labs and carried out defense related radar work during World War 2, becoming an expert in the use of microwaves.

What is the maser concept?

The maser concept says that molecules can be stimulated to release their excess energy of rotation as microwave radiation.

How does a microwave oven work?

These ovens work because microwaves can penetrate into the middle of food, carrying the energy needed to cook it quickly and evenly. Each individual microwave photon gives its energy to a water molecule in the food, which makes the molecule rotate.

What is the mass of a black hole?

Later work by the team and other astronomers confirmed the existence of a supermassive black hole, whose estimated mass, at 4.1 million solar masses, is little changed from Townes’s original estimate.

Which scientist discovered that the Milky Way has a black hole at its center?

Later in his career, Townes established that the Milky Way has a supermassive black hole at its center.

What did Charles learn from his love of nature?

From an early age, with his love of nature, Charles decided to learn about science. He was educated in Greenville’s public schools.

Did Rabi ask Townes to end his maser?

Both had told Townes his idea would never work. Rabi actually requested Townes end his maser research program, but Townes, convinced he was right, had pressed on with it. The maser found instant use in astronomy, where it was utilized to determine the surface temperature of Venus.

What did Charles Townes do for science?

Townes’ accomplishments in science were always guided by strong religious feelings. His landmark 1966 article in IBM’s Think magazine, “ The Convergence of Science and Religion ,” attempted to reconcile the sometimes-warring camps. To Townes, science was the pursuit of understanding about the order of the universe, religion the pursuit of understanding and acceptance of the meaning of the universe. [4]

Who invented the ammonia maser?

During 1953, Townes, James P. Gordon, and H. J. Zeiger built the first ammonia maser at Columbia University. This device used stimulated emission in a stream of energized ammonia molecules to produce amplification of microwaves at a frequency of about 24.0 gigahertz 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 Between 1961 and 1967 Townes served as both Provost and Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Then, during 1967, he was appointed as a Professor of Physics at the University of California at Berkeley, where he remained for almost 50 years. Between 1966 and 1970, he was chairman of the NASA Science Advisory Committee for the Apollo lunar landing program.

Who was Charles Townes?

On July 28, 1915, American physicist and Nobel Laureate Charles Hard Townes was born. Townes was known for his work concerning 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.

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What did Charles Townes do in his career?

In 1939 he joined the technical staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., where he worked until 1948, when he joined the faculty of Columbia University. Three years later he conceived the idea of using ammoniamolecules to amplify microwave radiation. Townes and two students completed the first such device in December 1953 and gave it the name maser, an acronymfor “microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.” In 1958 Townes and A.L. Schawlow showed that it was possible to construct a similar device using light—i.e., a laser.

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Who invented the laser?

Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes in 1958, the demonstration of the first practical laser by the American physicist Theodore Maiman in 1960, and the subsequent development of laser spectroscopy techniques by a number of researchers revolutionized a field that had previously seen most of its conceptual developments before…

Who is Charles Townes?

Full Article. Charles Hard Townes, (born July 28, 1915, Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.—died January 27, 2015, Oakland, California), American physicist, joint winner (with the Soviet physicists Aleksandr M. Prokhorov and Nikolay G. Basov) of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1964 for his role in the invention of the maser and the laser.

Who proposed the principle of detailed balancing?

Schawlow and Charles H. Townes (1958) from the application of one of the Einstein equations. Einstein suggested (on the basis of a principle of detailed balancing, or microscopic reversibility) that, just as the amount of light absorbed by a molecular system in a light field must depend…

What was the ruby maser used for?

Townes showed students a brooch that her husband designed for her for their 25th wedding anniversary. At the brooch's center is the laboratory-made ruby used in the first maser amplifier to get astronomical results. The creative design also features metal in the shape of a parabola--the shape of the maser's reflectors. The ruby maser was used to measure the microwave radiation from Venus. "I guess you could say she's my Venus," Dr. Townes told students as he put his arm around his smiling wife.

How long did it take to develop the Maser model?

Although that moment was a breakthrough, it would take more than two years to produce a working model of the maser. Townes says two of his fellow professors expressed doubt about putting maser theory into practice. One was a Nobel Prize winner and the other went on to win the same prestigious award a few years later. "They told me it wouldn't work," Townes told the middle school students. "And I said, no I think it will, and I'm going to keep going. It's good to have criticism because it makes you think. But if you think you're right, you keep on going."

Who donated the maser to the National Museum of American History?

Charles Townes explained the components of this early maser to middle-school students during an Innovative Lives program in 1998. Townes and Columbia Univerisity donated this and other apparatus to the National Museum of American History. © 1998 Smithsonian Institution; photo by Richard Strauss.

Is laser technology in its adolescence?

Townes said he believes laser technology is "in its adolescence right now." He predicts more advances in communications technology as well as in the study of surfaces and materials. And he predicts that there will be continued advances in biology. "Laser tweezers are used to pick up cells, to stretch cells and chromosomes," says Townes. "It's just beginning to be used in these ways."

Who invented the Maser?

Nobel-Prize winning scientist Charles Townes shared the story of his invention of the maser and his early interests in science with middle-school students during an "Innovative Lives" program.

Who was the doctoral assistant who worked with the Maser?

Townes remembers the exact moment when the maser first worked. James P. Gordon, Townes's doctoral assistant at Columbia University, rushed into Townes's teaching seminar, shouting that the maser was finally working. "I was thrilled," says Townes. "We canceled class that day so we could go see the maser work and celebrate."

Who is Bob Nahory?

Bob Nahory, a former scientist at Bell Laboratories, where Townes worked when he devised the theory for the laser, moderated the program. "Scientists are people who grew up and didn't stop asking questions," Nahory told the students. As a young boy in Greenville, S.C., Townes had lots of questions about science.

What is the acronym for a laser?

In 1951, Townes conceived a new way to create intense, precise beams of coherent radiation for which he coined the acronym MASER for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. When the principle was applied to higher frequencies, the term laser was used.

What was the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1964?

Laser technology won quick acceptance in industry, research and telecommunications, and Townes received the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for his “fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle.” In 1966, Townes became Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

What did Charles Townes discover?

The KAO made several major scientific discoveries, including the first sightings of the rings of Uranus in 1977, a definitiv e identification of an atmosphere on Pluto in 1988, and infrared spectrum measurements of Mercury.

What was the use of lasers in the 1980s?

In the 1980s, the applications of the laser for transmitting data over fiber optic cable and reading optical media — such as computer hard drives, compact discs, digital video and even the supermarket barcode reader — have transformed the storage and distribution of information throughout the world.

Where was the laser invented?

The breakthrough formula that led to the invention of the laser was conceived by Charles Townes as he sat on a park bench in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., 55 years ago.

Where was Charles Townes sitting in 1951?

One bright spring day in 1951, Charles Townes was sitting on a park bench in Washington, D.C, when an idea occurred to him, an idea that would revolutionize life throughout the developed world.

Where did Charles Townes graduate from?

January 27, 2015. 1935: Charles Townes graduated summa cum laude — at the age of 19 — from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, where Townes earned two degrees, one in modern languages and the second in physics.

Where was Hard Townes born?

C harles Hard 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 ...

When was the maser invented?

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.

Who proposed that masers could be made to operate in the optical and infrared region?

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.

Who was the provost of Massachusetts Institute of Technology?

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.

Youth and Education

World War 2 and Microwave Applications

The Maser

Further Development of The Maser

The Nobel Prize in Physics

• For his creation of the maser, Townes along with Nikolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov received the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics . Townes also developed the use of masers and lasers for astronomy, was part of a team that first discovered complex molecules in space, and determined the mass of the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way...

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