Awards and honors [ edit]
- 1956 — elected Full Member of the National Academy of Sciences.
- 1957 — elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. [38]
- 1958 — awarded the Comstock Prize in Physics from the National Academy of Science. [39]
- 1959 — awarded the Richtmyer Memorial Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers. [40]
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What was Dr Charles H Townes most famous invention?
the maserTownes, 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.
Where did Charles Townes go to college?
California Institute of Technology1937–1939Duke UniversityFurman UniversityCharles H. Townes/College
Where did Charles Townes grow up?
Greenville, S.C.A native of Greenville, S.C., Townes was born in 1915 and grew up on Sumner Street in a home that was later razed to make room for St. Francis Hospital. He was the fourth child of Ellen Hard Townes, a homemaker and 1902 graduate of the Greenville Women's College.
Who invented laser?
Theodore MaimanGordon GouldCharles H. TownesDennis GaborJun‑ichi NishizawaNikolay BasovLaser/Inventors
What did Charles Townes invent?
LaserMaserCharles H. Townes/Inventions
What did Charles Townes do?
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.
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.
What is Townes Van Zandt most famous song?
Number 5: 'Be Here to Love Me' from 'Our Mother the Mountain' (1969) ... Number 4: 'Mr. ... Number 3: 'Pancho & Lefty' from 'The Late Great Townes Van Zandt' (1972) ... Number 2: 'If I Needed You' from 'The Late Great Townes Van Zandt' (1972) ... Number 1: 'To Live is To Fly' from 'High, Low, and In Between' (1971)More items...•
What did Charles Townes do?
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.
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.
What did Townes claim about science?
Townes claimed that many important scientific discoveries, like his invention of the maser/laser, occurred as a "flash" much more akin to religious revelation than interpreting data. Proof. During this century the mathematician Godel discovered there can be no absolute proof in a scientific sense.
What is the center of the Milky Way?
Galactic center. The center of the Milky Way had long puzzled astronomers, and thick dust obscures the view of it in visible light. During the mid to late 1970s, Townes together with Eric Wollman, John Lacy, Thomas Geballe and Fred Baas studied Sagittarius A, the H II region at the galactic center, at infrared wavelengths.
What awards did Telluride Tech receive in 2003?
2003 — awarded the Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology in Telluride, Colorado. 2004 — awarded the Italian Society of Optics and Photonics (SIOF) "Galileo" medal. 2005 — awarded the Templeton Prize for "Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities.".
What was the Young Medal and Prize for?
1963 — Young Medal and Prize, for distinguished research in the field of optics presented by the Institute of Physics.
What was the last major technological invention by Charles Townes?
Shapes and sizes of stars. Townes' last major technological creation was the Infrared Spatial Interferometer with Walt Fitelson, Ed Wishnow and others. The project combined three mobile infrared detectors aligned by lasers that study the same star.
When was the term "maser" invented?
In 1951 , Townes conceived a new way to create intense, precise beams of coherent radiation, for which he invented the acronym maser (for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation). When the same principle was applied to higher frequencies, the term laser was used (the word "light" substituting for the word "microwave").
Who was the first person to get a patent for the maser?
He shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nikolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov.
Overview
Awards and honors
Townes was widely recognized for his scientific work and leadership.
• 1956 — elected Full Member of the National Academy of Sciences.
• 1957 — elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• 1958 — awarded the Comstock Prize in Physics from the National Academy of Science.
Early life
He was of ethnic German as well as had a great deal of ethnic Scottish, English, Welsh, Huguenot French and Scotch Irish ancestry, Townes was born in Greenville, South Carolina, the son of Henry Keith Townes (1876–1958), an attorney, and Ellen Sumter Townes (née Hard; 1881–1980). His brother, Henry Keith Townes, Jr., (01/20/1913-05/2/1990), was a renowned entomologist who was a world authority on Ichneumon wasps. He earned his B.S. in Physics and B.A. in Modern Langu…
Career and research
In 1950, Townes was appointed professor at Columbia University. He served as executive director of the Columbia Radiation Laboratory from 1950 to 1952. He was Chairman of the Physics Department from 1952 to 1955.
In 1951, Townes conceived a new way to create intense, precise beams of coherent radiation, for which he invented the acronym maser (for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of R…
Astrophysics
The center of the Milky Way had long puzzled astronomers, and thick dust obscures the view of it in visible light. During the mid to late 1970s, Townes together with Eric Wollman, John Lacy, Thomas Geballe and Fred Baas studied Sagittarius A, the H II region at the galactic center, at infrared wavelengths. They observed ionized neon gas swirling around the center at such velocities that the mass at the very center must be approximately equal to that of 3 million suns. Such a la…
Personal life and legacy
Townes married Frances H. Brown, an activist for the homeless, during 1941. They lived in Berkeley, California and had four daughters, Linda Rosenwein, Ellen Anderson, Carla Kessler, and Holly Townes.
A religious man and a member of the United Church of Christ, Townes believed that "science and religion [are] quite parallel, much more similar than most peo…
Selected publications
Townes work was published widely in books and peer-reviewed journal articles, including:
• Gordon, J.; Zeiger, H.; Townes, Charles (1955). "The Maser—New Type of Microwave Amplifier, Frequency Standard, and Spectrometer". Physical Review. 99 (4): 1264–1274. Bibcode:1955PhRv...99.1264G. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.99.1264.
• Shimoda, K.; Wang, T.; Townes, Charles (1956). "Further Aspects of the Theory of the Maser". Physical Review. 102 (5): 1308–1321. Bibc…
External links
• Charles Townes Oral History part 1 Childhood, college, career overview, Recorded at IEEE History Center, August 1991, Retrieved May 1, 2015
• Charles Townes Oral History part 2 Studies at Caltech and work at Bell Labs on the eve of World War II, Recorded at IEEE History Center, September 1992, Retrieved May 1, 2015