Charles H. Townes

Charles Townes
Townes in 1983
Born
Charles Hard Townes

(1915-07-28)July 28, 1915
Greenville, South Carolina, US
DiedJanuary 27, 2015(2015-01-27) (aged 99)
Oakland, California, US
Known forInvention of the maser
Spouse
Frances Brown
​
(m. 1941)​
Children4
RelativesHenry Keith Townes (brother)
Awards
Academic background
Education
ThesisConcentration of the Heavy Isotope of Carbon and Measurement of its Nuclear Spin (1939)
William Smythe[1]
Academic work
DisciplineOptics
Sub-discipline
Laser science
Institutions
Doctoral students

Charles Hard Townes (July 28, 1915 – January 27, 2015) was an American physicist.[2][3] 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.[4][5][6][7][8] He shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nikolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov.[9][10][11] Townes was an adviser to the U.S. Government, meeting every President from Harry S. Truman (1945) to Bill Clinton (1999).

Townes directed the U.S. government's Science and Technology Advisory Committee for the Apollo lunar landing program. After becoming a professor of the University of California, Berkeley, in 1967, he began an astrophysical program that produced several important discoveries, for example, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Townes was religious,[12] and believed that science and religion are converging to provide a greater understanding of the nature and purpose of the universe.

Early life and education

Charles Hard Townes was born on July 28, 1915, in Greenville, South Carolina, the son of Henry Keith Townes Sr. (1876–1958), an attorney, and Ellen Sumter Hard (1881–1980).[13] His brother, Henry Keith Townes Jr., (1913–1990), was a renowned entomologist who was a world authority on Ichneumon wasps. Townes had German, Scottish, English, Welsh, Huguenot French, and Scotch Irish ancestry,[14]

Charles earned a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in Modern Languages from Furman University, where he graduated in 1935.[2] Townes completed work for an M.A. in Physics at Duke University in 1937,[15] and then began graduate school at the California Institute of Technology, from which he received his Ph.D. in 1939 with a thesis on isotope separation and nuclear spins.[16] During World War II, he worked on radar bombing systems at Bell Telephone Laboratories.[9][2]

Career and research

In 1950, Townes was appointed professor at Columbia University.[2] 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.[2]

External audio
audio icon "The Man, the Myth, the Laser", Distillations Podcast, Science History Institute

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").[17]

During 1953, Townes, James P. Gordon, and Herbert J. Zeiger built the first ammonia maser at Columbia University.[2] 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.[2]

From 1959 to 1961, Townes 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.[2] Between 1961 and 1967, he served as both Provost and Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[2] Then, during 1967, he was appointed Professor of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he remained for almost 50 years; his status was as professor emeritus by the time of his death during 2015.[2] Between 1966 and 1970, he was chairman of the NASA Science Advisory Committee for the Apollo lunar landing program.

For his creation of the maser, Townes along with Nikolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov received the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics.[18] 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 center of the Milky Way galaxy.[19][20][21][22][23]

During 2002–2003, Townes served as a Karl Schwarzschild Lecturer in Germany and the Birla Lecturer and Schroedinger Lecturer in India.[2]

Townes is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President George W. Bush in May 2008, urging him to "reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill" by requesting additional emergency funding for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.[24]

Astrophysics

Galactic Center

The Galactic 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.[25] Such a large mass in such a small space implied that the central object (the radio source Sagittarius A*) contains a supermassive black hole. Sagittarius A* was one of the first black holes detected; subsequently its mass has been more accurately determined to be 4.3 million solar masses.

Shapes and sizes of stars

His 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. If each telescope is 10 meters from the other, it creates an impression of a 30-meter lens.[26] Observations of Betelgeuse, a red giant in the shoulder of the constellation Orion, found that it is increasing and decreasing in size at the rate of 1% per year, 15% over 15 years. ISI produces extremely high angular and spatial resolution. The technology is also playing an important role in the search for extraterrestrial life in collaborations with Dan Werthimer of Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

Personal life and legacy

Townes married Frances H. Brown, an activist for the homeless,[27] during 1941. They lived in Berkeley, California and had four daughters: Linda Rosenwein, Ellen Anderson, Carla Kessler, and Holly Townes.[2] Frances died in 2018 aged 101.

Several places are named after Townes. For example, in his hometown of Greenville, the Charles Townes Center for the Gifted and Talented was named after him, as well as the Charles H. Townes Center at Furman University.

Science and religion

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 people think and that in the long run, they must converge".[28] He wrote in a statement after winning the Templeton Prize during 2005: "Science tries to understand what our universe is like and how it works, including us humans. Religion is aimed at understanding the purpose and meaning of our universe, including our own lives. If the universe has a purpose or meaning, this must be reflected in its structure and functioning, and hence in science."[29]

Townes's opinions concerning science and religion were expounded in his essays "The Convergence of Science and Religion", "Logic and Uncertainties in Science and Religion", and his book Making Waves. Townes felt that the beauty of nature is "obviously God-made" and that God created the universe for humans to emerge and flourish. He prayed every day and ultimately felt that religion is more important than science because it addresses the most important long-range question: the meaning and purpose of our lives. Townes's belief in the convergence of science and religion is based on claimed similarities:

  1. Faith. Townes argued that the scientist has faith much like a religious person does, allowing him/her to work for years for an uncertain result.
  2. Revelation. 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.
  3. Proof. During this century the mathematician Kurt Gödel discovered that there can be no absolute proof in a scientific sense. Every proof requires a set of assumptions, and there is no way to check whether those assumptions are self-consistent because other assumptions would be required.
  4. Uncertainty. Townes believed that we should be open-minded to a better understanding of science and religion in the future. This will require us to modify our theories, but not abandon them. For example, at the start of the 20th century physics was largely deterministic. But when scientists began studying the quantum mechanics, they realized that indeterminism and chance play a role in our universe. Both classical physics and quantum mechanics are correct and work well within their own bailiwick, and continue to be taught to students. Similarly, Townes believes that growth of religious understanding will modify, but not make us abandon, our classic religious beliefs.

Death

Townes had steadily been active at the UCB campus, visiting and working regularly in the physics department or at the Space Sciences Laboratory past his 99th birthday and only a few months before his death.[30] Townes' health began to decline, and he died on route to the hospital in Oakland, California, on January 27, 2015, at the age of 99.[31][32][33] Reinhard Genzel, a professor of physics at Berkeley, said of Townes: "He was one of the most important experimental physicists of the last century. ... His strength was his curiosity and his unshakable optimism, based on his deep Christian spirituality."[29]

Recognition

Memberships

Year Organization Type Ref.
1956 United States National Academy of Sciences Member [34]
1957 United States American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member [35]
1960 United States American Philosophical Society Member [36]
1970 United States Optical Society of America Honorary Member [37]
1976 United Kingdom Royal Society Foreign Member [38]
1983 Vatican City Pontifical Academy of Sciences Academician [39]

Awards

Year Organization Award Citation Ref.
1958 United States National Academy of Sciences Comstock Prize in Physics — [40]
1959 United States Institute of Radio Engineers IRE Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize[a] "For fundamental and original contributions to the maser." [41]
1959 United States AAPT Richtmyer Memorial Award — [42]
1961 United States American Academy of Arts and Sciences Rumford Prize "For his development of the laser." [43]
1961 United States National Academy of Sciences John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science — [44]
1961 — David Sarnoff Award "For research in resonance physics leading to major advances in communication technology." [45]
1962 United States Franklin Institute Stuart Ballantine Medal[b] "For theoretical work on MASER operation." [46]
1963 United Kingdom Institute of Physics Thomas Young Medal and Prize[b] — [47]
1964 Sweden Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Nobel Prize in Physics[c] "For fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle." [18]
1967 United States IEEE IEEE Medal of Honor "For his significant contributions in the field of quantum electronics which have led to the maser and the laser." [48]
1968 United States Optical Society of America C.E.K. Mees Medal — [49]
1969 United States American Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award — [50]
1970 Austria Austrian Trade Association Wilhelm Exner Medal – [51]
1977 United States American Physical Society Earle K. Plyler Prize "For his contributions to the renaissance in optical spectroscopy using maser and laser techniques for obtaining precise and diverse information about numerous molecules; for his part in the initiation of microwave interstellar molecular spectroscopy and for his participation in the first detection of the spectral lines of ammonia and water molecules in outer space." [52]
1979 Denmark Danish Society of Engineers Niels Bohr International Gold Medal — [53]
1996 United States Optical Society of America Frederic Ives Medal "For five decades of major contributions to the field of optics, including research, education and administration, but especially for his inspiring creativity in optical physics, from quantum electronics to airborne infrared astronomy." [54]
2000 Russia Russian Academy of Sciences Lomonosov Gold Medal[d] "For fundamental contributions to quantum electronics and microwave spectroscopy." [55]
2005 United States John Templeton Foundation Templeton Prize — [56]
2010 United States SPIE SPIE Gold Medal — [57]
2012 — Golden Goose Award — [58]
2012 United States ASME Nancy DeLoye Fitzroy and Roland V. Fitzroy Medal — [59]

National awards

Year Head of state Award Citation Ref.
1982 United States Ronald Reagan National Medal of Science "For fundamental contributions to the understanding of matter through its interaction with electromagnetic radiations and the application of this knowledge to the service of mankind, most notably in the invention of the maser and laser." [60]

Selected publications

Townes work was published widely in books and peer-reviewed journal articles,[11] 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. Bibcode:1956PhRv..102.1308S. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.102.1308.
  • Schawlow, Arthur; Townes, Charles (1958). "Infrared and Optical Masers". Physical Review. 112 (6): 1940–1949. Bibcode:1958PhRv..112.1940S. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.112.1940.
  • Townes, Charles (1999). How the Laser Happened: Adventures Of a Scientist. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512268-8.
  • Townes, Charles; Schawlow, Arthur (1955). Microwave Spectroscopy. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-065095-4
  • Townes, Charles H. (1995). Making Waves. Springer. ISBN 978-1-56396-381-0.
  • Townes, Charles H. (November 11, 2004). "Making waves" (PDF). Nature. 432 (7014). doi:10.1038/432153a. ISSN 0028-0836. Retrieved August 15, 2025. (requires subscription)

Notes

  1. ^ Shared with Nicolaas Bloembergen.
  2. ^ a b Shared with Arthur Schawlow.
  3. ^ Shared with Nikolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov.
  4. ^ Shared with Andrey Gaponov-Grekhov.

References

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  4. ^ Bertolotti, Mario (2004). The History of the Laser. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-7503-0911-0.
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