Scientist

Charles Townes

1915–2015 · quantum electronics, physics
American physicist, inventor of the maser and laser — devices that use stimulated emission to generate coherent electromagnetic radiation. His inventions revolutionized spectroscopy, communications, medicine, and countless technologies, forming the basis for many scientific instruments, including LIGO and space telescopes.

Biography

Born in Greenville, South Carolina. Studied at Furman University, Duke, and Caltech. Worked at Bell Labs, Columbia University, MIT, and the University of California, Berkeley. He conceived the maser while sitting on a park bench. Received the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics. Also awarded the US Medal of Honor and many others.

Key discoveries

💡 He thought up the maser principle while scribbling calculations on the back of an envelope in a Washington park. Later he admitted that colleagues advised him not to waste time on this "crazy" idea because it violated the then-known laws of physics (in reality, it was the other way around).
"He described the laser as a solution looking for a problem."
Concepts
LIGOquantum opticsradio astronomyspectroscopy
Laws
invention of the laser
Scientists
Robert HookeJohann Jakob BalmerJocelyn Bell BurnellArno PenziasJames Clerk MaxwellAlain AspectErwin SchrödingerCecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

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