34 ms·

Nobel laureate and laser inventor Charles Townes dies at 99

86 points by rdhyee 12y ago

cshimmin 12y ago
Charlie Townes was a really great man. I remember how he used to somewhat regularly show up to the undergrad physics seminar 5 minutes late, grab a slice of pizza, and then leave 5 minutes later. At ~92 years old, nobody could do anything but smile! One time a seminar speaker, bemused by his sudden appearance then disappearance, decided to share with us a cool anecdote: Back during WWII, Townes was working on Radar navigation tech for bombers. He and another scientist were sitting in the back of a military plane, doing experiments off the cost of Florida or someplace. They had finished their measurements and told the pilot to turn around and head home. They were continuing to play around with their toys when they realized that, according to their radar, they were heading _away_ from the coast. The two scientists went up to the cockpit, claiming there had been a navigation error, insisting they must turn around. The pilot must have been crazy to listen to these two geeks, frantically trying to explain radar (which basically didn't exist yet!), but eventually agreed. If they hadn't turned around, that plane would have run out of fuel and crashed somewhere over the Atlantic. In that world, perhaps the laser still would not have been invented!
- tmuir 12y ago
  >In that world, perhaps the laser still would not have been invented! Actually, the maser/laser is one of those innovations that had multiple independent developers, at multiple points of it's development. Various components can be attributed to different people, but the true "Inventor of the Laser" is somewhat murky and disputed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#History
  - cshimmin 12y ago
    Fair enough! It's always interesting to hear these cases of ideas that must have been in the air. I've heard it said that if Einstein got hit by a bus, Lorentz (or someone) probably would have gotten Special Relativity wrapped up eventually, but that perhaps nobody else would have come up with General Relativity even yet.
- adamio 12y ago
  I'm not familiar with plane tech, but wouldn't the pilot have a compass?
- visakanv 12y ago
  Sounds like he had lived an amazing, rich, full life. May we all be half as fortunate (and hardworking!)
- mark_l_watson 12y ago
  Great story. I remember him, a little, from my childhood (my Dad was in the physics department at Berkeley with him, and a friend). He was an amazing inventor, including an idea for a contact lens vending machine. Really a creative guy.
palimpsests 12y ago
While in grad school at UCB, I once found myself in physics building elevator with Dr. Townes and 2 young undergrads. The students were taking an intro level physics course, non-physics majors, and didn't know who he was. They started talking about the class, and lasers in particular, and how cool they were. Dr. Townes didn't say anything, but I still enjoyed being present for that.
- ffn 12y ago
  I remember being such an undergrad at UC Berkeley. I'd walk into Physics 7A at the beginning of the semester with wide-eyed admiration for the teaching staff, undisguised interest to learn all about Townes's lasers, Smoot's universe, etc., and a wild wondering of "when can I do that stuff?" Then I'd get put in my place by the first few homeworks. Then would came the midterms, which all happen at 7-10pm so I got to walk out of the Dwinelle Hall into appropriately hopeless darkness and a gnawing fear I might not make it out alive. And, as the Fall semester continues, the days get shorter while the material gets harder until even the basic equations of the class seem to be hinting that My Ass = F'd. But, after a lot of flailing and struggling, most of us survive the class with a renewed respect for how hard physics is, how inexplicable gyroscopic motion can be, how brilliant the profs are, and also how willing they are to spend their time teaching dumb undergrads like me the ways of the universe.
  - jloughry 12y ago
    That was beautifully written.
    - gameshot911 12y ago
      Agreed.
amalag 12y ago
While I do not know him personally, he was involved with an institution that I have some association with. It is not well known but he has a spiritual side as well. This is a book made from conversations on spirituality. http://books.google.com/books/about/God_is_a_person.html?id=4e1NAQAAIAAJ http://books.google.com/books/about/God_is_a_person.html?id=...
cc439 12y ago
What an accomplished man. I feel a bit of a personal connection to his legacy as I live on the street where he was born (which now carries his name).
thisrod 12y ago
Here's the transcript of his Nobel Lecture: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1964/townes-lecture.pdf http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/196...
chucksmart 12y ago
I think its horrible to eulogize a homophobic bible beater from the south, on hn, of all places!

86 points by rdhyee 12y ago

Charlie Townes was a really great man. I remember how he used to somewhat regularly show up to the undergrad physics seminar 5 minutes late, grab a slice of pizza, and then leave 5 minutes later. At ~92 years old, nobody could do anything but smile! One time a seminar speaker, bemused by his sudden appearance then disappearance, decided to share with us a cool anecdote: Back during WWII, Townes was working on Radar navigation tech for bombers. He and another scientist were sitting in the back of a military plane, doing experiments off the cost of Florida or someplace. They had finished their measurements and told the pilot to turn around and head home. They were continuing to play around with their toys when they realized that, according to their radar, they were heading _away_ from the coast. The two scientists went up to the cockpit, claiming there had been a navigation error, insisting they must turn around. The pilot must have been crazy to listen to these two geeks, frantically trying to explain radar (which basically didn't exist yet!), but eventually agreed. If they hadn't turned around, that plane would have run out of fuel and crashed somewhere over the Atlantic. In that world, perhaps the laser still would not have been invented!

tmuir 12y ago
>In that world, perhaps the laser still would not have been invented! Actually, the maser/laser is one of those innovations that had multiple independent developers, at multiple points of it's development. Various components can be attributed to different people, but the true "Inventor of the Laser" is somewhat murky and disputed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#History
- cshimmin 12y ago
  Fair enough! It's always interesting to hear these cases of ideas that must have been in the air. I've heard it said that if Einstein got hit by a bus, Lorentz (or someone) probably would have gotten Special Relativity wrapped up eventually, but that perhaps nobody else would have come up with General Relativity even yet.
adamio 12y ago
I'm not familiar with plane tech, but wouldn't the pilot have a compass?
visakanv 12y ago
Sounds like he had lived an amazing, rich, full life. May we all be half as fortunate (and hardworking!)
mark_l_watson 12y ago
Great story. I remember him, a little, from my childhood (my Dad was in the physics department at Berkeley with him, and a friend). He was an amazing inventor, including an idea for a contact lens vending machine. Really a creative guy.

palimpsests 12y ago

While in grad school at UCB, I once found myself in physics building elevator with Dr. Townes and 2 young undergrads. The students were taking an intro level physics course, non-physics majors, and didn't know who he was. They started talking about the class, and lasers in particular, and how cool they were. Dr. Townes didn't say anything, but I still enjoyed being present for that.

ffn 12y ago
I remember being such an undergrad at UC Berkeley. I'd walk into Physics 7A at the beginning of the semester with wide-eyed admiration for the teaching staff, undisguised interest to learn all about Townes's lasers, Smoot's universe, etc., and a wild wondering of "when can I do that stuff?" Then I'd get put in my place by the first few homeworks. Then would came the midterms, which all happen at 7-10pm so I got to walk out of the Dwinelle Hall into appropriately hopeless darkness and a gnawing fear I might not make it out alive. And, as the Fall semester continues, the days get shorter while the material gets harder until even the basic equations of the class seem to be hinting that My Ass = F'd. But, after a lot of flailing and struggling, most of us survive the class with a renewed respect for how hard physics is, how inexplicable gyroscopic motion can be, how brilliant the profs are, and also how willing they are to spend their time teaching dumb undergrads like me the ways of the universe.
- jloughry 12y ago
  That was beautifully written.
  - gameshot911 12y ago
    Agreed.

amalag 12y ago

While I do not know him personally, he was involved with an institution that I have some association with. It is not well known but he has a spiritual side as well. This is a book made from conversations on spirituality. http://books.google.com/books/about/God_is_a_person.html?id=4e1NAQAAIAAJ http://books.google.com/books/about/God_is_a_person.html?id=...

cc439 12y ago

What an accomplished man. I feel a bit of a personal connection to his legacy as I live on the street where he was born (which now carries his name).

thisrod 12y ago

Here's the transcript of his Nobel Lecture: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1964/townes-lecture.pdf http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/196...

chucksmart 12y ago

I think its horrible to eulogize a homophobic bible beater from the south, on hn, of all places!