Archives:From Radar Bombing Systems to the Maser: Charles Townes as Electrical Engineer

Abstract 

Profile of Charles Hard Townes, Nobel Laureate, National Medal of Science winner, and recipient of the Morris Liebmann Award of the Institute of Radio Engineers and the Medal of Honor of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.  Combining science and engineering, his work was instrumental in the creation of microwave spectrosopy and eventually masers and lasers.  His story reveals also several important aspects of the modern relationship between science and technology: the scientist's ability to contribute to the advance of technology, the engineer's ability to contribute to the advance of science, and the personal and institutional connections between industrial R&D and academic science.

Citation and Link to Full Profile

Frederik Nebeker, "From Radar Bombing Systems to the Maser: Charles Townes as Electrical Engineer," in Sparks of Genius: Portraits of Electrical Engineering Excellence (Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press, 1994), 61-92. 

From Radar Bombing Systems to the Maser: Charles Townes as Electrical Engineer (pdf)