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In How the Laser Happened, Nobel laureate Charles Townes provides a highly personal look at some of the leading events in twentieth-century physics. Townes was inventor of the maser, of which the laser is one example; an originator of spectroscopy using microwaves; and a pioneer in the study of gas clouds in galaxies and around stars. Throughout his career he has also been deeply engaged with issues outside of academic research. He worked on applied research projects for Bell Labs; served on the board of directors for General Motors; and devoted extensive effort to advising the government on science, policy, and defense. This memoir traces his multifaceted career from its beginnings on the family farm in South Carolina. Spanning decades of ground-breaking research, the book provides a hands-on description of how working scientists and inventors get their ideas. It also gives a behind-the-scenes look at the scientific community, showing how scientists respond to new ideas and how they approach a variety of issues, from priority and patents to the social and political implications of their work. In addition, Townes touches on the sociology of science, uncovering some of the traditions and values that are invisible to an outsider.A towering and energetic figure, Townes has explored or pioneered most of the roles available to the modern scientist. In addition to fundamental research, he was actively involved in the practical uses of the laser and in the court cases to defend the patent rights. He was a founding member of the Jasons, an influential group of scientists that independently advises the government on defense policy, and he played an active part in scientific decisions and policies from the Truman through the Reagan administration. This lively memoir, packed with first-hand accounts and historical anecdotes, is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history of science and an inspiring example for students considering scientific careers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A great read!
This book describes the history of the laser and how it was invented (and how it was almost NOT invented). The author was ridiculed by the scientific authorities of the day for daring to suggest that such a device was possible, and for wasting time on its development.Thank goodness he forged ahead and ignored the advice (and threats) from the scientific "experts" of the day.A great read!

From a fellow Paladin
This relatively short book is filled with interesting stories, people andevents--not all of which are about physics or science. In fact, this is anenjoyable book for even the most determined liberal arts type who normallymight avoid reading about physics.In fact, Dr. Townes seems to approachscience and life with a "liberal arts" attitude: curious abouteverything and more than a little adventurous.He challenges readers tolook under all the rocks for the excitement and learning to be found there. Read it for enjoyment and edification (a rare combination these days). ... Read more

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Throughout his career Charles Townes has tended to avoid staying in fields that become too popular; consequently, his work has been characterized by great diversity. This selection of writings, taken from different phases of Towne's professional and personal life, reflects that diversity. Readers will discover brilliant and insightful essays on such wide ranging fields as maser and laser technology, quantum electronics, microwave spectroscopy, and molecules in interstellar space, along with thought-provoking spiritual views on how science and religion come together. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Making Waves in a 'Consilient' Knowledge Field
This book shows the wide variety of subjects that Charles H. Townes explored and did substantive and original contributions. Then he is uniquely qualified for criticize excesses in unifying attempts in the frontiers of Physics and the overlaps of this discipline with other fields (Townes'Gathering of the Realms') when he say: "Scientists have now become a good deal more cautious and modest about extending scientific ideas into realms where they have not yet been throughly tested. We know today that the most sophisticated scientific theories, including quantum mechanics, are still incomplete". Reading these words one is like to ask: How much dose of caution and modesty a scientist must employ (e.g. extending quantum mechanical concepts to scientific anomalies 'no througly tested' or to theological thinking) for him/her starting a useful speculation on likely future explanatory theories of hypothetical consilient gatherings of realms?. In fact Townes himself is the first to break this advice of caution when he extends the uncertainty and complementarity principles to spiritual and ethical dimensions. All the contemporary attempts of scientific synthesis begin breaking this rule: Penrose extending quantum gravity theory into neurobiological realms still not 'throughly tested', Deutch stretching the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics to computation, evolution and epistemology -realms where experiments still are in the long process of exploring the shocking implications of his insights-, Wolf dazzling extension of quantum vacuum physics to deep psychology and religion, fiels where of course testing is far of being 'throughly' examined, Jahn and Dunne 'metaphorical' generalization of QM to anomalous consciousness phenomena where both the theory and the claimed experimental results to be explained by the theory are by the time being far of 'unbiased' evidential scrutiny, and finally (we are distant of a complete review of synthesis-looking extrapolations) we have Wilson extension of non-quantum biological thinking to anthropology, psychology, religion, philosophy and the arts where the Townes'caution criteria is openly broken. May be the reason for wanting to extrapolate our 'still incomplete' scientific theories into still untested realms must to be looked in the last author (Wilson), in our yearning of "interlocking of causal explanations across disciplines", our "need to search for the proof that everything in our world is organized in terms of a small number of fundamental natural laws that comprise the principles underlying every branch of learning". Do not blame the generalists if their longing for consiliense outpace their caution and modesty. In these terms Townes book is a ideal complement to Wilson's "Consiliense". ... Read more

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Title: A Life in Physics : Bell Telephone Laboratories and World War Ii, Columbia University and the Laser, Mit and Government Service, California and Research in Astrophysics : Oral History Transcript / 1994Publication date: 0Subjects: Bell Telephone Laboratories, incColumbia University. Radiological Research LaboratoryMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyUniversity of California, Berkeley. Dept. of PhysicsPhysicists -- California Berkeley InterviewsPhysicists -- Massachusetts Boston InterviewsPhysics -- Research United StatesAstrophysics -- Research United StatesWorld War, 1939-1945 -- United StatesPatents -- United StatesMicrowave spectroscopyScientists in government -- United StatesNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal is an award similar to the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, but awarded to non-Government personnel. This is the highest honor NASA awards to anyone who was not a Government employee when the service was performed.The current NASA Inspector General is Thomas J. Howard. The NASA Office of Inspector General was created in accordance with the Inspector General Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-452). The act created Offices of Inspector General (OIGs) to provide independent audit and investigative units at 63 federal agencies, including NASA. ... Read more

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Der Erwerb des Buches enthält gleichzeitig die kostenlose Mitgliedschaft im Buchklub des Verlags zum Ausprobieren - dort können Sie von über einer Million Bücher ohne weitere Kosten auswählen. Das Buch besteht aus Wikipedia-Artikeln: Charles H. Townes, Catherine Breillat, Steven Weinberg, Yukawa Hideki, Isidor Isaac Rabi, Polykarp Kusch, Harold C. Urey, Willis E. Lamb, Paul Auster, Ernst Cassirer, Franz Boas, Charles Socarides, Hans Jonas, Paul Felix Lazarsfeld, John Dewey, Ray Crist, Harry Gray, Fritz Stern, William Edwards Deming, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Gabriela Mistral, Virginia Apgar, Kurt Goldstein, Mortimer Adler, Ruth Benedict, Oliver Sacks, Gisela Konopka, Robert Mundell, Elliott Carter, James McKeen Cattell, Otto J. Brendel, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Malcolm Goldstein, Albert Otto Hirschman, Bertell Ollman, Telford Taylor, Lipman Bers, Meyer Schapiro, Dieter Henrich, Neil Smith, Abba Eban, Abraham Jacobi, Wolfgang Friedmann, Richard Axel, Mihajlo Pupin, Jaron Lanier, Jacques Barzun, Amitai Etzioni, Friedrich Auhagen, Otto Koischwitz, Karl William Kapp, George Lewis, Daniel Bell, Barry Ulanov, Henry Brant, Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Philip Jessup, Lionel Trilling, Rosalind Krauss, Cornelius Rübner, Ernst Kapp, Hans Hoff, Eli Reed, Benjamin Buchloh, Herman D. Stein, Kurt Pinthus, Klaus vom Bruch, Walt Whitman Rostow, Otto Klineberg, Melba Phillips, Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch, André Martinet, Martin Ostwald, Benjamin Graham, Ernst Jaeckh, Martin Chalfie, Walter Henry Zinn, Elliott Skinner, Peter Blau, Samuel G. Freedman, Elias Khoury, Arthur Nussbaum, Joseph W. Dauben, Gilbert Stork, Edmund S. Phelps, Gottfried Salomon, Ehsan Yarshater, Chien-Shiung Wu, Mahmood Mamdani, Joseph Schacht, Bernard Koopman, Samuel Latham Mitchill, Mark Mazower, István Deák, F. David Mathews, Jean Emily Henley, Kenneth Frampton, Stanley Schachter, Amadeus William Grabau, Lucien Szpiro, Charles Tilly, Wallace John Eckert, Arthur Purdy Stout, Herb...http://booksllc.net/?l=de&id=127154 ... Read more

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This Festschrift is a collection of essays contributed by students, colleagues and admirers of Charles Townes, who shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1964 for "fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the laser-maser principle." The contributions to this volume reflect Townes's wider interests and influence, ranging from quantum optics to astrophysics, and from electrical engineering to medicine. The broadly international character of the contributions reflects Townes's deep belief in the international character of science, as well as the breadth of the impact his work and teaching have had. The contributors include nine Nobel laureates. Arthur Shawlow provides the introductory biographical essay. Each of the chapters has been carefully edited to provide a consistency of presentation, while preserving the individuality of the authors. ... Read more

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The Twentieth Century has been a time of great discovery for both men and women. Charles Townes, the scientist of Adventures of a Scientist, received the Nobel Prize in 1964 for discovering the principles behind the Laser, the practical application sof which has transformed modern civilization. Frances Townes, his wife, has also been on a trail of discovery, searching for the core of individual relatedness that must lie behind and beyond technology if our civilization is to survive her work withhomeless and runaway youth in Berkeley, California, has been groundbreaking. Born in 1916, just as women were getting the vote, Frances confronted the conflicting demands of her generation. Her personal experiences, broader struggles and triumphs have helped redefine the role of women in the modern world. ... Read more

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This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Published by: T. H. Flood & co. in 1911 in 740 pages; Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Social Science; ... Read more