Townes, Charles H.

Townes, Charles H. (Hard) (1915–  ) physicist; born in Greenville, S.C. He taught at the California Institute of Technology (1937–39), then moved to Bell Telephone Laboratories (1939–47). While at Columbia University (1948–61), he invented the maser (1953–54); for the scientific work behind this he was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in physics (shared with two Russian physicists). With his brother-in-law Arthur Schawlow he also laid the basis for the laser. Townes served as science adviser to both the federal government and private industry. He continued his research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1961–66) and at the University of California: Berkeley (1967), applying maser-laser technology to astrophysics.