Physics

Biographical

I was born the youngest of three children, on a cattle ranch in Cherry County, Nebraska, not far from the South Dakota border, on March 10, 1923. This is a very sparsely populated part of the United States and remote from any center of population. It seems incredible by modern standards that by the age…

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Biographical

Charles Hard Townes was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on July 28, 1915, the son of Henry Keith Townes, an attorney, and Ellen (Hard) Townes. He attended the Greenville public schools and then Furman University in Greenville, where he completed the requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and the Bachelor of Arts…

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Interview

Interview transcript Welcome to Stockholm and to the Nobel interview Professor Charles Townes. Charles H. Townes: Thank you. I would like to ask you about lasers that you are the inventor of and also that you got your Nobel Prize in, masers and lasers, you got your Nobel Prize for, I would…

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Banquet speech

Charles H. Townes’ speech at the Nobel Banquet in Stockholm, December 10, 1964 Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Your Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen: The wisdom of the Swedish people, the warm interest of Sweden’s Royal Family and the dedication of its Academies have made much more than a reality of Alfred Nobel’s magnificent concept. They…

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