How the Laser Happened: Adventures of a Scientist

209 Pages·1999·1.73 MB·English

by  Charles H. Townes

How the Laser

Happened:

Adventures of a Scientist

Charles H. Townes
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
how
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how
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adventures of a scientist

Charles H. Townes
1
3

Oxford New York
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Copyright © 1999 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.

198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016

www.oup.com

First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 2002

Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,

without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Townes, Charles H.

How the laser happened : adventures of a scientist / by Charles H. Townes.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-19-512268-2; 0-19-515376-6 (pbk.)

1. Lasers—History. 2. Masers—History. 3. Science and state—

United States—History. I. Title. II. Title: How the laser happened.

QC887.2.T68 1999

621.36'8'09—DC21 98-22216

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
introduction and acknowledgments
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation initiated this book with a request that I
write a history of the laser. That history is here and with it is also much of
my own personal story as a scientist. The latter is because the modern
development of science and technology is intimately dependent on people,
their interactions, and mutual stimulation—what can be called scientific
sociology. Something like the laser development does not come from an
isolated idea, but from a scientific milieu, curiosity, struggles and puzzles,
and from many different people.
Interactions with government and military policy and with interna­
tional affairs are also part of the laser and the science story; they are areas
in which scientists have been increasingly involved during the twentieth
century.
My rather intense work in science and at times public service, includ­
ing a number of changes from one job and location to another, have been
generously and thoughtfully supported by my wife Frances, to whom I and
the story reported here are very much indebted. This book also owes much
to the science writer Charles Petit, who has helped me enormously in or­
ganizing and drafting it and in giving sensitive editorial advice. Without
him, it could not have been done. And I thank my capable secretary,
Marnie McElhiney, for much help in the book’s preparation.
My hope is that this account will give a realistic and interesting illus­
tration of the way that ideas and science may really come about and of a
scientific career in the present age.
Charles H. Townes
Berkeley, California
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contents
1
the light that shines straight 3
2
physics, furman, molecules, and me 17
3
bell labs and radar, a (fortunate) detour from physics 33
4
columbia to franklin park and beyond 47
5
maser excitement—and a time for reflection 69
6
from maser to laser 87
7
the patent game 109
8
on moon dust, and other science advice 129
9
the rains of orion 169
10
glances both backward and forward 189
index 192
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