Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics Annual Symposium

As part of the Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics Annual Symposium, Charles H. Townes gave a lecture on Thursday. He won (half) the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics “for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle”.

Wednesday, I wondered if Dr. Townes had written any books. I found out he wrote “How the Laser Happened” as well as some others. So, I decided to obtain a copy. Local bookstores were out of stock, so I decided to order online from Amazon.com. Now, you might ask, “What can Brown do for me?” Overnight delivery with UPS got me the book in less than 24 hours. That afternoon, I was able to get the Nobel laureate to sign it. “Best wishes to Andrew Portnoy. Chas H. Townes”

The best parts of the lecture were most definitely the anecdotes. Most notably he recalled Bell Lab’s reluctance to patent the laser/maser work. They had said, “Light’s never been used for communications before.” He also talked about Neils Bohr’s skepticism. [Niels Henrik David Bohr won (all) the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them.” He was also a member of the tribe.]