Charles H. Townes

Hello! My name is Charles Townes. I was born in the year 1915. I was a scientist who loved to ask questions. When I was a little boy in South Carolina, my laboratory was the big, wonderful outdoors. I loved to watch busy ants march in a line. I looked at fireflies that glowed in the dark. I even collected flowers and tiny tadpoles from the pond. I always wanted to know how everything in our amazing world worked.

When I grew up, I became a special kind of scientist called a physicist. One sunny morning in the year 1951, I was sitting on a park bench when I had a super-duper bright idea. I though, 'What if I could make light march in a straight line, like a team of superheroes?'. I wanted to make a beam of light that was very strong and could do amazing things. I worked hard with my friends and we built a machine called a maser. That was the first step to making my big idea come true.

My idea helped other smart people create something called a laser. A laser is a very special and strong beam of light, just like I dreamed of. Today, lasers are everywhere. They are in the scanners at the grocery store that go 'beep!' when they scan your food. They also help doctors do important work. I lived to be 99 years old. It makes me happy to know that my bright idea from that day in the park still helps light up our world.