Charles Hard Townes Quotes & Sayings

When God said "Let there be light" he surely must have meant perfectly coherent light. — Charles Hard Townes

The late Richard Feynman, a superb physicist, said once as we talked about the laser that the way to tell a great idea is that, when people hear it, they say, 'Gee, I could have thought of that.' — Charles Hard Townes

At least this is the way I see it. I am a physicist. I also consider myself a Christian. As I try to understand the nature of our universe in these two modes of thinking, I see many commonalities and crossovers between science and religion. It seems logical that in the long run the two will even converge. — Charles Hard Townes

It's almost a sort of fairy story tale, just what a novelist would write about a discovery. — Charles Hard Townes

The beaver told the rabbit as they stared at the Hoover Dam: No, I didn't build it myself, but it's based on an idea of mine — Charles Hard Townes

Science, with its experiments and logic, tries to understand the order or structure of the universe. Religion, with its theological inspiration and reflection, tries to understand the purpose or meaning of the universe. These two are cross-related. Purpose implies structure, and structure ought somehow to be interpretable in terms of purpose. — Charles Hard Townes

I strongly believe in the existence of God, based on intuition, observations, logic, and also scientific knowledge. — Charles Hard Townes

Many have a feeling that somehow intelligence must have been involved in the laws of the universe. — Charles Hard Townes