Charles Townes Quotes & Sayings

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

I don't think that science is complete at all. We don't understand everything, and one can see, within science itself, there are many inconsistencies. We just have to accept that we don't understand. — Charles H. Townes

I was brought up as Christian, and while my ideas have changed, I have always felt myself religiously oriented. — Charles H. Townes

I knew I wanted to be a scientist. Which kind of scientist was the question. — Charles H. Townes

It was strange, in a way, because there were no ideas involved in the laser that weren't already known by somebody 25 years before lasers were discovered. The ideas were all there; just, nobody put it together. — Charles H. Townes

Alfred Nobel really understood very well the necessary supra-natural character of the human enterprise. — Charles H. Townes

There is some truth to the idea that, in the fields of science, individual contributions of great significance are possible. — Charles H. 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

One has ideas, does experiments, meets people, seeks advice, calls old friends, runs into unexpected remarks, meets new people with new ideas, and in the process finds a career of shifts and often serendipitous meanders that may be rewarding and rich, but is seldom marked by guideposts glimpsed very far in advance. — Charles H. Townes

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

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

The imposing edifice of science provides a challenging view of what can be achieved by the accumulation of many small efforts in a steady objective and dedicated search for truth. — Charles H. Townes

Science has faith. We make postulates. We can't prove those postulates, but we have faith in them. — Charles H. Townes

I was very eager to produce an oscillator for short waves. I was doing science with microwaves, and I would get down to a few millimetres in wavelength, but I wanted to get shorter wavelengths; I wanted to get into the infra-red because I saw there was a lot more to be done there. — Charles H. Townes

Much public thinking follows a rut. The same thing is true in science. People get stuck and don't look in other directions. — Charles H. Townes

In many cases, people who win a Nobel prize, their work slows down after that because of the distractions. Yes, fame is rewarding, but it's a pity if it keeps you from doing the work you are good at. — Charles H. Townes

The development of science is basically a social phenomenon, dependent on hard work and mutual support of many scientists and on the societies in which they live. — Charles H. Townes

We can't avoid age. However, we can avoid some aging. Continue to do things. Be active. Life is fantastic in the way it adjusts to demands; if you use your muscles and mind, they stay there much longer. — Charles H. Townes

One of the things my family taught me - I think very important in religion and science - is that you must be ready to stand up for what you think. Decide what you really think is best, and stick with it. — Charles H. Townes

Science is exploration. The fundamental nature of exploration is that we don't know what's there. We can guess and hope and aim to find out certain things, but we have to expect surprises. — Charles H. 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