Charles Townes inspecting a mirror of the Infrared Spatial Interferometer.

This site celebrates the life and work of the late Dr. Charles Townes (1915-2015), winner of the Nobel Prize for physics in 1964 for his work leading to the development of the laser.

Dr. Townes had a significant and long-running relationship with the Space Sciences Lab, from his 1960’s investigations in radio astronomy to the current studies in infrared astronomy.

One of his many enduring legacies is the The Charles Townes Postdoctoral Fellowship at SSL, supporting high-achieving post-docs at Berkeley.