Editing Arthur Leonard Schawlow

{{short description|American physicist; co-inventor of the laser (1921–1999)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Arthur Leonard Schawlow
| image             = Artur Schawlow, Stanford University.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Arthur Leonard Schawlow in 1981
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1921|5|5|mf=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Mount Vernon, New York]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1999|4|28|1921|5|5}}
| death_place       = [[Palo Alto, California]], U.S.
| field             = [[Physics]]
| work_institutions = [[Bell Labs]]<br>[[Columbia University]]<br>[[Stanford University]]
| alma_mater        = [[University of Toronto]]
| doctoral_advisor  = Malcolm Crawford
| doctoral_students = [[Antoinette Taylor]]<br/>[[Wendell T. Hill]]<br/>[[Michael Duryea Williams]]
| known_for         = [[Laser spectroscopy]]<br>[[Laser cooling]]<br>[[Schawlow–Townes approximation]]
| prizes            = [[Stuart Ballantine Medal]] <small>(1962)</small><br>[[IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award]] {{small|(1964)}}<br>[[Richtmyer Memorial Award]] {{small|(1970)}}<br>[[Frederic Ives Medal]] {{small|(1976)}}<br>[[Marconi Prize]] <small>(1977)</small><br>[[Nobel Prize for Physics]] <small>(1981)</small><br>[[National Medal of Science]] <small>(1991)</small>
| spouse            = Aurelia Townes (m. 1951; 3 children)
}}

'''Arthur Leonard Schawlow''' (May 5, 1921 – April 28, 1999) was an American [[physicist]] who, along with [[Charles Townes]], developed the theoretical basis for [[laser]] science. His central insight was the use of two mirrors as the resonant cavity to take [[maser]] action from microwaves to visible wavelengths. He shared the 1981 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Nicolaas Bloembergen]] and [[Kai Siegbahn]] for his work using lasers to determine [[atomic energy level]]s with great precision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Arthur_L._Schawlow|title=Arthur L. Schawlow|work=IEEE Global History Network|publisher=IEEE|access-date=10 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Hänsch, Theodor W.|author-link=Theodor W. Hänsch|title=Obituary: Arthur Leonard Schawlow|journal=Physics Today|date=December 1999|volume=52|issue=12|pages=75–76|url=http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v52/i12/p75_s2?bypassSSO=1|doi=10.1063/1.2802854|bibcode=1999PhT....52l..75H}}</ref>

==Biography==
Schawlow was born in [[Mount Vernon, New York]]. His mother, Helen (Mason), was from [[Canada]], and his father, Arthur Schawlow, was a Jewish [[immigration|immigrant]] from [[Riga]] (then in the [[Russian Empire]], now in [[Latvia]]). Schawlow was raised in his mother's Protestant religion.<ref name=adherents>{{cite web|url=http://www.adherents.com/people/ps/Arthur_Schawlow.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714082844/http://www.adherents.com/people/ps/Arthur_Schawlow.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 14, 2007|title=The religion of Arthur Schawlow, Nobel Prize-winning physicist; worked with lasers|website=www.adherents.com}}</ref> When Arthur was three years old, they moved to [[Toronto|Toronto, Ontario]], Canada.

At the age of 16, he completed [[high school]] at [[Vaughan Road Academy]] (then Vaughan Collegiate Institute), and received a scholarship in science at the [[University of Toronto]] (Victoria College). After earning his [[undergraduate degree]], Schawlow continued in [[graduate school]] at the University of Toronto which was interrupted due to [[World War II]]. At the end of the war, he began work on his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D]] at the university with Professor [[Malcolm Crawford]]. He then took a [[Postdoctoral researcher|postdoctoral]] position with [[Charles H. Townes]] at the physics department of [[Columbia University]] in the fall of 1949.

He went on to accept a position at [[Bell Labs]] in late 1951. He left in 1961 to join the faculty at [[Stanford University]] as a [[professor]]. He remained at Stanford until he retired to [[emeritus]] status in 1996.

Although his research focused on [[optics]], in particular, lasers and their use in [[spectroscopy]], he also pursued investigations in the areas of [[superconductivity]] and [[nuclear magnetic resonance|nuclear resonance]]. Schawlow shared the 1981 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Nicolaas Bloembergen]] and [[Kai Manne Boerje Siegbahn|Kai Siegbahn]] for their contributions to the development of laser spectroscopy.

Schawlow coauthored the widely used text ''Microwave Spectroscopy'' (1955) with Charles Townes. Schawlow and Townes were the first to publish the theory of laser design and operation in their seminal 1958 paper on "optical masers",<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schawlow |first=Arthur L.  |author-link=Arthur Leonard Schawlow |author2=Townes, Charles H. |date=December 1958 |title=Infrared and optical masers |journal=Physical Review |volume=112 |issue=6–15 |pages=1940–1949 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.112.1940 |bibcode = 1958PhRv..112.1940S |doi-access=free }}</ref> although [[Gordon Gould]] is often credited with the "invention" of the laser, due to his unpublished work that predated Schawlow and Townes by a few months.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Nick |title=LASER: The inventor, the Nobel laureate, and the thirty-year patent war |year=2000 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-684-83515-0 |oclc=122973716 |pages=62–70}}</ref> The first working laser was made in 1960 by [[Theodore Harold Maiman|Theodore Maiman]].

In 1991, the [[NEC Corporation]] and the [[American Physical Society]] established a prize: the [[Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science]]. The prize is awarded annually to "candidates who have made outstanding contributions to basic research using lasers."

==Science and religion==
He participated in [[science and religion]] discussions. Regarding [[God]], he stated, "I find a need for God in the universe and in my own life."<ref>{{Citation|author=Margenau, H.|year=1992|title='''Cosmos, Bios, Theos:''' Scientists Reflect on Science, God, and the Origins of the Universe, Life, and Homo sapiens|publisher=[[Open Court Publishing Company]]|page=105|author-link=Henry Margenau}} co-edited with [[Roy Abraham Varghese]]. This book is mentioned in a December 28, 1992 [[Time magazine]] article: [https://web.archive.org/web/20081208234715/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977352-1,00.html Galileo And Other Faithful Scientists]</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1951, he married Aurelia Townes, younger sister of his postdoctoral advisor, Charles Townes. They had three children: Arthur Jr., Helen, and Edith. Arthur Jr. is [[autism|autistic]], with very little speech ability.

Schawlow and Professor [[Robert Hofstadter]] at Stanford, who also had an autistic child, teamed up to help each other find solutions to the condition. Arthur Jr. was put in a special center for autistic individuals, and later, Schawlow put together an institution to care for people with autism in [[Paradise, California]]. It was later named the [[Arthur Schawlow Center]] in 1999, shortly before his death. Schawlow was a promoter of the controversial method of [[facilitated communication]] with patients of autism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/1999/may5/schawlowobit-55.html |title=Arthur Schawlow, Nobel laureate and co-inventor of the laser, dies: 4/99 |publisher=News-service.stanford.edu |date=1999-05-05 |accessdate=2022-08-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://suedweb.syr.edu/thefci/2-1sch.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-09-12 |archive-date=2008-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723125029/http://suedweb.syr.edu/thefci/2-1sch.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He considered himself to be an orthodox Protestant Christian, and attended a Methodist church.<ref name=adherents/>
Arthur Schawlow was an intense fan and collector of traditional American [[jazz]] recordings, as well as a supporter of instrumental groups performing this type of music.

Schawlow died of [[leukemia]] in [[Palo Alto, California]], on April 28, 1999, at the age 77.

==Awards and honors==
*1962 – [[Stuart Ballantine Medal]]
*1963 – [[Young Medal and Prize]], for distinguished research in the field of [[optics]] presented by the [[Institute of physics]]
*1970 – elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Arthur Leonard Schawlow |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/arthur-leonard-schawlow |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref>
*1970 – elected to the [[National Academy of Sciences]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Arthur L. Schawlow |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/50823.html |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
*1976 – awarded the [http://www.osa.org/awards_and_grants/awards/award_description/ivesquinn/ Frederic Ives Medal] by [[Optical Society of America|OSA]]
*1981 – [[Nobel Prize for Physics]]
*1983 – Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]]<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>
*1983 – elected Honorary Member of OSA<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arthur L. Schawlow {{!}} Optica |url=https://www.optica.org/history/biographies/bios/arthur-l--schawlow/ |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=www.optica.org}}</ref>
*1984 – elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]]<ref>{{cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Arthur+Schawlow&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
*{{Citation
|pmid=10150635
|last=Schawlow
|first=A L
|publication-date=Jun 1995
|year=1995
|title=Principles of lasers
|volume=13
|issue=3
|periodical=Journal of Clinical Laser Medicine & Surgery
|pages=127–30
|doi=10.1089/clm.1995.13.127
}}
*{{Citation
|pmid=17739964
|last1=Schawlow
|publication-date=Jul 2, 1982
|year=1982
|title=Spectroscopy in a New Light
|volume=217
|issue=4554
|periodical=[[Science (journal)|Science]]
|pages=9–16
|doi=10.1126/science.217.4554.9
|first1=AL
|bibcode=1982Sci...217....9S}}
*{{Citation
|pmid=17801904
|last1=Schawlow
|publication-date=Oct 13, 1978
|year=1978
|title=Laser Spectroscopy of Atoms and Molecules
|volume=202
|issue=4364
|pages=141–147
|doi=10.1126/science.202.4364.141
|journal=Science
|first1=AL
|bibcode=1978Sci...202..141S}}
*{{Citation
|pmid=5273948
|last1=McCaul
|first1=B W
|last2=Schawlow
|first2=A L
|publication-date=Feb 10, 1969
|year=1969
|title=Plasma refractive effects in HCN lasers
|volume=168
|issue=3
|periodical=Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci.
|pages=697–702
|doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.1969.tb43154.x
|bibcode=1969NYASA.168..697M|s2cid=31588499
}}
*{{Citation
|pmid=5958291
|last=Schawlow
|first=A L
|publication-date=1966
|year=1966
|title=Lasers
|volume=6
|issue=2
|periodical=International Ophthalmology Clinics
|pages=241–51
|doi=10.1097/00004397-196600620-00002
}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{wikiquote}}
*[[Optical Society of America#Past Presidents of the OSA]]
*[[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}<!--added above External links/Sources by script-assisted edit-->

==External links==
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1981 ''Spectroscopy in a New Light''
*[http://www.nobel-winners.com/Physics/arthur_leonard_schawlow.html Nobel Winner: Arthur Leonard Schawlow]
*[http://www.aip.org/history/exhibits/laser/sections/raydevices.html Bright Idea: The First Lasers (laser history)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003143420/http://www.aip.org/history/exhibits/laser/sections/raydevices.html |date=2012-10-03 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051226092206/http://buzyall.narod.ru/eto/schawlow-press.html Press Release: The 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051101192439/http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/1999/may5/schawlowobit-55-a.html Arthur Leonard Schawlow obituary]

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1981 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Presidents of the American Physical Society}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schawlow, Arthur Leonard}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Mount Vernon, New York]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:American Methodists]]
[[Category:American people of Canadian descent]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:American people of Latvian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:20th-century American physicists]]
[[Category:Autism activists]]
[[Category:Columbia University faculty]]
[[Category:American experimental physicists]]
[[Category:Laser researchers]]
[[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]]
[[Category:American optical physicists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Presidents of Optica (society)]]
[[Category:Fellows of Optica (society)]]
[[Category:Scientists at Bell Labs]]
[[Category:American spectroscopists]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:Scientists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Canada]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Vaughan Road Academy alumni]]