|birth_place Mount Vernon, New York |death_date |death_place Palo Alto, California |nationality United States |field Physics |work_institutions Bell Labs lt;/br>Columbia University lt;/br>Stanford University |alma_mater University of Toronto |doctoral_advisor Malcolm Crawford |doctoral_students |known_for laser spectroscopy |prizes Nobel Prize for Physics (1981) |religion Methodist }} Arthur Leonard Schawlow (May 5, 1921 – April 28, 1999) was an American physics He is best remembered for his work on laser , for which he shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nicolaas Bloembergen and Kai Siegbahn

Biography

His mother, Helen Mason, was from Canada and his father, Arthur Schawlow, was a Jewish immigration from Latvia When Arthur was three years old, they moved to Toronto Canada. At the age of 16 he completed high school and received a scholarship in science at the University of Toronto 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 at U of T with Professor Malcolm Crawford He then took a postdoctoral researcher position with Charles Townes at the physics department of Columbia University in the fall of 1949. In 1951 he married Aurelia Townes, younger sister to Charles Townes, and together they had three children; Arthur Jr., Helen, and Edith. Arthur Jr. was autism with very little speech ability. He considered himself to be an orthodox Protestant Christian and attended a Methodist church.http://www.adherents.com/people/ps/Arthur_Schawlow.html 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 until he retired to emeritus status in 1996. 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.http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/1999/may5/schawlowobit-55.html]http://suedweb.syr.edu/thefci/2-1sch.htm 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 Schawlow shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nicolaas Bloembergen and Kai Manne Boerje Siegbahn for their contributions to the development of laser spectroscopy. Schawlow coauthored Microwave Spectroscopy(1955) with Charles Townes. Also with Townes, they prepared a much disputed, by Gordon Gould laser patent filed by Bell Labs in 1958. 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." Schawlow was born in Mount Vernon, New York and died of leukemia in Palo Alto, California

Awards

* 1962 - The Franklin Institute Awards * 1963 - Young Medal and Prize for distinguished research in the field of optics presented by the Institute of physics * 1976 - awarded the http://www.osa.org/aboutosa/awards/osaawards/awardsdesc/ivesquinn/ Frederic Ives Medal] by Optical Society of America * 1981 - Nobel Prize for Physics

Science and Religion

He has participated in science and religion discussions. Regarding God he stated "I find a need for God in the universe and in my own life."co-edited with Roy Abraham Varghese This book is mentioned in a December 28, 1992 Time magazine article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977352-1,00.html Galileo And Other Faithful Scientists]

Bibliography

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References

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External links

* http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/biomems/aschawlow.html National Academy of Sciences biography] * 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)] * http://buzyall.narod.ru/eto/schawlow-press.html Press Release: The 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics] * http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/1999/may5/schawlowobit-55-a.html Arthur Leonard Schawlow obituary]

See also

*Optical Society of America#Past Presidents of the OSA Category:1921 births Category:1999 deaths Category:Religion and science Category:American physicists Category:Experimental physicists Category:Optical physicists Category:Lasers Category:Nobel laureates in Physics Category:American Nobel laureates Category:American Methodists Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:Scientists at Bell Labs Category:National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from Westchester County, New York Category:Presidents of the Optical Society of America Category:National Medal of Science laureates Category:Latvian Jews ar:آرثر شاولو bn:আর্থার লিওনার্ড শলো bg:Артър Шолоу ca:Arthur Leonard Schawlow da:Arthur Schawlow de:Arthur L. Schawlow es:Arthur Leonard Schawlow fr:Arthur Leonard Schawlow gl:Arthur Leonard Schawlow io:Arthur Leonard Schawlow id:Arthur L. Schawlow it:Arthur Schawlow sw:Arthur Schawlow ht:Arthur Leonard Schawlow mr:आर्थर लियोनार्ड शॉलो nl:Arthur Schawlow ja:アーサー・ショーロー no:Arthur Leonard Schawlow oc:Arthur Leonard Schawlow pnb:آرتھر شالو pl:Arthur Leonard Schawlow pt:Arthur Leonard Schawlow ro:Arthur Leonard Schawlow ru:Шавлов, Артур Леонард sk:Arthur Leonard Schawlow sl:Arthur Leonard Schawlow fi:Arthur Leonard Schawlow sv:Arthur L. Schawlow th:อาเธอร์ ลีโอนาร์ด ชอว์โลว์ yo:Arthur Leonard Schawlow zh:阿瑟·伦纳德·肖洛