Charles Townes and Associate in Lab

(Original Caption) Dr. Charles H. Townes, left, winner of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics, and an associate, Dr. J.P. Gordon, are pictured with the first maser. It was constructed by Dr. Townes, then Professor of Physics at Columbia University, and his colleagues in Columbia's noted Radiation Laboratory, starting in 1952. The Nobel Prize to Dr. Townes was third awarded for work in the Radiation Laboratory. previous winners were Dr. Willis Lamb and Dr. Polykarp Kusch.