Arthur Leonard Schawlow
American physicist · United States · Scientists · Lived 1921 to 1999 · aged 77
Arthur Leonard Schawlow is read about 44 times a day, in 68 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 16 September 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 361 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?He worked out how to trap light between two mirrors and make it coherent - the theoretical backbone of the laser. That 1958 insight with Charles Townes turned maser physics into something you could see, and it opened precision spectroscopy that won him the Nobel two decades later.
A life in dates
Also in Deutsch
Photos 1
In their own words 6
, Never measure anything but frequency!
To do successful research, you don't need to know everything, you just need to know one thing that isn't known.
Anything worth doing is worth doing twice, the first time quick and dirty and the second time the best way you can.
Awards
About this person
Arthur Leonard Schawlow was born May 5, 1921. Working with Charles Townes, he developed the theoretical foundation for the laser by proposing a resonant cavity using two mirrors to shift maser action from microwaves into visible wavelengths. That 1958 breakthrough made coherent light practical. He then used lasers as precision tools, measuring atomic energy levels with unprecedented accuracy - work that earned him a share of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics alongside Nicolaas Bloembergen and Kai Siegbahn. He died April 28, 1999, having seen his mirrors-and-light idea become the engine of everything from surgery to CD players.
In common with Arthur
Claude Cohen-TannoudjiBoth received Young Medal and Prize
Theodor W. HänschBoth received Frederic Ives Medal
Willard BoyleBoth received IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award
David J. WinelandBoth received Frederic Ives Medal
Philo FarnsworthBoth received IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award
Peter L. KnightBoth received Young Medal and PrizeFame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.