This biography is a personal portrait of one of the best-known Dutch physicists, Nicolaas Bloembergen. Born in 1920 in Dordrecht, Bloembergen studied physics in Utrecht, leaving after World War II for the United States, where he became an American citizen in 1958. At Harvard University, he pioneered nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR, used in chemistry and biology for structure identification; moreover leading to MRI), laser theory and nonlinear optics. In 1978 he was awarded the Lorentz Medal for his contribution to the theory of nonlinear optics (used in fiber optics), and in 1981 he received the Nobel Prize for physics, along with Arthur Schawlow and Kai Siegbahn. The book is based on numerous conversations with Nicolaas Bloembergen himself, his wife Deli Brink, his family, and colleagues in science. It describes his childhood and study in Bilthoven and Utrecht, the first postwar years at Harvard, the discoveries of masers and lasers, and the award of the Nobel Prize. It also delves into Bloembergen's involvement in American politics, particularly his role in Ronald Reagan's controversial "Star Wars" program.

The authors are former students and research fellows of Prof Nicolaas Bloembergen, winner of the Nobel Prize, who has pioneered three distinct fields of science: NMR, masers and nonlinear optics. Each author has contributed a paper of current interest inspired by some aspect of Prof Bloembergen's 50-year career. This volume contains a historical record of one of the great scientists of the 20th century, including a complete bibliography of his papers, four of his most significant publications and evidence of his impact on generations of scientists.

In How the Laser Happened, Nobel laureate Charles Townes provides a highly personal look at some of the leading events in twentieth-century physics. Townes was inventor of the maser, of which the laser is one example; an originator of spectroscopy using microwaves; and a pioneer in the study of gas clouds in galaxies and around stars. Throughout his career he has also been deeply engaged with issues outside of academic research. He worked on applied research projects for Bell Labs; served on the board of directors for General Motors; and devoted extensive effort to advising the government on science, policy, and defense. This memoir traces his multifaceted career from its beginnings on the family farm in South Carolina. Spanning decades of ground-breaking research, the book provides a hands-on description of how working scientists and inventors get their ideas. It also gives a behind-the-scenes look at the scientific community, showing how scientists respond to new ideas and how they approach a variety of issues, from priority and patents to the social and political implications of their work. In addition, Townes touches on the sociology of science, uncovering some of the traditions and values that are invisible to an outsider. A towering and energetic figure, Townes has explored or pioneered most of the roles available to the modern scientist. In addition to fundamental research, he was actively involved in the practical uses of the laser and in the court cases to defend the patent rights. He was a founding member of the Jasons, an influential group of scientists that independently advises the government on defense policy, and he played an active part in scientific decisions and policies from the Truman through the Reagan administration. This lively memoir, packed with first-hand accounts and historical anecdotes, is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history of science and an inspiring example for students considering scientific careers.

Candid Science V: Conversations with Famous Scientists contains 36 interviews with well-known scientists, including 19 Nobel laureates, Wolf Prize winners, and other luminaries. These in-depth conversations provide a glimpse into the greatest achievements in science during the past few decades, featuring stories of the discoveries, and showing the human drama behind them. The greatest scientists are brought into close human proximity as if readers were having a conversation with them. This volume departs from the previous ones in that it contains interviews with mathematicians in addition to physicists, chemists, and biomedical scientists. Another peculiarity of this volume is that it includes nine interviews from another project, the collection of the late Clarence Larson, former Commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission and his wife, Jane ("Larson Tapes"). The 36 interviewees include famous personalities of our time, such as Donald Coxeter, John Conway, Roger Penrose, Alan Mackay, Dan Shechtman, Charles Townes, Arthur Schawlow, Leon Cooper, Alexei Abrikosov, Luis Alvarez, William Pickering, William Fowler, Vera Rubin, Neta Bahcall, Rudolf Peierls, Emilio Segre, Harold Agnew, Clarence Larson, Nelson Leonard, Princess Chulabhorn, Linus Pauling, Miklos Bodanszky, Melvin Calvin, Donald Huffman Alan MacDiarmid, Alan Heeger, Jens Christian Skou, Paul Lauterbur, Gunther Stent, John Sulston, Renato Dulbecco, Baruch Blumberg, Arvid Carlsson, Oleh Hornykiewicz, Paul Greengard, and Eric Kandel.

Nuclear spins are highly coherent quantum objects that were featured in early ideas and demonstrations of quantum information processing. In silicon, the high-fidelity coherent control of a single phosphorus (31-P) nuclear spin I=1/2 has demonstrated record-breaking coherence times, entanglement, and weak measurements. In this thesis, we demonstrate the coherent quantum control of a single antimony (123-Sb) donor atom, whose higher nuclear spin I = 7/2 corresponds to eight nuclear spin states. However, rather than conventional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), we employ nuclear electric resonance (NER) to drive nuclear spin transitions using localized electric fields produced within a silicon nanoelectronic device. This method exploits an idea first proposed in 1961 but never realized experimentally with a single nucleus, nor in a non-polar crystal such as silicon. We then present a realistic proposal to construct a chaotic driven top from the nuclear spin of 123-Sb. Signatures of chaos are expected to arise for experimentally realizable parameters of the system, allowing the study of the relation between quantum decoherence and classical chaos, and the observation of dynamical tunneling. These results show that high-spin quadrupolar nuclei could be deployed as chaotic models, strain sensors, hybrid spin-mechanical quantum systems, and quantum-computing elements using all-electrical controls.

This book covers optical chemical sensing by means of optical waveguides, from the fundamentals to the most recent applications. The book includes a historical review of the development of these sensors, from the earliest laboratory prototypes to the first commercial instrumentations. The book reprints a lecture by the Nobel Laureate Charles Townes on the birth of maser and laser, which lucidly illustrates the development of new science and new technology.