<p>Having lunch with Charles Townes was a unique experience, and I was sitting 2 feet away from him!</p>
<p>No, I didn't go, probably because I didn't know it was goin on. Tell us about it.</p>
<p>I went about 10 minutes before we all meet to go into the DC (Crossroads). Around 12pm, Mr. Townes came walking down the street with a student! I found that incredibly funny, that so many students just walked passed him not knowing who he is. We went into the DC (swiped Mr. Townes, of course), and we went and got the food like normal. Then we went into that enclosed area to eat, there were about 15 of us eating with him. You should have been there, everyone was staring at him, while he was eating the food. We asked him questions, and he answered them. At the end, we took pictures and got his autograph. Heh, bare bones story.</p>
<p>Haha what'd he talk about? Was it awkward, or engaging, or exciting?</p>
<p>He definitely has a sense of humor. We started the luncheon by introducing ourselves, and he went first. He said, "Hm.. who am I? ... Ah yes, I'm Charles Townes..." One student asked him what inspired or motivated him to become a scientist, and he gave a synopsis of his life, how he grew up on a farm (this took a rather large chunk of the luncheon time-wise). I wish I was able to sign up for physics this semester, so I'd understand him better when he was talking about the maser-laser.</p>
<p>Oh wow, he's that guy! We are talking about him in Physics all the time nowadays (Physics for future presidents, of course. I love that class). Anyway, damn, now i do really wish i could have come. If you want to learn more about the maser and the laser, you could try <a href="http://muller.lbl.gov/teaching/Physics10/PffP.html%5B/url%5D">http://muller.lbl.gov/teaching/Physics10/PffP.html</a> chapter 10 . Haha yes, you should read physics for fun.</p>