In a statement the Templeton Foundation described Dr. Townes as "a
unique voice - especially among scientists - that sought commonality
between the two disciplines."

New York Times
March 10, 2005

Physicist Is Awarded the Templeton Prize In Spiritual Matters
By DENNIS OVERBYE

Dr. Charles Townes, a physicist who shared the Nobel Prize for helping
to invent the laser, added another and most unusual prize to a lifelong
storehouse of honors yesterday. In a news conference at the United
Nations, he was announced as the winner of the $1.5 million Templeton
Prize, awarded annually for progress or research in spiritual matters.

Dr. Townes, 89, a longtime professor at the University of California,
Berkeley, has long argued that those old antagonists science and
religion are more alike than different and are destined to merge.

"Understanding the order in the universe and understanding the purpose
in the universe are not identical, but they are also not very far
apart," he wrote in a seminal paper titled "The Convergence of Science
and Religion," published in 1966 in the IBM journal "Think."

In a statement the Templeton Foundation described Dr. Townes as "a
unique voice - especially among scientists - that sought commonality
between the two disciplines."

The prize was established in 1972 by the investor and philanthropist
Sir John Templeton, with a monetary value always to exceed that of the
Nobel. Dr. Townes is to receive his prize at Buckingham Palace in May.

Dr. Townes often recalls that he came up with the idea that would
become the laser while sitting on a Washington park bench in 1951. In
his 1966 article, he said there was little difference between such
epiphanies, when the subconscious hits on the solution to a problem,
and the religious experience of revelation.

Dr. Townes, who described himself as a Protestant Christian, said there
was no reason to expect that the Bible would be all correct. Asked
about his beliefs, he said, "I have enormous respect and adoration for
Christ and what he did," but he added that he did not know whether
Christ actually was the son of God.

"He's closer to it than anybody else I know of," Dr. Townes said.

--------------------------

Nah. George W. Bush is a helluva lot closer...

New York Times
March 10, 2005

Physicist Is Awarded the Templeton Prize In Spiritual Matters
By DENNIS OVERBYE

Dr. Charles Townes, a physicist who shared the Nobel Prize for helping
to invent the laser, added another and most unusual prize to a lifelong
storehouse of honors yesterday. In a news conference at the United
Nations, he was announced as the winner of the $1.5 million Templeton
Prize, awarded annually for progress or research in spiritual matters.

Dr. Townes, 89, a longtime professor at the University of California,
Berkeley, has long argued that those old antagonists science and
religion are more alike than different and are destined to merge.

"Understanding the order in the universe and understanding the purpose
in the universe are not identical, but they are also not very far
apart," he wrote in a seminal paper titled "The Convergence of Science
and Religion," published in 1966 in the IBM journal "Think."