Throughout his career Charles Townes has tended to avoid staying in popular fields, choosing instead to explore new areas that can be entered only by developing new methods. Consequently, his work is characterized by great diversity. This selection of writings reflects that movement, coming from different phases of Townes's professional and personal life. It offers insights into such diverse fields as maser and laser technology, quantum electronics, microwave spectroscopy, and molecules in interstellar space, along with some thought-provoking spiritual views on how science and religion come together. Physicists involved in maser and laser research, quantum electronics, microwave spectroscopy, and molecules in interstellar space, as well as educated lay readers should find this book interesting.