caption doctoral_advisor death_date death_place work_institution birth_place image_size nationality field birth_date residence image article_title name alma_mater
james p. gordon -lrb- 1928 -- 2013 -rrb- charles hard townes 21 june 2013 manhattan , new york , new york bell labs new york city , new york 250px united states physics 20 march 1928 united states james_p_gordon . jpg james p. gordon
 james p. gordon columbia university massachusetts institute of technology
james p. gordon

james power gordon -lrb- march 20 , 1928 -- june 21 , 2013 -rrb- was an american physicist known for his work in the fields of optics and quantum electronics .
his contributions include the design , analysis and construction of the first maser in 1954 as a doctoral student at columbia university under the supervision of c. h. townes , development of the quantal equivalent of shannon 's information capacity formula in 1962 , development of the theory for the diffusion of atoms in an optical trap -lrb- together with a. ashkin -rrb- in 1980 , and the discovery of what is now known as the gordon-haus effect in soliton transmission , together with h. a. haus in 1986 .
james p. gordon was a member of the national academy of engineering -lrb- since 1985 -rrb- and the national academy of science -lrb- since 1988 -rrb- .
