Bown's work focused on electromagnetic propagation, particularly for radio broadcasting, ship-to-shore communication, aircraft radios, and intercontinental telephony. He was also an expert in radar, and served as a division member and consultant of the National Defense Research Committee and expert consultant to the Secretary of War; in 1941 he visited England to study radar in combat operations. Bown became research director at Bell Labs, and on June 30, 1948, led a press conference announcing the invention of the transistor.
"Some Recent Measurements of Trans-Atlantic Radio Transmission", American Telephone and Telegraph Company, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, April 24, 1923.