Happy Anniversary to the LASER
May. 16th, 2008 04:41 pmThe first laser
Charles H. Townes
from A Century of Nature: Twenty-One Discoveries that Changed Science and the World
Laura Garwin and Tim Lincoln, editors
When the first working laser was reported in 1960, it was described as "a solution looking for a problem." But before long the laser's distinctive qualities—its ability to generate an intense, very narrow beam of light of a single wavelength—were being harnessed for science, technology and medicine. Today, lasers are everywhere: from research laboratories at the cutting edge of quantum physics to medical clinics, supermarket checkouts and the telephone network.
Charles H. Townes
from A Century of Nature: Twenty-One Discoveries that Changed Science and the World
Laura Garwin and Tim Lincoln, editors
When the first working laser was reported in 1960, it was described as "a solution looking for a problem." But before long the laser's distinctive qualities—its ability to generate an intense, very narrow beam of light of a single wavelength—were being harnessed for science, technology and medicine. Today, lasers are everywhere: from research laboratories at the cutting edge of quantum physics to medical clinics, supermarket checkouts and the telephone network.
