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Jan. 15, 2010
Looking Back on the Laser
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| Optical scientists are celebrating 2010 as the 50th anniversary of the laser, a device that has become ubiquitous in modern life. We'll talk about the history of the laser, and the tangled story surrounding its invention, from Einstein's 1917 concept of stimulated emission, to the creation of the MASER, to the battle over the patents and prizes associated with the laser's creation. |
Produced by Flora Lichtman, Correspondent and Managing Editor, Video
Guests
-
Thomas Baer
Executive Director
Stanford Photonics Research Center
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California -
James Gordon
Physicist,
Retired from Bell Labs
Rumson, New Jersey -
Nick Taylor
Author, "Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War" (Simon & Schuster, 2000)
New York, New York
RELATED READING
Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War
by Nick Taylor
Beam: The Race to Make the Laser
by Jeff Hecht
How the Laser Happened: Adventures of a Scientist
by Charles H. Townes
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