Beam: The Race to Make the Laser

While some researchers sought fame and prestige at their Bell Telephone laboratory, others worked in secret on a military contract, and still others, basically one pair of decidedly dark horses, toiled on an heretical idea in a small space at Hughes Research Laboratories. When the right light finally appeared to the pair at Hughes, pulsing red at a rate even the one who was color-blind could dimly see, they knew they had the first ruby laser; what is more, they had it on their first try. It was 1960, and theirs was the culmination of years of theoretical and applied research. Journalist Hecht describes these very different paths leading to the laser, the people in the teams and their approaches, the debates between and amidst teams, and the fight for the two dark horses to get recognition. Hecht includes a number of period photographs. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR