Overview
- Tells the inventor’s own life story of how he came to create the world’s first laser
- Elaborates on Maiman’s father nurturing his interest in invention as a child
- Describes the challenge of moving from masers (microwave amplification) to lasers (light amplification)
- Critiques ongoing efforts by competing researchers to minimize the role of Maiman as inventor of the first laser
- Provides important tips to scientists, engineers, and researchers: do not be afraid to blaze your own research path; do not blindly follow the agenda of acclaimed scientists; and avoid complicated solutions in designing a device
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Springer Biographies (SPRINGERBIOGS)
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Table of contents (35 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Maiman Memoirs
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Front Matter
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Keywords
About this book
"No one beat Maiman to the laser. How important is the laser? How important are all lasers? That is how important we have to regard Maiman’s contribution.He and the laser changed all of our lives, everyone’s!"
Dr. Nick Holonyak, Jr., Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics, University of Illinois at Champaigne-Urbana, and inventor of the light-emitting diode (LED) and co-inventor of the transistor laser
"More than five decades later, we can safely conclude that Theodore Maiman's groundbreaking discovery changed the world. Our modern life just as scientific research would be quite different without the laser."
Dr. Ferenc Krausz, Director, Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany, and Professor of Physics, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, and pioneer in attosecond lasers and attophysics
"Maiman had the stroke of genius needed to take a different approach [from his competitors]. The sheer elegance and simplicity of his design beliesthe intellectual achievement it represents. If his invention seems obvious to some today, it was far from obvious in 1960."
Jeff Hecht, authoritative science writer on the historical development of the laser, author of books on lasers and fiber optics
Reviews
“The Laser Inventor is an interesting and engaging peek into one of modern history of science and technology's most dramatic, far-reaching developments. It's even quite reasonably priced for a Springer hardback. Recommended.” (Brian Clegg, Popular Science, popsciencebooks.blogspot.com, January, 2018)
“The Laser Inventor presents a lot of interesting material and captures a piece of the history ofscience. I recommend it to everyone who wants to learn about the laser’s beginnings.” ( Mario Bertolotti, Physics Today, Vol. 71 (12), December, 2018)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Laser Inventor
Book Subtitle: Memoirs of Theodore H. Maiman
Authors: Theodore H. Maiman
Series Title: Springer Biographies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61940-8
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing AG 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-61939-2Published: 23 January 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-87194-3Published: 04 June 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-61940-8Published: 21 December 2017
Series ISSN: 2365-0613
Series E-ISSN: 2365-0621
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXXIX, 312
Number of Illustrations: 44 b/w illustrations, 45 illustrations in colour
Topics: Popular Science in Physics, Popular Science in Technology, Optics, Lasers, Photonics, Optical Devices, History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics