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OverviewIn 1954, Charles Townes invented the laser's microwave cousin, the maser. The next logical step was to extend the same physical principles to the shorter wavelengths of light, but the idea did not catch fire until October 1957, when Townes asked Gordon Gould about Gould's research on using light to excite thallium atoms. Each took the idea and ran with it. The independent-minded Gould sought the fortune of an independent inventor; the professorial Townes sought the fame of scientific recognition. Townes enlisted the help of his brother-in-law, Arthur Schawlow, and got Bell Labs into the race. Gould turned his ideas into a patent application and a million-dollar defense contract. They soon had company. Ali Javan, one of Townes's former students, began pulling 90-hour weeks at Bell Labs with colleague Bill Bennett. And far away in California a bright young physicist named Ted Maiman became a very dark horse in the race. While Schawlow proclaimed that ruby could never make a laser, Maiman slowly convinced himself it would. As others struggled with recalcitrant equipment and military secrecy, Maiman built a tiny and elegant device that fit in the palm of his hand. His ruby laser worked the first time he tried it, on May 16, 1960, but afterwards he had to battle for acceptance as the man who made the first laser. Beam is a fascinating tale of a remarkable and powerful invention that has become a symbol of modern technology. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Jeff Hecht (Freelance writer and correspondent, Freelance writer and correspondent, New Scientist)Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc Dimensions: Width: 16.50cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 24.10cm Weight: 0.535kg ISBN: 9780195142105ISBN 10: 0195142101 Pages: 284 Publication Date: 14 April 2005 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: To order  Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us. Table of Contents"Prologue: May 16, 1960, Malibu, California 1: The Laser Race 2: Microwaves Are the First Step 3: Leaping a Few Orders of Magnitude: The Optical Maser 4: The Outsider's Invention: The Laser 5: Bell Labs Takes the Early Lead 6: Stimulating the Emission of Money 7: A Spreading Interest in the Laser Idea 8: A Pause to Compare Notes 9: A Dark Horse Joins the Race 10: ""Everybody knew it was going to happen within months""-Bell Labs Feels Safely in the Lead 11: A Crash Program at ""Pipsqueak Inc."" 12: The Siren Call of the Laser 13: The Critical Question of Efficiency 14: An Idea Simpler in Theory Than in Practice 15: Triumph in the Palace of Science 16: An Unexpected Struggle for Acceptance 17: ""We were astounded""-A Stunned Reaction 18: Runners-Up Cross the Finish Line 19: Epilogue"Reviews"""Hecht tells the story of the several competing laboratories that were attempting in the late 1950s to use the phenomenon of simulated emisson to produce a coherent and monochromatic light source. The story is interesting in its own right, both to physicists and engineers interested in the intellectual climate of the time and to the general public as an example of excitement and competition within the scientific community.""--CHOICE ""Valuable resource. ... readers can enjoy it as a readable account of how science is actually done.""--Science ""Hecht tells the story of the several competing laboratories that were attempting in the late 1950s to use the phenomenon of simulated emisson to produce a coherent and monochromatic light source. The story is interesting in its own right, both to physicists and engineers interested in the intellectual climate of the time and to the general public as an example of excitement and competition within the scientific community.""--CHOICE" Hecht tells the story of the several competing laboratories that were attempting in the late 1950s to use the phenomenon of simulated emisson to produce a coherent and monochromatic light source. The story is interesting in its own right, both to physicists and engineers interested in the intellectual climate of the time and to the general public as an example of excitement and competition within the scientific community. --CHOICE<br> Author InformationJeff Hecht met his first laser as a Caltech undergraduate in 1968, and took a while to figure out what it was good for. In his case, it was a lot of words--he's been writing about lasers and optics for the past thirty years. His books include City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics (OUP, 1999), Understanding Lasers (1994), Understanding Fiber Optics (2002), Laser: Light of a Million Uses (1998), Optics: Light for a New Age (1988), and The Laser Guidebook (1991). He is a correspondent for the weekly international magazine New Scientist. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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