May 5: The Laser

Theodore Maiman, the inventor of the first laser (for the Hughes Aircraft Company in 1960), died on this date in 2007. Lasers are devices that amplify light waves into narrow, intense beams of light. They are used to read CDs and bar codes, in industry, in guided-missile systems, for surgery, and for many other purposes. Maimon, wrote the New York Times in its obituary, always “insisted on emphasizing the laser’s healing possibilities, even as the public was riveted on the new ‘death ray.’” One of the earliest uses of a laser was to measure accurately the distance between the Earth and the Moon, to within one inch. Maiman was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize and was a 1984 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

“A laser is a solution seeking a problem.” —Theodore Maiman