HOW THE LASER WORKS

In the early 1950's, Charles H. Townes invented the laser following his invention of the maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation). The maser is the laser's precursor, using the same physical principles and reflecting very comparable operational elements, but for microwaves instead of light. Townes' book How the Laser Happened tells the story behind the laser and is loaded with insights on much about life as well.

The story of the laser's invention has its share of irony. For instance, although Townes was convinced he was pursuing something of importance, others generally didn't think so. While no one then could imagine the ever unfolding uses and impacts of the laser, one would expect that an invention as fundamentally significant as the laser would be greeted with some mixture of enthusiasm, excitement, and wonder--especially by those in his field. But initially so many fine minds of the time had virtually no appreciation for this invention. Actually some even ridiculed what he was trying to accomplish.

Why this initial void of interest in the laser? Well, Townes invented a device that provided something no one was looking for--something few, if any, even wondered existed: coherent, directed light. Energy "packaged" in a totally new way. (However, as the book explains, naturally occurring masers exist in space; but no one had detected them at that time.) Yet, as Townes notes, there were obscure cases of similar ideas--at least similar concepts.

So what happened to the earlier concepts? Townes explains that either the earlier scientists didn't quite put all the right concepts together or they just dropped the idea before long. It may be that his conviction that this device "could be important" may have made the difference.