The history of Laser

 


It has been a while since the last time I had a post on this blog, mostly due to a lot of deadlines to reach related with my work and also due to a couple of accidents that left me bound to my bed/sofa for some weeks in a row. But now I am back! And in 2024, I want to get a deeper look into Laser technology. 

On this post I want to share a couple of low-level introductory materials for anyone interested in the history of the invention and development of Laser technology. Laser is the (an)acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, and it is a relatively recent technology that first saw (or made) light in 1960. 

For physics amateurs like myself, I recommend getting a general overview of what a laser is and its properties through reading Jeff Hecht's Understanding Lasers: an Entry Level Guide, or the slightly more advanced Fundamentals of Light Sources and Lasers by Mark Csele. 

For an entertaining history of the discovery of the laser, I recommend Jeff Hecht's Beam: The Race to Make the Laser. The book is slightly technical, but easy to follow after having read one of the two books recommended in the previous paragraph.

Or, if you want to get a light (pun intended!) but interesting short introduction to the early history of laser, you can watch one of Simon Whistler's vlog episodes of His Today I Found Out series here. Simon sums up more or less the content of the book "Beam" in less than 14 minutes, so it is worth the watch. 

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