Inventor of the laser dies at 85

September 20, 2005

While the
name Gordon Gould will probably mean nothing to most of you, you will recognise
the invention he has done. Gordon Gould is the man behind the laser, the beam
you can find inside your CD or DVD burner and player.

In 1957, Mr. Gould came up with insights into how to
build a device that shot out a narrow, intense beam of light. He also came
up with its name - an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated
emission of radiation." Lasers, he envisioned, could be used for welding,
cutting or heating. They would do for optics, he said, what transistors
had done for electronics.

Mr. Gould was proved right, as various forms of lasers came to be used
for communications, surgery, and even precise measurements of the distance
between the Earth and the Moon.

Mr. Gould died at the age of 85, and he left a lot of
money due the payments of royalties by those enormous amount of companies who
use lasers. Read the entire story here.

Source: NYTimes