Theodore Maiman

Theodore Maiman
Maiman with the world's first laser in 1985
Born
Theodore Harold Maiman

(1927-07-11)July 11, 1927
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedMay 5, 2007(2007-05-05) (aged 79)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alma mater
Known forInventing the laser
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics, electrical engineering
Institutions
Thesis Microwave-optical investigation of the 3³P fine structure in helium  (1955)
Doctoral advisorWillis Lamb

Theodore Harold Maiman (July 11, 1927 – May 5, 2007) was an American engineer and physicist who is widely credited with the invention of the laser.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Maiman's laser led to the subsequent development of many other types of lasers.[8][9] The laser was successfully fired on May 16, 1960. In a July 7, 1960, press conference in Manhattan,[10] Maiman and his employer, Hughes Aircraft Company, announced the laser to the world.[11] Maiman was granted a patent for his invention,[12] and he received many awards and honors for his work. His experiences in developing the first laser and subsequent related events are recounted in his book, The Laser Odyssey,[13] later being republished in 2018 under a new title, The Laser Inventor: Memoirs of Theodore H. Maiman.[14]

  1. ^ Lengyel, Bela A. (1962). Lasers: Generation of Light by Stimulated Emission. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 22–28.
  2. ^ Bromberg, Joan Lisa (1991). The Laser in America, 1950–1970. MIT Press. pp. 86–92.
  3. ^ Bertolotti, Mario (2005). The History of the Laser. Institute of Physics Publishing. pp. 226–234. ISBN 0750309113.
  4. ^ Townes, Charles H. (2003). Laura Garwin and Tim Lincoln (ed.). "The First Laser". A Century of Nature: Twenty-One Discoveries that Changed Science and the World. University of Chicago Press. pp. 107–12.
  5. ^ Hecht, Jeff (2005). Beam: The Race to Make the Laser. Oxford University Press. pp. 106–15, 169–82.
  6. ^ Johnson, John Jr. (May 11, 2008). "Theodore H. Maiman, at age 32; scientist created the first LASER". Los Angeles Times
  7. ^ "Maiman Builds First Working Laser". Physics History: May 16, 1960. APS News 19. May 2010.
  8. ^ "The First Ruby Laser". LaserFest. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  9. ^ "Voila. That was it! The Laser was born! Celebrating 50 Years of Laser Technology, 1960–2010". HRL Laboratories LLC. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Martin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Speech by Dr. Theodore H. Maiman, Hughes Aircraft Company, at a Press Conference at the Hotel Delmonico" (PDF). New York. July 7, 1960. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  12. ^ Maiman, Theodore H. (1961) "Ruby laser systems " U.S. patent 3,353,115
  13. ^ Maiman, Theodore H. (2000). The Laser Odyssey. Laser Press. ISBN 978-0-9702927-0-4. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  14. ^ Maiman, Theodore H. (2018). The Laser Inventor: Memoirs of Theodore H. Maiman. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-61939-2. Retrieved July 9, 2020.