Feature Physics

Celebrating the laser

Introducing the special section on lasers

By Tom Siegfried

- More than 2 years ago

Celebrating the Laser | Credit: Society for Science & the Public

Read features from the special edition
The past/present/future of lasers. | Go

View interactive material on lasers
Laser History; laser uses | Go

Read past Science News coverage
Classic articles on lasers | Go

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Half a century ago, science took a step into science fiction when Theodore Maiman demonstrated that a method for making sharp beams of microwave radiation could be adapted to visible light.