Laser Pioneers [Hardcover]

Jeff Hecht (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0123360307 | ISBN-13: 978-0123360304 | Publication Date: December 31, 1991 | Edition: 1

This work presents the intriguing story of laser technology development through interviews with the scientists who made history with their groundbreaking research. Laser Pioneers, Revised Edition, describes a race for innovative laser technologies that resulted in several Nobel Prizes and one of the most bitter patent fights of the twentieth century. This book makes fascinating reading for anyone involved with physics, engineering, optics, lasers, or the history of science--or anyone simply interested in the process of invention.

Key Features
* Contains interviews with 15 key scientists in laser research and development
* Provides an extensive overview of laser history
* Includes interviews with three Nobel Prize winners

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[This text] should be interesting to lay persons, students, historians, and experts in the field. It also inspires the reader. Oftentimes I could not put the book down. I highly recommend this book to anyone who may be interested in the development of lasers."
--PHYSICS IN CANADA
"Hecht has written a 'narrative' about the invention of the first laser that is simply first rate...Laser Pioneers is certainly an important edition to the published literature of laser history."
--OPTICS & PHOTONICS NEWS

Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 1 edition (December 31, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0123360307
• ISBN-13: 978-0123360304
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,238,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeff Hecht has been writing about lasers, optics and fiber optics for more than 35 years. After writing for industry magazine Laser Focus World for several years, he began writing books that explain laser science and technology to newcomers to the field. His books are aimed at readers from middle-school students to professionals. The New York Academy of Sciences gave his book Optics: Light for a New Age, honorable mention as one of the best children's science books in older age group in 1988. His technician-training and self-study book Understanding Fiber Optics is now in its fifth edition, with more than 100,000 copies in print.

After years of writing about new science and technology, he turned to the history of fiber optics, writing City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics, as part of the Sloan Technology Series. More recently, he wrote BEAM: The Race to Make The Laser, describing the work that led to the world's first laser in 1960.

He continues to write extensively for magazines, covering topics from lasers to dinosaurs for New Scientist magazine, and continuing developments in lasers and photonics for Laser Focus World