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Read features from the special edition View interactive material on lasers Read past Science News coverage 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. Those microwaves had been amplified by stimulated emission of the radiation, inspiring the acronym “maser.” Maiman showed how to do the same thing with optical radiation — visible light — hence the obvious parallel label of “laser” (although the Science News Letter cover story from July 23, 1960, referred to the “optical maser”). |