Theodore Maiman, who built the first working laser, passed away on 5 May aged 79. Maiman made his breakthrough in 1960 by generating pulses of coherent light from a fingertip-sized lump of ruby illuminated by a flash lamp. In doing so he beat a number of other physicists to the post, including Charles Townes, who had earlier developed the maser, the microwave forerunner of the laser. However, Maiman struggled to gain recognition for his achievement and it was Townes who went on to win the Nobel prize.
1927–2007
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