Last year’s 50th anniversary of the invention of the laser was a cause for celebration in the scientific community and sparked a yearlong “Laserfest” commemoration. But it also won some notice in Washington — in part because the laser resulted from research funded by a government grant in the 1950s. Science advocates on Capitol Hill won adoption of a congressional resolution noting the anniversary. President Obama said the laser “brought economic benefits unimagined at the start of the process.”
Indeed, at first, the invention was only of interest to physicists. It was “a cute thing; every physicist was thrilled by it,” recalls Michigan Republican Vern Ehlers, who earned his doctorate in physics the same year as the invention and pushed the commemorative measure as one of his final acts before retiring after serving 17 years in the House. Today, however, lasers are ubiquitous, found in everyday objects as diverse as DVD players, grocery store price scanners and tattoo-removal equipment.
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Author: Joseph J. Schatz
