Dr. Theodore Maiman studies a ruby crystal in the shape of a cube in a laser. Photo courtesy Bettman/Corbis View Slideshow __1960: __Physicist Theodore Maiman uses a synthetic-ruby crystal to create ...

When Theodore Maiman, who died Saturday at 81, created the first working laser in 1960, he had no idea what to do with it. Competing against better-funded teams of scientists at Bell Labs, RCA Labs, ...

[Ben Krasnow], builder of amazingly complex and technical devices, is finally starting work on his ruby laser. He’s been collecting parts for this project for the past few years, but only recently has ...

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 ...

The original “solution looking for a problem”, the laser is now 50 years old but still seems futuristic. This gallery charts the evolution of a technology that underpins everything from the ...