Nicolaas Bloembergen Lasers: A Renaissance in Optics Research

optical maser, for "optical molecu lar amplifier by stimulated emis sion of radiation." Language, how ever, is a living structure, and the word laser, obviously standing for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," became uni versally accepted by the general public. Within three years after the first successful operation of a laser in 1960, the device was used in a James Bond movie. Laser has be come a household word in many languages: it is the same, for exam ple, in French, German, and Rus sian, but the Chinese have their own expression. The scientific and technological de velopment of lasers has caught the ' ^^^ ' ^ ?\:>:\.;?- "V '- 1 .- V?-/: ,-;Isp-sj imagination of many people outside