Gordon Gould

science · 16 September 2005 · 20 years ago

death Died 16 Sep 2005 at age 85 (born 17 Jul 1920).
American physicist who coined the word laser from the initial letters of “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” Gould was inspired from his youth to be an inventor, wishing to emulate Marconi, Bell, and Edison. He contributed to the WWII Manhattan Project, working on the separation of uranium isotopes. On 9 Nov 1957, during a sleepless Saturday night, he had the inventor’s inspiration and began to write down the principles of what he called a laser in his notebook. Although Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow, also successfully developed the laser, eventually Gould gained his long-denied patent rights.

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