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Theodore Maiman 1960-by Unknown (Associated Press)-

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Theodore Maiman

Theodore Harold Maiman, an American engineer, and physicist who lived from July 11, 1927, to May 5, 2007, is widely recognized as the father of the laser. Who should receive credit for the creation of the light amplifier, or laser, has been one of the most hotly debated topics in the scientific world since the late 1950s. Numerous well-known physicists submitted concepts for the laser, and many more added to the body of knowledge from which those designs were derived. But one thing is certain: Theodore Maiman produced the first operational laser in the United States in 1960. 

For his creation, Maiman was given a patent, and he also won other accolades. His book The Laser Odyssey, recently reprinted under the new title The Laser Inventor: Memoirs of Theodore H. Maiman, details his adventures in creating the first laser and subsequent events. Here are some fascinating facts about Theodore Maiman.

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1. He was introduced to technology by his father

Maiman with his father Abe-by Kathleen Maiman-

Abraham “Abe” Maiman, an electrical engineer and inventor, and Rose Abramson welcomed Maiman into the world in Los Angeles. The family then relocated to Denver when his father Abe, an electronics engineer, received a job offer there. Theodore (sometimes known as “Ted”) was a curious, imaginative, and daring little kid. His father Abe, who is also an inventor, exposed Ted to technology and had a significant impact on the development of Ted’s interest in electronics. Wherever they stayed, whether it was in the basement or the attic, Abe always kept a little electronics lab. With access to expert tools, young Ted was able to create complex projects like audio amplifiers and basic radios.

2. He secured his first job at the age of 12

When he was 12 years old, he started working at a Denver appliance repair company. Maiman had learned more than enough about electronics and electricity at his father’s lab to fix everything that had been brought in. He began working as a junior engineer at the National Union Radio Company in Nutley, New Jersey, at the age of 17, just after finishing high school.

3. He is widely acknowledged as the creator of the first laser

World’s first laser out of case-by Theodore and Kathleen Maiman-

In 1956, Maiman began working for the Hughes Aircraft Company’s Atomic Physics Department in California (later known as Hughes Research Laboratories or HRL Laboratories), where he oversaw the redesign of the ruby maser for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. The ruby maser was reduced from a 2.5-ton cryogenic device to 4 pounds (1.8 kg) while performing better. Due to this achievement, Maiman persuaded Hughes’ management to sponsor his laser research with company cash starting in the middle of 1959.

Using a synthetic ruby crystal and a $50,000 budget, Maiman set out to create a laser based on his own design that other laser-seeking scientists believed would not function. Maiman’s solid-state pink ruby laser at Hughes’ laboratories in Malibu, California, produced the first coherent light ever seen by humans on May 16, 1960, with beams that were fully in phase and all of the same wavelength.

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4. Numerous more kinds of lasers were later developed as a result of Maiman’s laser

The first operational laser is unveiled by American physicist Theodore Maiman on May 16, 1960, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California. Following Maiman, numerous scientists tried to expand on his discovery and develop the laser to its current state of capability. There are now many different kinds of lasers, each with a different wavelength and set of uses, including gas lasers, chemical lasers, fiber lasers, and photonic crystal lasers. Nowadays, lasers are used in practically every industry, from cutting and welding materials in the industry to popular consumer products like DVD players, laser printers, and barcode scanners to professional laser equipment for surgery and various other skin treatments.

5. He won numerous accolades and prizes for his work

Maiman with the first laser-by Unknown author-

Over the years, Maiman has gotten a great deal of recognition and honor for creating the first laser. The Stuart Ballantine Medal for physics was given to Maiman by the Franklin Institute in 1962. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson honored him with the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Award and the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize from the American Physical Society for his exceptional contributions to science. He received the R.W. Wood Prize for “Pioneer Development of the First Laser” from the Optical Society of America in 1976. He was given the American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award in 1980.

He was elected into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1983/84. The Japan Prize in Electro-Optics was given to Maiman in 1987 for “realizing the world’s first laser.”He was the only non-physician, non-royal member to be admitted as an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1994. The laser was created by Maiman, and Time magazine listed it as one of the twenty most significant technological breakthroughs of the 20th century. He received honorary degrees from numerous universities; the most recent was from Simon Fraser University in 2002.

6. He served as Vice President of Advanced Technology for TRW’s Electronics and Defense division

Maiman started the Laser Video Corporation in 1971, and from 1976 to 1983 he served as TRW Electronics’ vice president for advanced technology (now Northrop Grumman). Later, he worked as a director of Control Laser Corporation and consultant for Laser Centers of America.

7. Maiman produced about 20 papers in professional publications during his career

He delivered the invocation at the start of the international Symposium “Laser 73” and presented invited papers at the American Physical Society, American Optical Society, International Conference on Quantum Electronics, International YAG Medical Laser Society (1983), and international laser medical symposiums in Tokyo, Taipei, and Bangkok.

8. He holds several patents

NMAH DC – IMG 8776-by Daderot-

He is the primary inventor of the ruby laser (the world’s first laser), as well as patents on masers, lasers, laser displays, optical scanning, and modulation.

9. Dr. Maiman has been mentioned in a number of popular publications

He has been mentioned in the following popular publications; Time 100’s “A Century of Science,” Business Week’s “100 Years of Innovation,” Los Angeles Times “Great Moments in Science and Technology,” Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Frontier Science and Technology, Who Did What (a compendium of the 5,000 people deemed most influential in shaping our world from the earliest recorded history to the present), and Modern Men of Science.

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10. He died from systemic mastocytosis

Mastozytose Awareness Ribbon-by Mastozytose-

On May 5, 2007, Maiman died of systemic mastocytosis in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where he lived with his second wife, Kathleen, whom he met on February 13, 1984. He had one daughter, Sheri, with his first wife, Shirley, whom he married in 1956. Sheri Maiman died of cancer in 1988, at the age of 30.

Theodore Harold Maiman invented the first laser, a device that generates monochromatic coherent light, or light with all rays of the same wavelength and phase.