This American physicist, born in Los Angeles, California, Maiman in his teens earned money by repairing electrical appliances and radios. He was educated at the University of Colorado and Stanford University. At the University of Colorado, he received bachelor’s degree in engineering physics in 1949. Then went on to do graduate work at Stanford University, where he received a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1951 and Ph.D. in physics in 1955. While employed at …showed first 75 words of 355 total…

…showed last 75 words of 355 total…the helium-neon laser, electrons emit light by jumping to a lower excited state, forming a new atomic population that does not absorb laser light, rather than to the ground state. His colleagues at Hughes Laboratory thought his optic laser was an interesting physics experiment that might someday have an application in communications. What they did not realize was that Maiman had also the first opening shot in revolutionizing surgery and the computer and entertainment industries.