Path: ...!feeds.phibee-telecom.net!news.mixmin.net!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Cursitor Doom Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design Subject: Re: how the laser happened Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2024 17:07:09 -0000 (UTC) Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 79 Message-ID: References: <1ghb7jt3882078r19n6jjgtirv25q27805@4ax.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2024 19:07:10 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="3d21eaf88e144ade8e89e1e2602a0db1"; logging-data="460070"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+mJ3vMMLwaFsGCQPppPdP9a+R1f07kbxc=" User-Agent: Pan/0.149 (Bellevue; 4c157ba) Cancel-Lock: sha1:eSHwUZ/Ht/kkPNWw8IQvFpEhG5M= Bytes: 4299 On Sun, 23 Jun 2024 09:45:07 -0700, john larkin wrote: > On Sun, 23 Jun 2024 16:39:56 -0000 (UTC), Cursitor Doom > wrote: > >>On Sun, 23 Jun 2024 05:03:34 GMT, Jan Panteltje wrote: >> >>> On a sunny day (Sat, 22 Jun 2024 17:23:40 -0000 (UTC)) it happened >>> Cursitor Doom wrote in >>> : >>> >>>>On Sat, 22 Jun 2024 06:19:49 GMT, Jan Panteltje wrote: >>>> >>>>> On a sunny day (Fri, 21 Jun 2024 11:32:56 -0700) it happened john >>>>> larkin wrote in >>>>> <1ghb7jt3882078r19n6jjgtirv25q27805@4ax.com>: >>>>> >>>>>>On Fri, 21 Jun 2024 17:56:36 +0100, Cursitor Doom >>>>>> >>>>>>wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>>On Fri, 21 Jun 2024 06:05:21 -0700, john larkin >>>>>>>wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>>There was a thread somewhere above about photon wave/particle >>>>>>>>duality. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>This is worth reading: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>https://www.amazon.com/How-Laser-Happened-Adventures-Scientist/dp/ >>>>0195153766 >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>Einstein, in one of his fits of genius, predicted in around 1916 >>>>>>>>that under the right conditions, a photon could pass by an excited >>>>>>>>atom and the atom would kick in another photon, or add to the wave >>>>>>>>amplitude, depending on how you feel about these things. He called >>>>>>>>it stimulated emission. He also declared that the laws of >>>>>>>>thermodynamics made this effect impossible to use in practical >>>>>>>>situations. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>In 1951, Charles Townes invented a work-around trick and built the >>>>>>>>maser, a gaseous microwave oscillator. His superiors thought he >>>>>>>>was crazy to dispute Einstein and almost threw him out of grad >>>>>>>>school, but it worked. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>In 1960, Theodore Maiman at HRL made the first ruby laser, and >>>>>>>>Bell Labs soonafter made a HeNe. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>What's interesting is that any decent neon sign shop could have >>>>>>>>built a HeNe laser in 1920. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>HRL sounds like a very cool place, up in the hills above Malibu. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>Wasn't that where Jane Mansfield used to go out bathing? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>Keep your mind on electronics, young man. >>>>>> >>>>>>The Getty Museum is in Malibu. Go there if you can. Hearst Castle, >>>>>>too, >>>>>>up the road a bit. >>>>> >>>>> I've been to Malibu, even did some work there... >>>>> Did not go to any museum, but did go to the beach. >>>> >>>>Did you see Jane? What about lobsters? Any lobsters around? >>> >>> Na, but some other beatiful women I met. >>> Last time we went looking for edible seaweed ... >> >>Argh! Never mind. I believe Jane had terrible problems with lobsters >>when she went out bathing in Malibu. But you don't know anything about >>that, clearly. It obviously wasn't publicised in Holland. > > This thread is about lasers, not lobsters. I know, John. My apologies. It's just that Jan keeps banging on about lobsters and I got side-tracked.