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Laser Man
Edwin Brit Wyckoff illustrates the drive and determination of Theodore H. Maiman who discovered the laser. Following Maiman's obstacles from his youth as the unruly child who built an electronics laboratory in his family's attic through his college education, work career, and numerous honors and awards, Wyckoff introduces the perseverance of this genius.
* Reviews *
The life of the man who worked on the laser is a story of determination. While others did not believe it was possible to develop focused light from a laser that was small enough to hold in one hand, Maiman forged ahead until he perfected one. He came from a relatively ordinary background, but for the fact that his father was an inventor and his family tolerated the sons interest in how things worked, even if that meant taking them apart. Maimans father wanted him to invent items that would help humans in the medical field. Maiman went after jobs he wanted or that the university he wanted to enroll in wanted, no matter how many times he was rejected. Eventually, he ended up as lab assistant to Willis Lamb, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1955. After experimenting with various rubies, Maiman found that a pink ruby could be used and he developed a laser. We now use lasers in delicate human surgery, so Maimans fathers dreams and Maimans own dreams were realized. A short glossary, an index, and a time line make this a useful book for elementary school research., Children's Literature January 2008
RL
Grades
3--5 IL
Grades
3-5 GRL
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