About this item
The whole story of laser weapons with a focus on its many interesting characters and sometimes bizarre schemesThe laser--a milestone invention of the mid-twentieth century--quickly captured the imagination of the Pentagon as the key to the ultimate weapon. Veteran science writer Jeff Hecht tells the inside story of the adventures and misadventures of scientists and military strategists as they exerted Herculean though often futile efforts to adapt the laser for military uses. From the 1950s' sci-fi vision of the "death ray," through the Reagan administration's "Star Wars" missile defense system, to more promising developments today, Hecht provides an entertaining history. As the author illustrates, there has always been a great deal of enthusiasm and false starts surrounding lasers. He describes a giant laser that filled a Boeing 747, lasers powered like rocket engines, plans for an orbiting fleet of robotic laser battle stations to destroy nuclear missiles, claims that nuclear bombs could produce intense X-ray laser beams, and a scheme to bounce laser beams off giant orbiting relay mirrors. Those far-out ideas remain science fiction. Meanwhile, in civilian sectors, the laser is already being successfully used in fiber optic cables, scanners, medical devices, and industrial cutting tools. Now those laser cutting tools are leading to a new generation of laser weapons that just might stop insurgent rockets. Replete with interesting characters, bizarre schemes, and wonderful inventions, this is a well-told tale about the evolution of technology and the reaches of human ambition.
About the Author
Jeff Hecht has been writing about lasers, optics and fiber optics for more than 35 years. After writing for industry magazine Laser Focus World for several years, he began writing books that explain laser science and technology to newcomers to the field. His books are aimed at readers from middle-school students to professionals. The New York Academy of Sciences gave his book Optics: Light for a New Age, honorable mention as one of the best children's science books in older age group in 1988. He has just republished an inexpensive paperback version of the fifth edition of his technician-training and self-study book Understanding Fiber Optics. After years of writing about new science and technology, he turned to the history of fiber optics, writing City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics, as part of the Sloan Technology Series. More recently, he wrote BEAM: The Race to Make The Laser, describing the work that led to the world's first laser in 1960. He continues to write extensively for magazines, covering topics from lasers to dinosaurs for New Scientist magazine, and continuing developments in lasers and photonics for Laser Focus World
