For several years after the invention of the laser, Charles Townes's colleagues teased him about its seeming irrelevance to the real world. They told him bluntly that it was "a solution looking for a problem". But Dr Townes, who later received a Nobel prize for his work in developing the technology, has had the last laugh. Over the past four decades, he has watched the laser emerge from the obscurity of the laboratory to become a ubiquitous technology that is used in an amazing diversity of applications. Lasers can now be found in everything from DVD players to weapons systems, telephone networks to operating theatres.
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