REVOLUTION IN LIGHT: Lasers and Holography

by Irwin Stambler ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 1972

From the first unduly political chapter which casts ""engineering-oriented"" Maiman of Hughes (generally credited with building the first working laser) as the device's ""real inventor"" and concurrently belittles the opposition, Stambler indulges alternately in biased reporting and gee-whiz promotion at the expense of basic principles and scientific inquiry. Much unexamined company publicity is included (such as RCA's optimistic 1969 and 1970 press releases on Select-a-Vision), and Hughes Aircraft is pushed throughout with only the most reluctant credit, for example, to any breakthroughs that occurred at Bell Labs. In contrast Bova's The Amazing Laser (1971, p. 1261, J-471), while no harder to read, offers a solid survey of pre-laser otpics and then a far more fundamental and clarifying explanation. True, Bova does not cover the ""spectacular"" ""3-D miracle,"" namely holography, but he offers a better background for its study, which can later be pursued in Klein's more advanced Holography (1970).

Pub Date: May 5, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION