Laser technology is used in almost every scope of life, from the miniscule lasers in CD players to the lasers used to scan groceries in the checkout line to the massive lasers in aeronautics design. The discovery of laser technology and the subsequent building of ever-improving lasers have benefited the human race tremendously, particularly through medical advances. Medical lasers cause medical procedures to be quicker, better, and easier than their traditional counterparts. The only drawback is increased cost.
In 1917, Albert Einstein was the first person to suggest the basics of what would become lasers, by discussing the theory of Stimulated Emission, which is a type of electron transition in which a photon is emitted from an atom causing a chain reaction with other atoms to repeat the action. In fact, the word laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by the Stimulation Emission of Radiation. Charles Townes, an American physicist, further developed the idea with microwave (invisible) light in the mid- to late-50s and Theodore Maiman built the first working optical (visible) light laser in 1960. Improvements and variations on hundreds of kinds of lasers continue to...