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Editorial use only .Left to right: Shirley Rich Maiman, Theodore Harold Maiman (1927-2007), and their 8-year-old daughter Sheri Maiman, April 1966. US physicist Theodore Harold Maiman (1927-2007) is best known for building the first working laser in 1960. In the 1950s, several scientists had been working on applying maser (microwave-based laser) principles to optical light to achieve Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER). Maiman built the first working laser while working at Hughes Research Laboratories in California. Photographed in April 1966. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)