NO criticism intended, but a better title might have been “A History of Physics Leading up to the Invention of the Maser and Laser”.
Why? Well, for 10 chapters Mario Bertolotti of the University of Rome charts theories of light, explains spectroscopy, black-body radiation, atomic theory and Einstein’s work, before he moves on to microwave theory, radar and magnetic resonance.
You will have to wait until you reach page 176 for the first mention of the maser – microwave amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation (or means of acquiring support for expensive research). The laser itself doesn’t appear until…
