Gordon Gould Credit: invent.org

His idols were Thomas A. Edison and other inventors, and with encouragement from his mother, he would lean towards science. Gould would conceive and design one of the most significant inventions of the 20th century, the laser.

Gould was working toward a Ph.D.in Physics at Columbia University. This university was an ideal place for research. Charles Townes, the inventor of the maser (1951) was teaching there. Gould, was doing research in microwave spectroscopy. As the work progressed, Gould had a great idea, the laser.

Gould had designed a device that he hoped could heat a substance to the temperature of the sun in a millionth of a second.

Gould abandoned his doctorate in order to get his invention into production quickly. He spent 1958 refining and improving his model. Unfortunately he did not file for a patent right away, this resulted in a 20-year legal battle, which Gould finally won in 1977.

Gould's laser technology was already being used in many practical applications, including welding, scanning and surgery. Gould founded the laser research lab and an entire new department.