L A S E R S Did you know that some laser beams are small enough and powerful enough to drill two hundred holes on a spot as tiny as the head of a pin? The first major advancement in laser development came in 1954. This was the year that Charles H. Townes, an American physicist, created a device that amplified microwaves. This device was actually called a maser at first, which was short for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation Masers. It produced microwaves of just one frequency. Then the laser was developed from the maser. Several people have been accredited for the development of the laser’s basic design. These people are as follows: American Arthur L. Sh