Laser inventor Theodore Maiman dies

Vancouver, British Columbia -- Theodore H. Maiman, the scientist who developed the first working laser, died May 5 in Vancouver after a long illness at 79.

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Denver, Mainman was employed at Hughes Research Laboratories in 1960 when he invented the first laser -- an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, The New York Times said.

He was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize and won numerous other awards, including the Japan Prize and the Wolf Prize in Physics. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1984.

The story of his discovery of the laser "The Laser Odyssey" was published in 2000.

After leaving Hughes, Maiman founded Korad Corp. to develop increasingly powerful laser devices, the Los Angeles Times reported. He co-founded Laser Video Corp. in 1972 to develop large-screen, laser-driven video displays.

Copyright 2007 United Press International.