ABSTRACT
In this entry, an attempt is made to put the role of gas lasers in its proper historical perspective with respect to laser development in general. The laser as an intense beam of light certainly still captures the public imagination as an icon of all the possibilities that science will bring us in the future. The laser is the key that unlocked the broader category of wonders in science and technology generally referred to as the field of quantum electronics. The laser, indeed, has become ubiquitous in our everyday lives, so much so that we are not even aware of its presence for we simply take it for granted.
