Lasers, Ray Guns and Light Cannons
New, and signed by the author!
TAB, my old publisher, had a penchant for coming up with exotic-sounding book titles. For this book on experimenting with low-power lasers, they even added a wizard throwing some kind of quantum packet out of a light staff. I liked it, but some readers felt the cover was too comic-bookish.
Lasers, Ray Guns, and Light Cannons is actually a slightly updated version of an earlier book I did in 1987 called The Laser Cookbook. I updated LRG&LC; as continuous wave diode lasers were just coming on the scene.
Laser technology has developed at breakneck speed, and this book -- now out of print -- is more of a nostalgic look at how we had fun in the 80s and 90s. Most of the laser projects use bulky helium-neon laser tubes and high voltage power supplies that together cost $100-150, even surplus. Now you can do much of the same with a $5 penlight laser. Of course, it just doesn't seem as cool.
Still, there are some interesting optics experiments, such as a full step-by-step chapter on building a Michelson interferometer, and how to construct a laser light show using audio-fed galvonometers.
A very limited supply of these available. Some are hardback, and all are signed.
SKU Number:BOOK-LRG
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