McComb Gordon. Lasers, Ray Guns, and Light Cannons

London: McGraw-Hill, 1997. — 413 p. — ISBN 0-07-045034-X. Projects from the Wizard's Workbench.You’ve just bought a surplus helium-neon gas laser at a local swap meet. You get it home, plug it in, and marvel at the incredibly bright, red spot it projects on the wall. Your friends and family seem interested, but they keep asking you “What’s it good for?” You mumble something about holography and gun sights, but your interest soon wanes. You grow tired of playing “laser tag” with the cat or bouncing the beam off re flective objects in your living room. Your toy soon finds its place in the dusty confines of the closet. You’ve run out of things to do with the laser and you soon move on to other hobbies. It’s time to get that laser out of the closet! Lasers, Ray Guns, and Light Can nons! shows you over 88 inexpensive laser-based projects from experimenting with laser optics to constructing a laser optical bench to using lasers to make stunning holograms. All the projects are geared toward garage/shop tinkering with a special emphasis on minimizing the budget. The book mixes the history of lasers, how lasers work, and practical applications in an easy-to-read and fun text that’s suitable for ex perimenters of all ages.
Among the topics in this book, you’ll learn how to use lasers for:
laser “ray” guns
light cannons
laser light shows
holography
optics and optical experiments
laser-beam intrusion and detection systems
aerodynamics and airflow study
coherent-light seismology
laser-beam communication
laser and fiberoptics links
precision measurement