Lasers, Ray Guns and Light Cannons - Softcover

If you've ever been fascinated by lasers and wished you could build your own, this is the book for you. Gordon McComb explains how to buy low-power laser tubes on a small budget and use them for a variety of experiments, including long-distance communications links, laser-light shows, and even eavesdropping devices that can detect the vibrations the speaking induces in a windowpane far away. Though the book explains some of the physics and optics that make lasers work the way they do, it focuses primarily on practical applications for the hobbyist.

Explore the Future in Your Own Home Lab! Yes, you can-build a laser ray gun, put on a professional-level laser light show, create holograms, and perform dozens of other fascinating and fun experiments with the simple instructions in this magic-packed book. Renowned electronics writer Gordon McComb shows you how to build more than 88 exciting projects with inexpensive, easily obtained components and step-by-step illustration-laden instructions. In addition to ray guns, light shows, and holograms, he gives hyou clear, complete, and tested plans for constructing projects that: Detect intruders around a perimeter; Precisely measure the speed of light; Use lasers to study hydrodynamics; confirm earthquake potential; Modulate sound with light; Perform laser "snooping"; Explore fiberoptics; perform simple scanning; Throw a switch with light; Transmit data with lasers; Measure objects' speed with high accuracy; Carry your voice over a beam of light; And much more! Laced with fascinating scientific history, this book of field-tested projects is organized to facilitate your own creative construction! Module organization makes it easy to invent and construct new projects galore. Full appendices give you parts sources, suggested reading, and a glossary.