Gordon Gould

Gordon Gould – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Gordon Gould (1920–2005), American physicist and inventor, coined “LASER” and waged a 30-year patent battle over laser technology. This comprehensive biography explores his life, struggles, innovations, and legacy.

Introduction

Richard Gordon Gould is often remembered as one of the conflicted spirits of 20th-century physics and invention. Though he never built the first working laser, he coined the term and claimed the intellectual genesis of laser technology. His long and bitter legal fight to gain patent rights shaped the commercialization of lasers and reflected the complexities of scientific credit, invention, and intellectual property. Today, Gould’s name resides at the intersection of physics, law, and the ethics of invention.

Early Life and Family

Gordon Gould was born on July 17, 1920, in New York City as Richard Gordon Gould. He was the eldest of three sons. His father, Kenneth Gould, was the founding editor of Scholastic Magazine Publications in New York. Gould grew up in the suburb of Scarsdale, New York, where his mother nurtured his early curiosity in tinkering and invention (she encouraged his interest in inventors like Edison and gave him model sets).

Even as a child, Gould looked up to Thomas Edison and had inventorly ambitions. That early fascination with creating new devices would later steer his scientific and legal battles.

Youth and Education

Gould attended Scarsdale High School in his youth. He went on to Union College, in Schenectady, New York, where he earned a B.S. in Physics in 1941. He pursued graduate study at Yale University, earning an M.S. in physics, specializing in optics and spectroscopy, around 1943.

During World War II, from March 1944 to January 1945, Gould worked (albeit briefly) on the Manhattan Project, assisting in uranium isotope separation efforts. However, due to his previous membership in the Communist Political Association (which he later left in 1948), he was dismissed and barred from further classified work.

After the war, Gould entered Columbia University in 1949 to pursue doctoral work under Polykarp Kusch (a later Nobel laureate), fashioning his expertise in optical pumping, spectroscopy, and microwave/optical methods. It was during his time at Columbia that his foundational ideas about lasers would emerge.

Career and Achievements

Conception of the Laser & the Coining of “LASER”

In November 1957, while still active at Columbia, Gould conceived a method for optical amplification by stimulated emission—the principle at the heart of lasers—and coined the term LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation). He proposed using a Fabry–Pérot interferometer cavity (two mirrors facing each other) to provide feedback, enabling coherent light amplification. Gould had his key notebook (with the acronym and sketches) notarized—he recognized early that formal documentation might help establish priority.

Strikingly, just months later, Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes independently formulated a similar design (often called an “optical maser”) and pursued the theory and patent route publicly. Unlike Gould, they published the theoretical underpinnings and filed early patent applications. Gould believed for some time that he had to build a working laser before seeking patent protection, which delayed his filings.

Because the U.S. patent system then operated on a “first to invent” principle, Gould challenged the priority claims made by Townes & Schawlow.

The Patent Battles

Gould’s most defining struggle was legal, rather than experimental. He and his employer Technical Research Group (TRG) filed patent applications in April 1959 covering lasers, optical pumping, Q-switching, optical amplifiers, Brewster-angle windows, and many applications (communications, measurement, etc.). But Schawlow & Townes had filed in July 1958, and their patent was granted in March 1960.

Gould fought in the U.S. Patent Office and in courts to assert his priority claim using his 1957 notebook evidence. He lost some early rulings—one reason given was that his notebook did not unambiguously specify transparent sidewalls for the cavity, a subtle yet critical design point. Yet Gould persisted: by focusing strategically not just on “the laser” but on laser amplifiers and associated technologies, he gradually secured patents in the U.S. starting in 1968 and onward. Over decades, the laser industry often contested his claims, resulting in a protracted lawsuit environment.

By the mid-1970s and 1980s, Gould’s legal position strengthened. He founded Patlex Corporation to manage licensing and enforcement. In 1977, the U.S. Patent Office awarded an important patent covering optically pumped laser amplifiers. Later, in 1979, further patents covering broad applications of lasers (cutting, communications, etc.) were granted. In 1987, Gould’s legal victories culminated in firm licensing deals and enforcement successes against manufacturers who had infringed.

By the end of his battle, Gould was credited with around 48 patents in the laser and optical domain, and many laser manufacturers licensed technology under his control. Though the question of “who invented the laser” remains debated, Gould’s contributions to optical amplification, law, and commercialization cannot be overlooked.

Academic, Business, and Later Work

In 1967, Gould joined the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (later part of NYU) as a professor. In 1973, he co-founded Optelecom, a company focused on fiber-optic communications, optical components, and laser applications. He retired from Optelecom in 1985 and continued to be active in the patent/licensing space. In 1991, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his role in laser invention.

Gould passed away on September 16, 2005, in New York City, at the age of 85.

Historical Milestones & Context

• The post-World War II era was a time of rapid expansion in electronics, quantum theory, and telecommunications. Laser technology would become central to communications, medical devices, industrial cutting, and more.

• Gould’s story exemplifies the tension between theoretical discovery, engineering realization, and the legal frameworks that mediate credit and profit.

• The U.S. patent system of his time (emphasizing first to invent) allowed someone like Gould—who documented ideas early—to challenge other claimants even if they published or built devices sooner.

• The history of lasers is often told via Maiman (first working laser) or Townes/Schawlow (theory), but Gould’s role illustrates that credit is rarely simple, and that intellectual property struggles are part of technological history.

• The eventual widespread licensing of his patents helped shape the economics of the laser industry and influenced how future inventions are commercialized.

Legacy and Influence

1. Terminology and Conceptual Legacy: Gould introduced the term “LASER,” which remains the universal name.

2. Patent & Commercial Framework: His long patent fight set precedents and warned later inventors about the need to document and protect innovations early.

3. Industry Impact: Many laser manufacturers paid royalties or settled licensing deals under his patents, making Gould a key behind-the-scenes influencer of the laser economy.

4. Entrepreneurship: His founding of Optelecom tied laser principles into fiber-optics, communications, and modern networks.

5. Historical Debate: Gould’s life remains a cautionary tale about how scientific recognition, publication timing, and patent law intertwine—and sometimes conflict.

Though he often lingered in shadows cast by better-known figures, Gould’s persistence, ambition, and legal acumen secured him a lasting place in the history of photonics.

Personality and Talents

Gould’s persona combined ambition, technical insight, and tenacity:

• Inventive mind: He constantly dreamed of devices, improvements, and new techniques, often drawing inspiration from childhood admiration for Edison.

• Meticulous documentation: He understood early that priority depends not only on idea but on recorded evidence (hence his notarized notebook).

• Litigiousness and persistence: Few scientists wage decades-long patent battles; Gould did. His stubbornness was both his burden and power.

• Inventor-business hybrid: He was not content merely with theory; he navigated the entrepreneurial, legal, and managerial domains.

• Frustration with legal and institutional constraints: His biography is laced with resentment—about classification policy, security clearances, legal technicalities.

• Reflective about credit and legacy: Though aggressive in asserting rights, scholars suggest he also agonized over fairness, recognition, and proper attribution.

Famous Quotes of Gordon Gould

Below are some representative quotations that highlight Gould’s mindset, frustrations, and reflections:

“That attitude does not exist so much today, but in those days there was a very sharp distinction between basic physics and applied physics. Columbia did not deal with applied physics.” “But certainly the laser proved to be what I realized it was going to be. At that moment in my life I was too ignorant in business law to be able to do it right, and if I did it over again probably the same damn thing would happen.” “I would have had my patent long, long ago, and it would have run out long, long ago. I would have made, maybe, $100,000, much less that the patent has brought me now.” “Just think, if I had understood my lawyer and if he and I had communicated properly in January 1958, this whole history would have been entirely different.” “The real technical problems came because people working on the project didn’t really follow my proposal at all, but set out to do other things instead of making a laser.”

These lines reveal his bitterness at missed legal steps, but also his clarity about how ideas must be protected and communicated.

Lessons from Gordon Gould

1. Document early and legally: Gould’s fate underscores that in science and invention, your lab notebook, filing, or notarization often matters as much as the idea itself.

2. The path from idea to product can be treacherous: Many inventors fail not because of poor ideas, but because of legal, institutional, or financial obstacles.

3. Persistence is essential: His decades-long fight shows that major breakthroughs sometimes require patience, persistence, and willingness to litigate.

4. Credit is contested: The question “Who invented the laser?” is not settled; Gould’s story warns that attribution is never simply scientific but legal, historical, and social.

5. Marrying science with entrepreneurship is complex: As scientific progress becomes more commercial, scientists must engage more deeply with law, business, and policy.

Conclusion

Gordon Gould occupies a singular place in the history of modern optics and invention: he may not be universally accepted as the inventor of the laser, but few can dispute that his role was foundational, his fight legendary, and his legacy influential.

Science often celebrates the builders, the experimenters, the theoreticians—but Gould reminds us that invention lives not only in light beams, but in documents, debates, and patents. His journey—from a bright child tinkering with models to a litigant in the courtroom of science and law—offers a potent narrative about ambition, recognition, and the costs of innovation.

Explore Gould’s writings, his patent cases, and his reflections; they not only illuminate a chapter of photonics history, but also pose timeless questions about what it means to be an inventor in a legal world.