"Lasers" are active ingredients of our modern life, but they are inconspicuous as they often go unnoticed. This intuitive introductory guide will tell you all you want to know about laser technologies in very diverse fields from nuclear and particle physics to medicine, astronomy and ultra-precise metrology. The book is coherently focused on fundamentals, and is aimed to stimulate intuition about present and future applications, while unveiling the halo of myths around lasers. Written by reputable laser experts who think that science should be entertaining, this useful reference relies on simple analogies and illustrations rather than complex mathematics, and will be suitable for students and end-users of laser technologies, including novices. Voted a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2012