In 1958, Townes and Arthur Schawlow attracted much attention with a paper showing that it was possible to implement a similar scheme at optical wavelengths
Gould tried to develop lasers - his term - in private industry, but the Department of Defense classified the project as secret (and its origin) and refused to let him work on it. Finally, after twenty years, Gould succeeded in creating his first and obtained two patents in the field of lasers, after which he A third patent.