Steve Carmichael, age 11, of Montgomery, Alabama, for his question:

Will the laser ever be a benefit to man?

Every invention made by man has a good side and a bad side. It can be a benefit or it can be harmful. Surely there must be some kind of a message in this rule. Per¬haps mankind is meant to use his brains to choose Whether to use a new invention to harm or benefit himself. For example, nuclear energy can be developed to provide us with enormous, inexpensive power to work for us. Or it can be used in devastating weapons of warfare to destroy our whole world. The invention of the laser beam forced us to face the very same problem. It can be used to help or to harm us.

The amazing talents of the laser beam are still surprising even to its inventors. It can be used to perform far more delicate surgical operations than anyone dreamed possible. It can be used to record the pages of the Bible on d square inch of film and a major library on enough film to be stuffed into a few filing cabinets. It can reach the moon and bounce back signals with the speed of light. And these are merely a few of its possible benefits. The laser has been called an answer just waiting for numerous problems to solve.