Epilogue

Abstract

This book started with the extravagant claim that optical energy was a new form of energy and therefore should lead to a major advance in our quality of life, as has been the case with the mastery of other forms of energy. Thus the expectation was high. Hopefully the patient reader has seen in the chapters of this book that some of this expectation is beginning to shape up. It seems appropriate, therefore, to finish with a little thoughtful wander through the future possibilities for laser material processing, which it must be remembered is only one small part of the impact of optical energy.

“They are Ul discoverers that think there is no land when they can see nothing but sea”

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) Advancement of Learning Book1 vii 5.