# #Mon Aug 09 12:03:51 CEST 2010 BranchingPoint__KXN2cKOdEd-WfYQ0GneCwQ_footer=Illustration\: Laurent Taudin BranchingPoint__KXN2cKOdEd-WfYQ0GneCwQ_title=Applications. The practical heritage BranchingPoint__KXN2cKOdEd-WfYQ0GneCwQ_subTitle=The Laser principle, the basic idea of which Einstein formulates in 1916, revolutionized the technology of communication. Moreover, lasers are important means of miniaturization in the industry and at home. They provide highest precision in the techniques of measurement and in material processing, and are indispensable for soft medical diagnosis and therapy.

Einstein develops his light quanta hypothesis in 1905 in order to solve open questions about the photo effect. This way, he provides the scientific basis, too, for optical sensorics and for photovoltaics - the direct transformation of light into electric current.

Even the Special and the General Relativity Theories, as abstract as they are, enter into common technical application\: the have to be taken into account in satellite navigation.