Photonics pioneer Leon Esterowitz - ScienceLives

Leon Esterowitz began his academic life as an English major because of his love of literature, but found himself drawn into physics, and ultimately a decades-long career in engineering. That career helped guide the development of the first medical lasers and night-vision technology, helped develop novel biophotonic medical diagnostic techniques.

He now guides research on biophotonics — a field of research that uses light to observe and manipulate tissues and cells — for a program he created more than ten years ago for the National Science Foundation.