Planck's study of the entropy of blackbody radiation led to the quantum and Einstein’s study of the entropy of blackbody radiation led to the photon.  Furthermore, Bose Einstein condensation (BEC) in a trap has intriguing similarities with the threshold behavior of a laser. Other perspectives on the photon derive from the Lamb shift as it stimulated field theory, and the insights provided by the gauge field theory of Yang, Mills and others.

Marlan Orvil Scully received his PhD under the guidance of Willis Lamb at Yale University in 1965. He has been instrumental in many seminal contributions to laser science and quantum optics. Furthermore Scully’s work on quantum coherence and correlation effects has shed new light on the foundations of quantum mechanics and yielded new insights into quantum thermodynamics. Prof. Scully has authored over 700 scientific articles, as well as standard textbooks such as “Laser Physics” and “Quantum Optics”. He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the Academia European, and the Max Planck Society and has received numerous awards including the Charles H. Townes Award of the OSA, the Quantum Electronics Award of IEEE, and the Alexander von Humboldt Distinguished Faculty Prize, etc. More recently, he was awarded the OSA Frederic Ives Medal / Quinn Prize which recognizes overall distinction in optics and is the highest award of the society, and received the Commemorative Medal of the Senate of the Czech Republic.