The art of masers and lasers is founded on Einstein's discovery of stimulated emission. This discovery led to a search for methods for establishing population inversion in a suitable material and hence to the construction of a radiation amplifier. In 1954 Townes and his students constructed the first microwave amplifier and oscillator based on the stimulated emission principle. Three-level solid masers followed quickly and speculations began on extending the art into the optical region. The first ruby laser was built in 1960 by Maiman. It was quickly followed by the four-level lasers of Sorokin and Stevenson and the He-Ne laser of Javan. Large scale search for additional laser materials and more effective laser techniques began in 1961. This fascinating and frantic effort is still in progress. Its highlights are briefly described.