1 Principles of Laser Operation.- 1.1 The Nature of Stimulated Emission.- 1.2 Resonators and Pumping Processes.- 1.3 Coherent Radiation, Standing Waves and Modes.- 1.4 The Kinetics of Laser Emission.- 1.5.1 Three-level Laser.- 1.6 Properties of Laser Light, and Their Applications.- 2 Laser Sources.- 2.1 Optically-pumped Solid-state Lasers.- 2.2 Semiconductor Lasers.- 2.3 Atomic and Ionic Gas Lasers.- 2.4 Molecular Gas Lasers.- 2.5 Dye Lasers.- 2.6 Free-electron Laser.- 2.7 Questions.- 3 Laser Instrumentation in Chemistry.- 3.1 Polarising Optics.- 3.2 Frequency Conversion.- 3.3 Pulsing Techniques.- 3.4 Detectors.- 3.5 Pulse Detection Systems.- 3.6 Light Scattering Instrumentation.- 3.7 Polarimetry.- 3.8 Laser Detectors in Chromatography.- 3.9 Laser Microprobe Instrumentation.- 3.10 Laser Safety.- 3.11 Questions.- 4 Chemical Spectroscopy with Lasers.- 4.1 Absorption Spectroscopy.- 4.2 Specialised Absorption Techniques.- 4.3 Fluorescence Spectroscopy.- 4.4 Raman Spectroscopy.- 4.5 Specialised Raman Techniques.- 4.6 Multiphoton Spectroscopy.- 4.7 Laser Mass Spectrometry.- 4.8 References.- 4.9 Questions.- 5 Laser-Induced Chemistry.- 5.1 Principles of Laser-induced Chemistry.- 5.2 Multiphoton Infra-red Excitation.- 5.3 Laser Photochemical Processes.- 5.4 Isotope Separation.- 5.5 Materials Applications.- 5.6 Photodynamic Therapy.- 5.7 References.- 5.8 Questions.- Appendix 1: Listing of Output Wavelengths from Commercial Lasers.- Appendix 2: Directory of Acronyms and Abbreviations.- Appendix 3: Selected Bibliography.- Appendix 4: Answers to Numerical Problems.