Narrative account of Woodbury's work at Hughes Aircraft Company, 1951-1981; focusses on the design and develoment of the laser rangefinder in F. R. Carver's group, changes in the company structure that fostered the project, George Smith's Research Laboratory, contract work with Fred McClung for Frankford Arsenal and Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA); Air Force contract work with W. K. Ng leading to discovery of stimulated Raman scattering, Second and Third International Quantum Electronics Conferences (1961, 1963); the first Mark II Colidar and other applications, licensing arrangements and production.