Lasers are employed throughout science and technology‎,‎ in fundamental research‎,‎ the remote sensing of atmospheric gases or pollutants‎,‎ communications‎,‎ medical diagnostics and therapies‎,‎ and the manufacturing of microelectronic devices‎.‎ Understanding the principles of their operation‎,‎ which underlie all of these areas‎,‎ is essential for a modern scientific education‎.‎ This text introduces the characteristics and operation of lasers through laboratory experiments designed for the undergraduate curricula in Chemistry and Physics‎.‎ Introductory chapters describe the properties of light‎,‎ the history of laser invention‎,‎ the atomic‎,‎ molecular and optical principles behind how lasers work‎,‎ and the kinds of lasers available today‎.‎ Other chapters include the basic theory of spectroscopy and computational chemistry used to interpret laser experiments‎.‎ Experiments range from simple in‎-class demonstrations to more elaborate configurations for advanced students‎.‎ Each chapter has historical and theoretical background‎,‎ as well as options suggested for variations on the prescribed experiments‎.‎ The text will be useful for undergraduates students in advanced lab classes‎,‎ for instructors designing these classes‎,‎ or for graduate students beginning a career in laser science‎.‎