Selected applications of laser methods to analytical problems are reviewed. Examples are chosen from multiphoton ionization and laser fluorescence analysis. Although efforts to carry out elemental analysis with laser techniques are probably the most advanced, studies suggest that the analysis of molecular species is also quite promising, particularly in regard to interfacing laser fluorimetric detection with high-performance liquid chromatography. Recent experiments indicate that analysts can expect to attain in a number of cases the ultimate limit of single-atom or single-molecule detection with laser-based methods.