Brilliant invention of eccentric earls (5)
I believe the answer is:
laser
'brilliant invention' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'eccentric earls' is the wordplay.
'eccentric' indicates anagramming the letters.
'earls' anagrammed gives 'LASER'.
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for laser that I've seen before include "Device that generates an intense ray of light" , "Device producing a narrow, intense beam of light" , "Surgical device" , "Beam (used in surgery)" , "scientific device" .)