I [dream] that I am Oliver Twist and I tremble as I shuffle down the aisle of the NSF orphanage, my empty soup bowl uplifted. The yongest orphans stare at me. They have no bowls, for they have never received NSF support...Among the throng I spy the shocked and bewildered faces of scientific luminaries, prizewinners, even Nobel laureates. I raise my bowl to the Director and in a trembling voice ask, "Please sir, one little laser"

"What," he thunders, "You have already had more than your share. Out!"

–D. Kleppner (Physics Today, April 1990)


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Finished