The FAMOS panel acknowledges with thanks the thousands of workers in the field who took the time to respond to the questionnaire, attended the town meetings, or otherwise provided input. Gratitude is also expressed to the more than 100 leaders and workers in the field who wrote detailed and thoughtful letters that helped guide the panel.
Agencies of the U.S. government were particularly cooperative in providing data and information for various parts of the study, and for this the panel especially acknowledges with thanks M. Berman (Air Force Office of Scientific Research), K. Gebbie (National Institute of Standards and Technology), W. Kalkofen (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), R. Kelley (Air Force Office of Scientific Research), A. Laufer (Department of Energy), J. Martinez (Department of Energy), R. McKnight (Department of Energy), P. Reynolds (Office of Naval Research), B. Schneider (National Science Foundation), D. Skatrud (Army Research Office), and J. Weiner (National Science Foundation).
A number of people were called upon to write or to critique portions of various drafts of the report, to supply figures for the report, or to give help and advice in other key ways. For this the panel thanks W. Anderson, N. Bardsley, H.G. Berry, J. Bowman, J. Burke, H. Carmichael, R. Celotta, S. Chu, J. Cohen, J. Dehmer, R. Deslattes, T. Deutsch, D. Dietrich, K. Dumas, G. Fisk, A. Gallagher, C. Gardner, T. George, H. Gould, N. Halas, B. Heckel, E. Heller, E. Herbst, E. Hinds, C. Howard, R. Hulet, S. Hurst, M. Inokuti, R. Jacobs, R. Keller, H.J. Kimble, N. Kurnit, S. Lamoreaux, S. Leone, R. LeSar, C.C. Lin, Chinlon Lin, J. Macek, G. Maggiora, L. Maleki, J. Margrave, J. McElroy, P. Meystre, A. Mills, A. Miziolek, P. Mohr, G. Pettit, A. Phelps, C. Rhodes, A. Shimony, J. Simons, R. Smalley, B. Sundaram, A. Temkin, J. Tully, J. Weisheit, C. Wieman, L. Wilets, D. Wineland, and S. Younger.
Special appreciation is accorded R. Phaneuf, who did the statistical analysis of the questionnaire responses; to S. Smith, who conducted a detailed analysis of support for the field; and to K. Smith, who provided input for the economic impact analysis. Special thanks are also due to C. Dunning, who provided the graphical interpretations of the questionnaire results, to J. Overton and the staff of the Rice Quantum Institute for mailing the questionnaires and for data entry, and to N. Cowley and R. Mack for typing drafts of the questionnaire and report.
Finally, the panel gratefully acknowledges the work and support of the National Research Council staff. Susan Mitchell from the Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel provided advice in constructing and designing the survey as well as evaluating the results. Roseanne Price edited the final report. Suzanne Bowen from the Board on Physics and Astronomy provided general program assistance to the panel and prepared the final manuscript. Paul Uhlir of the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications worked with the panel as part of a Commission effort to explore objective, quantitative measures of the health of fields of science. This collaboration yielded many dividends for the panel's work. Ronald D. Taylor of the professional staff of the Board on Physics and Astronomy served as the study director throughout the project and provided valuable guidance on how to present the field in the most effective manner.
The idea for the study arose in the course of the Board on Physics and Astronomy's review of the topics covered by Physics Through the 1990s (the Brinkman Report; National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1986). After the Board raised the question of an update of the AMO volume of the Brinkman report, Steve Smith, then at the National Science Foundation, encouraged the Committee on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences to respond. The Committee on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences then developed detailed plans for the study. The panel thanks the BPA, CAMOS, and Steve Smith for the inspiration to undertake the preparation of this report. Thanks are also extended to the BPA for its interest and support throughout the study.
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