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20世纪90年代初,英国保守党政府在科技政策上做了重大调整,试图削减对基础科学研究的经费支持。这使得梦想在高能加速器上发现“上帝粒子”——希格斯玻色子(Higgs Boson)的物理学家们忧心忡忡。科技大臣威廉·沃尔德格雷夫(William Waldegrave)把话说得很清楚,物理学家们必须明确地解释这个“上帝粒子”为什么如此重要,以至于要花几十亿美元去寻找它?“假如你们能够帮助我弄明白这一点,我将有更大的机会帮助你们搞到钱。”沃尔德格雷夫在英国物理学会的年会上说。他进一步强调,如果有人能在一页纸上用简单的语言解释清楚希格斯机制何以给予基本粒子以质量,那么他愿意奖励这个人一瓶香槟酒。
In the early 1990s, the British Conservative government made major adjustments in its science and technology policies in an attempt to cut its funding for basic scientific research. That made the dream physicists who discovered “God Particles” - Higgs Boson on a high-energy accelerator - worried. William Waldegrave, the chancellor of science and technology, made it clear that physicists must explicitly explain why this “God Particle” is so important that it cost billions of dollars to find it? “If you can help me understand this, I will have a greater chance of helping you get the money. ” Waldgrave said at the annual meeting of the British Physical Society. He further emphasized that if one can explain in a simple language on a one-page paper how the Higgs mechanism gives quality to basic particles, he is willing to reward that person with a bottle of champagne.