Physical Review Letters, DAMOP, and the Law of Unintended Consequences

When Sam Goudsmit made his vision for a letters journal a reality fifty years ago, his creation rapidly became the most influential journal in all of physics. With popularity, however, came problems, and these grew to the point where he turned to the American Physical Society to establish an \textit{ad hoc} committee to help him out. As a member of that committee, I can describe his problems, our solution, and its unintended consequences. I will also comment on the role of PRL in the development of AMO physics during the last half century.