  We report on the achieving of Bose-Einstein condensation of a dilute atomic
gas based on trapping atoms in tightly confining CO_2-laser dipole potentials.
Quantum degeneracy of rubidium atoms is reached by direct evaporative cooling
in both crossed and single beam trapping geometries. At the heart of these
all-optical condensation experiments is the ability to obtain high initial
atomic densities in quasistatic dipole traps by laser cooling techniques.
Finally, we demonstrate the formation of a condensate in a field insensitive
m_F=0 spin projection only. This suppresses fluctuations of the chemical
potential from stray magnetic fields.
