United States. National Bureau of Standards

Institutional History

Abstract

The National Bureau of Standards (NBS) was founded by Congress on March 3, 1901 as an authoritative domestic measurement and standards laboratory, and was the first physical science research laboratory of the federal government. In 1988, the National Bureau of Standards was renamed the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Directors

1901-22, Samuel W. Stratton.

1923-32, George K. Burgess.

1932-45, Lyman J. Briggs.

1945-51, Edward U. Condon.

1951-69, Allen V. Astin.

1969-72, Lewis M. Branscomb.

1973-75, Richard W. Roberts.

1975-88, Ernest Ambler.

Important Dates

March 3, 1901National Bureau of Standards (NBS) founded by U. S. Congress, Washington (D.C.).

1905Convened the first National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) to write model laws, distribute uniform standards, and provide training for inspectors.

1905 – 1962William Coblentz was on staff.

1906Began producing standard samples, called standard reference materials (SRMs), after the American Foundrymen's Association became the first industry group to turn over the task of producing samples of standardized irons for its member industries to NIST in 1905.

1908 – 1909Herbert Ives was on staff.

1911 – 1927Paul Foote was on staff.

1914 – 1958William Meggers was on staff.

1915The first electrical safety code was published based on the results of a NBS investigation about using electric lighting in coal mines.

1917 – 1918William Swann was on staff.

1918One of NBS's most popular consumer guides, "Safety for the Household," was published.

1918 – 1947Hugh Dryden was on staff.

1920 – 1921Jesse DuMond was on staff.

1920 – 1963Lyman Briggs was on staff.

1921Invented the Earth-Current Meter to measure the amount of electric current leaking into the ground and to determine the rate of corrosion caused by streetcars.

1924 – 1924Robert Brode was on staff.

1924 – 1926Otto Laporte was on staff.

1926 – 1927Scott Forbush was on staff.

September 14, 1926Scientists Serge Petrenko and Herbert Whittemore invented the proving ring.

1928Fire Resistance Division performed the first full-scale fire test.

1928 – 1929Walter Brattain was on staff.

1929 – 1968Galen Schubauer was on staff.

1930 – 1933Lloyd Berkner was on staff.

1931Pilots executed the first "blind landing" using NBS's "visual type" beacon, which enables a crew to locate and land on a runway in poor visibility.

1936Began designing and building radiosondes, balloon-borne instruments that transmit atmospheric data useful for weather forecasting to a ground station, for the U.S. Navy.

1941 – 1941Thomas Lauritsen was on staff.

1941 – 1943Seth Neddermeyer was on staff.

1941 – 1945William McLean was on staff.

1941 – 1988Philip Klebanoff was on staff.

1942 – 1943Robert Hofstadter was on staff.

1943The first proximity fuze was used by the U.S. Navy, which triggers an explosive before it hits the ground to maximize its impact.

1945Helped design and construct the Bat, the first fully automated guided missile to be used successfully in combat.

1945 – 1951Edward Condon was on staff.

1946 – 1966Ugo Fano was on staff.

1949Scientists at NBS, including Harold Lyons, built the world's first atomic clock.

1951 – 1972Lewis Branscomb was on staff.

1954The Film Optical Sensing Device for Input to Computers (FOSDIC) was developed by NBS and the Census Bureau to scan microfilm of hand marked formed and convert the markings into computer code.

1954 – 1956Alan Schriesheim was on staff.

September 1, 1954The NBS Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado opened.

1958Researchers invented the diamond anvil cell, hearlding the birth of high-pressure science.

1961Ground was broken for the new NBS campus, Gaithersburg (Md.).

1961 – 1988Gordon Dunn was on staff.

1961 – 1988John L. Hall was on staff.

April 13, 1962The Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA), a partnership between NBS and University of Colorado Boulder was founded in Boulder, Colorado.

1963 – 1970Edward Condon was on staff.

1964"Handbook of Mathematical Functions" was first published.

1967 – 1973E. Ward Plummer was on staff.

1969 – 1971Russell Young, John Ward and Fredric Scire developed the topografiner, an instrument for measuring surface microtopography that was a precursor to the scanning tunneling microscope (STM).

1969 – 1988Paul Julienne was on staff.

1975 – 1988David Wineland was on staff.

1977 – 1988John Cahn was on staff.

1977 – 1988James Bergquist was on staff.

1978 – 1978Robert Cava was on staff.

1978 – 1988William Phillips was on staff.

1979 – 1987Steven Girvin was on staff.

1985Developed the world's first practical, stable and easy to use 1-volt standard in 1985.

1985 – 1988Carl Wieman was on staff.

1988National Bureau of Standards was renamed the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Places

Headquarters

Washington (D.C.)

Gaithersburg (Md.)

Subjects

Atomic clocks.

Computers.

Electricity.

Physics -- Industrial applications.

Research Institute

Science. Research.

Citations

Historical information from NIST History Timeline website (https://www.nist.gov/timeline#event-a-href-node-774241nist-founded-a) and NIST at 100: Foundations for Progress website (https://www.nist.gov/pba/centennial-table-contents#Intro).

Relationships

People

Employees & Officers

Ambler, Ernest, 1923-

Director.

Astin, Allen Varley, 1904-1984

Director.

Bergquist, James Charles

Researcher.

Berkner, Lloyd V. (Lloyd Viel), 1905-1967

Engineer.

Branscomb, Lewis M., 1926-

Physicist; Chief, Atomic Physics Section; Chief, Atomic Physics Division; Fellow and Chair, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics; Chief, Laboratory Astrophysics Division; and Director.

Brattain, Walter H. (Walter Houser), 1902-1987

Assistant Physicist, Radio Division.

Briggs, Lyman J. (Lyman James), 1874-1963

Physicist and Chief, Division of Mechanics and Sound; Assistant Director; Director; and Emeritus Director.

Brode, Robert B. (Robert Bigham), 1900-1986

Associate Physicist.

Burgess, G. K. (George Kimball), 1874-1932

Director.

Cahn, John W., 1928-

Scientist, Center for Materials Science and Senior Fellow, Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory.

Coblentz, William W. (William Weber), 1873-1962

Physicist and Consulting Physicist.

Condon, Edward Uhler, 1902-1974

Director and Fellow, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA).

Coolidge, William David, 1873-1975

Member, Visiting Committee.

Dicke, Robert H. (Robert Henry)

Member, Visiting Committee and Chair, Advisory Committee on Atomic Physics.

Dresselhaus, M. S.

Chair, Steering Committee on Evaluation Panels.

Dryden, Hugh L. (Hugh Latimer), 1898-1965

Laboratory Assistant; Chief, Aerodynamics Section; Chief, Mechanics and Sound Division; and Associate Director.

DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976

Assistant Electrical Engineer.

Dunn, G. H. (Gordon H.), 1932-

National Research Council (NRC) Fellow; Physicist, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA); Chief, Quantum Physics Division, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA); and Senior Scientist, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA).

Fano, Ugo

Physicist.

Foote, Paul D. (Paul Darwin), 1888-1971

Laboratory Assistant; Assistant Physicist; Associate Physicist; and Physicist.

Forbush, Scott E., 1904-1984

Junior Physicist.

Girvin, Steven M.

Physicist.

Gordy, Walter, 1909-1985

Member, Physics Advisory Panel, Radio Standards Laboratory.

Hahn, E. L. (Erwin Louis), 1921-

Member, Advisory Panel, Radio Standards Division.

Hall, J. L. (John L.), 1934-

National Research Council (NRC) Fellow; Physicist; Fellow, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA); and Senior Scientist.

Hofstadter, Robert, 1915-1990

Physicist.

Ives, Herbert Eugene, 1882-1953

Assistant Physicist.

Julienne, Paul S.

National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Physical Chemistry Division; Research Chemist, Physical Chemistry Division; Group Leader, Physical Chemistry Division; and Group Leader, Molecular Physics Division.

Kelly, Mervin Joe

Chair, Statutory Visiting Committee.

Klebanoff, P. S.

Assistant Physics Aide; Junior Physicist; Physicist; Aeronautical Research Engineer; Physicist; Chief, Aerodynamics Section and Assistant Chief of Fluid Mechanics, Mechanics Division; Chief, Fluid Mechanics Section, Mechanics Division; Senior Scientist; Consultant; and Guest Scientist.

Kraushaar, William L.

Physicist.

Lauritsen, Thomas, 1915-1973

Assistant Physicist.

Loeb, Leonard B. (Leonard Benedict), 1891-

Laboratory assistant and assistant physicist

McLean, William B. (William Burdette), 1914-1976

Research Physicist.

Meggers, William F. (William Frederick), 1888-1966

Laboratory Assistant; Assistant Physicist; Physicist; and Chief, Spectroscopy Section.

Menzel, Donald H. (Donald Howard), 1901-1976

Member and Chair, Visiting Committee.

Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985

Member, Advisory Panel to the Mathematics Division.

Neddermeyer, Seth H. (Seth Henry), 1907-1988

Physicist, Proximity Fuse Project.

Phillips, William D. (William Daniel), 1948-

Physicist.

Plummer, E. Ward

National Research Council (NRC) Fellow; Staff Scientist; and Assistant Section Chief, Surface Physics in the Far Ultraviolet.

Randall, Harrison M. (Harrison McAllister), 1870-

Researcher.

Roberts, Richard W.

Director.

Russell, Henry Norris, 1877-1957

Researcher.

Schriesheim, Alan

Research Chemist.

Schubauer, Galen B. (Galen Brandt), 1904-

Junior Physicist, Electrical Division; Junior Physicist, Aerodynamics Division; Assistant Physicist, Aerodynamics Section; Associate Physicist to Physicist, Aerodynamics Section; Chief, Aerodynamics Section; Chief, Fluid Mechanics Section; and Chief, Fluid Dynamics Branch.

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Member, Statutory Visiting Committee.

Shankland, Robert S., 1908-

Physicist, radio section.

Stillinger, F. H.

Member, Advisory Panel, Heat Division.

Stratton, Samuel W. (Samuel Wesley), 1861-1931

Director.

Swann, W. F. G. (William Francis Gray), 1884-1962

Physicist.

Waymouth, John F., 1926-

Member, Evaluation Panel, Heat Division.

Wieman, C. E. (Carl Edwin)

Fellow, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA).

Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995

Member, Visiting Committee.

Wineland, David J.

Physicist and Project Leader, Ion Storage Group.

Associates & Members

Abelson, Philip Hauge

Babcock, Harold D. (Harold Delos), 1882-1968

Bender, P. L. (Peter Leopold), 1930-

Birmingham, B. W., 1925-

Blair, John S. (John Sanborn), 1923-1982

Broida, Herbert P.

Brown, F. C. (Fay Cluff), 1881-

Buckingham, Edgar, 1867-1940

Cava, Robert J.

National Research Council (NRC) Postdoctoral Fellow.

Cook, Richard K.

Danos, Michael

Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-

Dylla, H. F.

Evans, Robley Dunglison, 1907-

Ferguson, Walter Finnall Cross, 1898-

Fletcher, Harvey, 1884-1981

Gardner, Irvine C. (Irvine Clifton), 1889-

Gibson, K. S. (Kasson Stanford), 1890-

Golovin, Nicholas E. (Nicholas Erasmus), 1912-1969

Grover, Frederick W. (Frederick Warren), 1876-1973

Hanson, Alfred Olaf, 1914-

Hemmendinger, Henry, 1915-2003

Jacox, Marilyn E.

Jeffries, John T.

Karcher, J. C. (John Clarence), 1894-1978

Koch, Herman William, 1920-

Laporte, Otto, 1902-1971

International Education Board Fellow.

Lindsay, Robert Bruce, 1900-

Michelson, Albert A. (Albert Abraham), 1852-1931

Moore, Charlotte Emma, 1898-1990

Passaglia, Elio

Plyler, Earle Keith, 1897-1976

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Ruark, Arthur Edward, 1899-

Sawyer, Ralph A. (Ralph Alanson), 1895-1978

Schrack, Roald A. (Roald Amundsen), 1921-

Shapley, Alan H.

Shapley, Harlow, 1885-1972

Shockley, William, 1910-1989

Smyth, Charles Phelps, 1895-1990

Taylor, Lauriston S. (Lauriston Sale), 1902-2004

Telegdi, Val, 1922-2006

Townes, Charles H.

Tuve, Merle Antony, 1901-1982

Valasek, Joseph, 1897-1993

Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980

Vinal, George Wood, 1882-1969

Weeks, Dorothy Walcott, 1893-1990

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008

Institutions

Institutional Hierarchy

National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.)

Named changed in 1988.

Collaborators

Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics

Institute was established in 1962 by NBS and the University of Colorado Boulder.

University of Colorado Boulder. Department of Physics

Together established in 1962 the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics.

Associates

Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism

Society of Rheology (U.S.)

Held their first meeting at the National Bureau of Standards.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Edgar Buckingham papers, 1902-1937.

Office of the National Archives

National Archives and Records Administration

8th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408, USA

Historical account of the Electrochemical Section, National Bureau of Standards, 1961.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Albert Michelson papers, 1803-1989 (bulk 1861-1965).

Nimitz Library. Special Collections Division

United States Naval Academy

Annapolis, MD 21402, USA

Alfred Olaf Hanson response to 1981 History of Nuclear Physics Survey, 1981.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Allen Varley Astin papers, 19239-1973 (bulk 1950-1970).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Arthur E. Ruark biographical material, 1963.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Autobiography of a physicist: Volumes I, II and appendix, 1972.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Carnegie Institution Department of Terrestrial Magnetism Ionospheric Section records, 1927-1959, (bulk 1942-1946).

Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Library and Archives

Carnegie Institution of Washington

5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA

Charles Hard Townes papers, 1948-1996.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Charlotte Moore Sitterly papers, 1948-1985.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Correspondence regarding Koch's appointment to the directorship of the National Bureau of Standards, 1975.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Edgar Buckingham papers, 1889-1938.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Edward Condon address: presented at the 25th anniversary of the atomic time-keeper at Boulder laboratory, Colorado [video recording]$f1974 February 22.

Library.

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Edward Condon papers, circa 1920-1974.

Library.

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

F. C. Brown papers 1902-1964.

Archives Center

Smithsonian Institution. National Museum of American History

MRC 601, 12th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20560, USA

Franklin E. Roach papers, 1955-1972.

Center for American History. University Archives

University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX 78713, USA

Frederick Warren Grover papers, 1891-1967.

Schaffer Library. Special Collections

Union College

Schenectady, NY 12308, USA

From the cupboards of Lauriston S. Taylor, 1985.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Henry Hemmendinger papers, 1931-2000 (bulk 1960-1985).

Manuscript and Archives Department

Hagley Museum and Library

298 Buck Road East, Greenville, DE 19807, USA

Herbert P. Broida papers, 1957-1979.

Library. Dept. of Special Collections

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

High Altitude Observatory records, 1941-1953

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Historical account of the Electrochemical Section, National Bureau of Standards, 1961.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

History of metrology and today's frontiers of measurement [sound recording], 2012 March 1.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Hugh L. Dryden papers, 1908-1966.

Special Collections, Milton S. Eisenhower Library

Johns Hopkins University

3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

Irvine Clifton Gardner intellectual autobiography, circa 1960.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Isidor Fankuchen papers, 1933-1964.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

J. H. Van Vleck papers, 1853-1981 (1920-1980).

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

John S. Blair papers, 1923-1982.

University Archives

University of Washington

Mailstop #0-10. Seattle, WA 98195, USA

K. S. Gibson intellectual autobiography, circa 1964.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Lauriston Sale Taylor publications, 1928-1989.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Letters to NBS staff on "Atomic Energy Levels," 1949-1971.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Michael Danos papers, 1950-2003.

The Joseph Regenstein Library. Department of Special Collections

University of Chicago

1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA

National Bureau of Standards records of Robert DeWitt Huntoon, 1964-1968.

Textual Reference Branch

National Archives and Records Administration

Archives II. College Park, MD 20740, USA, USA

National Institute of Standards and Technology records, 1930-1978.

Office of the National Archives

National Archives and Records Administration

8th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408, USA

New insights into old problems [videorecording]: on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the non-conservation of parity experiment at NBS, 2005.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Nicholas E. Golovin papers, 1943-1970 (bulk 1958-1969).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Notes for an intellectual autobiography, 1962.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Alan H. Shapley, 2003 August 21 and 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Bascomb Birmingham, 1987 May 11.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Oral history interview with Charles P. Smyth, 1986 May 30.

The Beckman Center for History of Chemistry

Chemical Heritage Foundation

315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2702, USA

Oral history interview with Charlotte Moore Sitterly, 1978 June 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Charlotte Moore Sitterly, 1981 January 27.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Oral history interview with Dorothy Walcott Weeks, 1978 July 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Earle Plyler, 1964 April 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edward Uhler Condon, 1967 October 17, 18, 1968 April 27, 1973 September 11 and 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Elio Passaglia, 1988 July 19.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Oral history interview with Ernest Ambler, 1988 July 7, July 27 and September 22.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Oral history interview with Frederick Warren Grover, 1964 March 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with George Wood Vinal, 1964 March 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with H. Frederick Dylla, 2010 October 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harlow Shapley, 1966 June 8 and August 25.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harvey Fletcher, 1964 May 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1967 April 5.

Oral history interview with John T. Jefferies, 1977 July 29.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Joseph Valasek, 1969 May 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Karl K. Darrow, 1964 April 2 and 10 June.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Lauriston Taylor, 1986, December by Karma Beal and Nelson Kellog.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Oral history interview with Lewis McAdory Branscomb, 1986 April 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Marilyn E. Jacox, 1998 February 11 and 18.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Oral history interview with Merle Antony Tuve, 1967 March 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Norman Ramsey, 1983 July 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Richard K. Cook, 1988 June 8.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Oral history interview with Robert S. Shankland, 1974 August 20 and 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robley D. Evans, 1972 May 2, 3, 1974 May 5 and 1978 June 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Stephen N. Barnes, 13 March 2000.

University Archives

Ohio State University

2700 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA

Oral history interview with Thomas Lauritsen, 1967 February 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Valentine L. Telegdi, 2008 March 4 and 9.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interview with Walter H. Brattain, 1964 January and 28 May 1974.

Oral history interview with William Shockley, 1974 September 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interviews with Lewis McAdory Branscomb, 2009-2010.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Oral history inteview with Peter L. Bender, 1987 May 12.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Philip H. Abelson autobiography, undated.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Ralph A. Sawyer papers, 1918-1978.

Bentley Historical Library

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA

Remembering Edward Condon: oral history interview with Churchill Eisenhart, Reeves Tilley, Robert Huntoon, Jacob Rabinow, Lauriston Taylor, Walter Hamer, 1986 June 20.

NIST Research Library and NIST Archives

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Information Services Division. 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2500, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Richard K. Cook papers, 1931-1982.

University Archives

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Robert Bruce Lindsay intellectual autobiography, 1962-1983, 1985.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Robert Hofstadter papers, 1938-1990.

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305, USA

Robert Hofstadter response to 1988 History of Nuclear Physics Survey, 1985-1988.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Samuel W. Stratton papers, 1881-1934.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Atomic and Molecular Physics Division records, circa 1959-1986.

Smithsonian Institution. Archives.

Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507, 600 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20024-2520, USA

The reflection seismograph: Its invention and use in the discovery of oil and gas fields, circa 1973.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

The search [motion picture], 1969.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

The way we were [videorecording] / Jacob Rabinow.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Wallace R. Brode papers, 1901-1974 (bulk 1928-1969).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Walter Finall Cross Ferguson autobiography, circa 1964.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

William F. Meggers addition to papers, 1870-1973 (bulk 1906-1966).

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

William F. Meggers papers, 1917-1966.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

A history of the metric system controversy in the United States : U.S. metric study interim report.

A walk through time : a journey offered to you / by the National Bureau of Standards, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Atomic transition probabilities. Vol. II: sodium through calcium: a critical data compilation, by W.L. Wiese [and others].

Atomic transition probabilities; a critical data compilation [by] W. L. Wiese, M. W. Smith, and B. M. Glennon.

Bibliography and index on vacuum and low pressure measurement, January 1960 to December 1965 / W.G. Brombacher.

Critical phenomena : proceedings of a conference held in Washington, D.C., April 1965 / edited by M.S. Green and J.V. Sengers.

Electron physics. Proceedings of the NBS semicentennial Symposium on Electron Physics, held at the NBS on November 5-7, 1951.

Formulas and tables for the calculation of mutual and self-inductance / revised by Edward B. Rosa and Frederick W. Grover.

Journal of physical and chemical reference data.

Journal of research.

Low-temperature physics : proceedings of the NBS semicentennial symposium on low-temperature physics held at the NBS on March 27, 28 and 29, 1951.

Mass spectroscopy in physics research : proceedings of the NBS semicentennial symposium on mass spectroscopy in physics research, held at the NBS on September 6, 7, and 8, 1951 / National Bureau of Standards.

Publications of the National Bureau of Standards, 1901 to June 30, 1947.

Radio instruments and measurements : Edition of March 10, 1924--reprinted January 1, 1937, with certain type corrections and omissions.

Random walks and their applications in the physical and biological sciences (NBS/La Jolla Institute-1982) / edited by Michael F. Shlesinger and Bruce J. West.

Temperature, its measurement and control in science and industry. Volume five / James F. Schooley, editor-in-chief ; cosponsored by American Institute of Physics, Instrument Society of America, National Bureau of Standards.

Temperature.

The "1958 He¹́þ scale of temperatures" : part 1. introduction part 2. tables for the 1958 temperature scale / F.G. Brickwedde, Dijk H. van, M. Durieux, J.R. Clement.

The principles underlying radio communication.

War work of the Bureau of standards : April 1, 1921.

Wavelengths and transition probabilities for atoms and atomic ions.

Subject

A report on the present functions and operations of the National Bureau of Standards : with their evaluation in relation to present national needs and recommendations for the improvement and strengthening of the Bureau.

Measures for progress : a history of the National Bureau of Standards / editorial consultant : James R. Newman.

NBS war research : the National Bureau of Standards in World War II / by Lyman J. Briggs.

The story of standards.