THE 

 POPULAR SCIENCE 



ONTHLT. 



SEPTEMBER, 1911 



THE BTJBEATJ OF STANDARDS 



By Pkofessor HENRY S. CARHART 



UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 



THE scientific bureaus of the government in Washington are con- 

 ducting investigations on a scale and of a degree of merit not 

 fully appreciated by the public because so little is known about them. 

 The Imperial Institution known as the Reichsanstalt in Charlottenburg, 

 a suburb of Berlin, has acquired international fame; and the National 

 Physical Laboratory at Teddington in the environs of London is nearly 

 as famous as a government institution of research. 



In no way inferior to these is our own Bureau of Standards, situated 

 out on the hills in Washington toward Chevy Chase. It has just com- 

 pleted its tenth year. Its activities in the interest of standards of 

 measurement and of excellence entitle it to as high a position in popular 

 favor as it already enjoys in the esteem of scientific workers and of 

 those applying scientific data to practical ends. 



The two prime functions of the bureau are to serve the government 

 and the larger clientele of manufacturers and ultimate consumers. To 

 which beneficiary precedence should be given is a question; happily 

 whatever serves the one serves also the other. 



The bureau is by law the custodian of all physical standards, and is 

 authorized by the act creating it to exercise such functions as are 

 necessary for their construction, comparison, maintenance and dis- 

 semination. In addition to these duties is the highly important one of 

 defining standards of excellence for manufactured articles and 

 materials of construction of which the departments of the government 

 are large consumers. 



The division of electricity has made its full quota of contributions to 

 the fixing of standards of electrical measurement in comparison with 

 similar institutions of other governments. In recognition of this fact, 



VOL. LXXIX.— 15. 



