THE IMPERIAL PHYSICG-TECHNICAL INSTITUTION IN 

 CHARLOTTENBURG/ 



Bv Henry 8. Carhart. 



I. HISTORICAI.. 



Through the courtesy of Professor Kohlrausch, president of the 

 Reichsanstalt, and the curatorium or governing body of the institu- 

 tion, the writer was accorded the privilege of working in the Phvsi- 

 kalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt as a scientific guest during the last 

 few months of 1899. An unusual opportunity was thus aftorded of 

 learning rather intimately the methods employed and the results 

 accomplished in this famous institution for the conduct of physical 

 research, the supply of standards, and the verification of instruments 

 of precision for scientific and technical purposes. 



It is well known that the Reichsanstalt is situated in Charlotten- 

 burg, a suburb of Berlin just be3'ond the renowned Thiergarten. The 

 buildings occupy an entire square, the larger part of which, valued at 

 500,000 marks, was the gift of Dr. Werner Siemens. In making this 

 gift, which was offered in land or money at the option of the Govern- 

 ment, Dr. Siemens declared that he had in mind onl}^ the object of 

 serving his fatherland and of demonstrating his love for science, to 

 which he avowed himself entirely indebted for his rise in life. The gift 

 was made as a stimulus to the Government to establish an institution 

 for physical research. The kind of institution desired had been amply 

 described in suitable memorials prepared l)y himself, Professor \on 

 Helmholtz, and others of scarcely less distinction. The first memorial 

 bears date of June 16, 1883. It relates to "The founding of an insti- 

 tution for the experimental promotion of exact natural philosophy 

 and the technical arts of precision." It points out the need of such 

 an institution, details the benefits likely to accrue from it, lays great 

 stress on the intimate relation existing between scientific investigations 

 and their application in the useful arts, and sets forth somewhat in 



'A paper presented at the one hundred and forty-sixth meeting of the American 

 Institute of Electrical Engineers, New York, September 26, 1900. President Hering 

 in the chair. Reprinted from Transactions of the Amerii-an Institute of Electrical 

 Engineers, Vol. XVII, Nos. 8 and 9, August and September, 1900. 



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