National Institute of Standards and Technology

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National Institute of Standards and Technology

Gaithersburg, Maryland December 5, 2001

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY SCIENCE

THAT

MATTERS

Setting the

Celebrating chemistry

i d a r d s 0/ excellence

THE EVENING

S T A R , M O N D A Y , M A R C H 11, 1901

CORRECT MEASURES Function of the Saw Bureau of Standards.

Prof. Stratton, the Director, Details Need of Establishment

A

H A N D I C A P

R E M O V E D

•tandards and totobci th» T n u o r r Department In* far • laboratory, to ctaand at a coat of tr. ;>< Mr. B u n d W. Stratton or ChtcaaM 1 bees appointed bj the President to be eta

A century of progress The year was 1901. The Victorian era had ended and the age o f technology had dawned. Jacobus Henricus Van't H o f f of the Prussian Academy of Sciences i n Berlin became the first Nobel Laureate i n Chemistry for his discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure i n solutions. America was poised for progress and competition but there were few national standards for measuring, comparing and evaluating its products. A foot i n Illinois was longer than a foot i n Virginia. Eight different values defined a gallon. Time-keeping was local. Electric power lacked defined electrical units. 1

LABOSATQBT TO BE ERECTED

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