NST, OF STAND & yECH

L07 Eb3MM7 yiBS 1971 ANNUAL REPORT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Bureau of Standards

Wm»m
WatioMi Bureau of Standards

NOV 8 1974

This Report necessarily presents only a glimpse of the National Bureau of Standards. We hope, however, that it provides the means of entree to NBS for anyone

needing more detailed information. We encourage direct contact between you, our readers, and the NBS staff, and have provided phone numbers of key officials and project scientists throughout the text. To reach an individual at Gaithersburg, use area code 301, followed by 921 and the four digit extension provided in this

Report. To reach the Boulder laboratories, dial (303) 499-1000, then ask for the

desired extension. Mail addresses are:

National Bureau of Standards

Washington, D.C. 20234 and

National Bureau of Standards

Boulder, Colorado 80302

lit

1971 ANNUAL REPORT

CONTENTS

i Foreword

1 Congressional Relations

3 NBS 1971—An Overview

11 Institute for Basic Standards

23 Institute for Materials Research

37 Institute for Applied Technology

47 Center for CompOter Sciences and

Technology

61 plogram Office

65 Infornriation Programs

71 Administration

77 A Metric America

83 Engineering Standards

Front cover: Ground breaking for the NBS

Chemistry building, 1915, and an aerial view of the present Gaithersburg, Maryland site.

Back cover: The NBS Boulder, Colorado Laboratories.

Nat. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), Spec. Publ. 360, 100

pages (June 1972) CODEN: XNBSAV

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents,

U.S. Goernment Printing. Office Washington,

DC, 20402. (Order by SD Catalog No. C13.6/3:

360), Price $1. Stock Number 0303-1026.
FOREWORD

This year—1971 —the National Bureau of Standards celebrated its 70th

anniversary. NBS is justly proud of 70 years of service to the public, and to

the scientific and engineering community. We also welcome the

challenges that face us in the problems of today and the complexities of

tomorrow.

An anniversary provides a convenient opportunity to review the

accomplishments of the past. In this Annual Report we have looked back

over those 70 years with photographs from our files, and with descriptions

of some major contributions to science and technology. These

contributions cover the range from basic discoveries in fundamental

physics to applied measurement and from the development of new

technologies (such as the magnetic fluid clutch) to promotion of equity in

the marketplace. We have, of course, included highlights of the significant

events of the past year.

Although it would take a document many times this size to outline the

future plans for all of our programs, we have tried in this Report to present

a glimpse of the direction in which each major technical area is headed.

This Report can do little more than skim the surface of NBS. Should

you want to know more about the Bureau or a particular program, your

letter, phone call, or visit is welcomed. To help direct you to the proper

contact, we have included the name and phone number of people whose

work is mentioned, and have provided a brief directory following the text.

Lewis M. Branscomb, Director

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Peter G. Peterson, Secretary

James H. Wakelin, Jr. Assistant

Secretary for Science and Technology

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

Lewis M. Branscomb, Director

This Report was prepared under

the direction of Dr. Thomas M.

Flynn of the NBS Office of Pro- grams, with the assistance of

Don Balder, Office of Technical

Information and Publications.

Editorial Assistance provided by

Dr. Howland Fowler, George

Uriano, George Rothwell, and M. Zane Thornton.

Visual Editor, Charles Messina;

special photography by the NBS

Photographic Laboratory.

CONGRESSIONAL

RELATIONS

THAT very diversity and utility which

characterizes the programs of the National

Bureau of Standards naturally bears on many areas of current major concern to the

Congress of the United States. As a consequence, the NBS is being called upon

with increasing frequency to help inform the

Congress through Congressional

hearings—both to describe its work, and to provide advice regarding a variety of

technical subjects. During recent months,

testimony by NBS representatives

contributed to such wide-ranging hearings

as those on noise control, conducted by the

Subcommittee on Public Health and the

Environment of the House Committee on

Interstate and Foreign Commerce; on

preventive detention, by the Subcommittee

on Constitutional Rights of the Senate

Committee on the Judiciary; and on

problems faced by small business in converting to the metric system of

measurement, held by a subcommittee of

the House Select Committee on Small

Business.

In addition to such ad hoc participation,

the Bureau enjoys a special continuing

relationship with certain committees of the

Congress. Each year a request for

appropriations to support the Bureau's work

is presented to the Appropriations

Committees of the House and Senate.

Hearings concerning the NBS budget are conducted by each Committee's

Subcommittee on Departments of State,

Justice, and Commerce, the Judiciary, and

related agencies.

Rule XI of the House of Representatives,

which sets forth the powers and duties of

committees, assigns to the Committee on

Science and Astronautics jurisdiction over

matters relating to the "National Bureau of

Standards, standardization of weights and

measures and the metric system. " In the

Senate, similar jurisdiction is assigned by

Standing Rule XXV to the Committee on Commerce. Most legislation bearing directly on the functions and operations of the

Bureau is considered by these committees.

However, some of the Bureau's continuing

programs result from the delegation by the

Secretary of Commerce of certain

responsibilities assigned to him by laws

falling under the jurisdiction of other

committees. In particular, NBS witnesses

have appeared frequently before the

Subcommittee on Commerce and Finance of

the House Committee on Interstate and

Foreign Commerce in connection with the

administration of the Flammable Fabrics Act.

Similarly, Public Law 89-306, which is the

Clarence Coates

Assistant to the Director for Congressional Liaison (X2441)

basis for much of the Bureau's work in the

automatic data processing field, is under the

jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Government Activities of the House

Committee on Government Operations.

Rule XI of the House of Representatives

also states:

To assist the House in appraising the administration

of the laws and in developing such amendments or

related legislation as it may deem necessary, each

standing committee of the House shall exercise

continuous watchfulness of the execution by the

administrative agencies concerned of any laws, the

subject matter of which is within the jurisdiction of such

committee: and, for that purpose, shall study all pertinent reports and data submitted to the House by

the agencies in the executive branch of the Government.

In keeping with this legislative oversight

responsibility, the Subcommittee on

Science, Research, and Development of the

House Committee on Science and

Astronautics conducted extensive hearings

in September 1971. The objective of the

hearings was to present the subcommittee with an in-depth, timely review of NBS, its goals,

structure, operations, strengths, and

problems and opportunities. This NBS

Annual Report is based almost entirely on

the testimony presented at those hearings by

Bureau Management. For those who wish to dig deeper, the complete record of the

hearings may be obtained by writing to: Committee on Science and Astronautics,

House of Representatives, Room 2321,

Rayburn Office Building, Washington, D.C.

20515.

1971 saw the first comprehensive

legislative oversight examination of the

National Bureau of Standards by the House

Committee on Science and Astronautics.

The need for such hearings was amplified by

the swift changes overtaking the Bureau as

it attempts to respond to demands placed on

it by public needs, established in new

legislation, or reflected in changing national

circumstances within our original statutory

responsibilities.

The basic enabling legislation established

in 1901 and amended several times, most

comprehensively In 1950, establishes the

main purposes and authorities of the Bureau

as follows:

the custody, maintenance and

development of the national standards of

measurement, and the provision of means

and methods for making measurements

consistent with those standards including

the comparison of standards; the

determination of physical constants and

properties of materials ... of great

importance to scientific or manufacturing

interests . . . not to be obtained of sufficient

accuracy elsewhere; the development of

methods for testing materials, mechanisms,

and structures and the testing of materials,

mechanisms, and structures; cooperation

with other Government agencies and with

private organizations in the establishment of

standard practices, incorporated in codes

The NBS Administration Building, Gaithersburg, Md.

and specifications; advisory service to

Government agencies on scientific and

technical problems; and invention and

development of devices to serve special

needs of the Government.

Examination of this statute will show that

NBS has both unique and special

responsibilities in relation to the Nation's

science and technology, and very broad

responsibilities as well.

Our cornerstone responsibility is to

provide for the United States the single

authoritative source of accurate, compatible,

and useful physical measurements and

further to ensure their international

compatibility. No nation in the modern

world, much less the world's leading

scientific and technological society, can

prosper and function effectively if the

national system of measurement is in a state

of anarchy.

A nation cannot have two sizes for the

inch, two weights for the pound or two

values for the units describing electric

power, temperature, frequency, time, or any

of the 40 or more derived units and their

many useful combinations. Only one

laboratory can speak for the nation in the

international community of metrologists who

work together under the aegis of the Treaty

of the Meter to produce a single, compatible

world system of measurement units. The

laboratory with this responsibility must be

above suspicion in its integrity, its competence, and its independence from

influences. It must be devoted entirely to

AN OVERVIEW

Dr. Lewis M. Branscomb

Director
objective technical truth for it must be able

to resolve conflicts when two people—or two companies—measure the same thing

and get different answers. These principles

are the life blood of the National Bureau of

Standards and are strongly and deeply felt

by each of our professional staff members.

THE PRICE AND VALUE OF

ACCURACY

Accuracy is expensive and sometimes

difficult to achieve. We put a lot of effort

into discussing the needs of our

"customers"—of American scientists,

engineers, and businessmen and other

Government officials—to be sure they really

need the accuracy of measurement they say

they must achieve. We believe that very large

sums of money, reflecting countless

engineering manhours, can be saved by

adopting the philosophy: "Ask for no more

accuracy than you need and be sure you get

it." MEASURES IN THE

MARKETPLACE

If a free-enterprise economic system is to

thrive in a modern industrial society, indeed

if it is to survive, buyers and sellers in the

marketplace need to have as much

confidence in the quantity and performance

of goods exchanged as they do in the

amount of monies paid. A substantial part of

the Bureau's measurement research is devoted to the validation of fair, objective,

and useful measurement methods for

application to both durable and nondurable

goods in trade.

The commercial life of this country

depends upon the Bureau's help with such

measurement problems, because both buyer

and seller need an unbiased, honest third

party with the technical capability to say

"This measurement is a fair and accurate

one; that one may not be." Industry values

the Bureau's third-party independence and

integrity. The ADX2 case was of enormous

significance to the National Bureau of

Standards. It demonstrated that the Bureau

does not shy away from technical problems

of apparently low sophistication and

potentially high controversy if they are important to the proper functioning of

government, to the progress of science, or

to the survival of the free enterprise system.

It also demonstrated to every NBS scientist

at that time and since that dedication to

properly documented, objective, technical

truth will result in the laboratory's

vindication.

NBS GOAL: MAKE SCIENCE

USEFUL

A laboratory of this type, with a 70-year

tradition of scientific excellence and

integrity, finds itself not only in great

demand but acquiring additional major

responsibilities that go far beyond the

specific research requirements for the

national system of measurement. We were

established by the Congress to be helpful,

and we find ourselves a critical link between
the basic research community and those

who have put science to worl< for the benefit

of man. As the decades have passed, the

Bureau has responded to the country's

problems as they arose, in war and in peace,

in times of rapid scientific growth, in times

of scientific retrenchment and serious

domestic problems. Throughout the

thousands of useful projects at NBS runs a common thread: the Bureau helps others

with applied research services to produce,

diffuse, arid enhance the value of practical

knowledge. Our goal is to strengthen and

advance the Nation's science and

technology and to facilitate their effective

application for public benefit—in short to

help make science useful and technology

the servant and not the master of people. To

achieve this goal the Bureau integrates its

scientific and technological activities and

gives special attention to the public and

private institutions through which our

applied research services will benefit people.

We do not just assume that our research will

prove helpful to others; we do what it takes

to insure that it is.

NBS RELATIONSHIPS WITH THOSE

WE HELP

It is important that I say a few words about

how NBS insures that our work reaches the

hands of those it is meant to serve and how

it insures that the benefits intended for the

public are actually realized.

Government Agencies.

The Congress has wisely chosen a statement of the Bureau's mission broad

enough to allow the Bureau to respond to

changing needs. By the same token, such a freedom of choice demands of us a continual appraisal of the most important

problems to tackle. Of the criteria for choice,

and therefore for action, four seem to be

vital to success:

1. needs in relation to our statutory

mission;

2. a timely technical opportunity;

3. adequacy of resources in manpower

and facility;

4. availability of dynamic leadership.

Unless all these four criteria are met any

problem that is tackled is not likely to have

striking success.

Thirty-eight percent of all the funds

expended by NBS are transferred from other

agencies in reimbursement for technical and

research services. These services range from

brief consulting tasks, often offered without

reimbursement; to special tasks of days or weeks duration; all the way to formal

continuing agreements to provide very

substantial resources to another department

of government.

State and Local Governments.

Our ties with State and local governments

are also of vital Importance to our

usefulness and effectiveness. Our prime

strategy has been a consistent one—^to
preserve the constitutional prerogatives of

the States by seeking to bring them together

into national conferences for specific

problems so that we can provide our

technical help fairly and effectively to all 50

States and, at the same time, promote

compatibility between the regulations and

practices of the States where this is clearly

to the Nation's advantage.

The first example of this relationship was

brought into being almost immediately after

the founding of the National Bureau of

Standards in 1901. At that time the weights

and measures regulations of the States were

in chaotic condition. NBS Director Stratton

brought into being the National Conference

of Weights and Measures, which today is a strong and technically competent

organization of State weights and measures

officials, working in close harmony with

industry and consumer groups and the

National Bureau of Standards.

In our encouragement of the National

Conference of States on Building Codes and

Standards, and our technical support of

local and municipal code officials, NBS seeks

to promote progress in the regulatory

system for building construction. State and

local governments have very limited

research resources available to them, and it would obviously be wasteful if all 50 States

had to establish parallel research

capabilities. It is a logical, economical, and

proper relationship for State and local

officials to look to the NBS as a source of

sophisticated technical help. Drawing on the

entire Nation's scientific and engineering

capabilities, NBS can help keep the authority

for decisions at the local level while bringing

the benefits of research at the national level.

ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL

RELATIONS

NBS relationships with the academic and

industrial research community have always

been very close. These relationships are most effectively established through

participation of our scientists and engineers

in the professional societies, the major

private sector standards organizations, and

by direct collaboration in joint research

projects both with university scientists and

with industry.

For academic and other scientists

attempting the most sophisticated and

demanding scientific research, we offer our

talents and facilities on a cooperative basis.

There are many physics experiments that

simply cannot be done without direct access

to our standards, our laboratory

environment, and our talented staff.

We are particularly proud of our industrial

Research Associate Program through which

industrial firms, at their own expense, send

top scientists or engineers to NBS for a program of jointly selected research.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Finally, I must say something about our

international responsibilities and

relationships. As the world's leading

technological nation the United States has a
vital interest in insuring that the world

system of measurement is not only

internationally compatible but also is sufficiently sophisticated to meet United

States needs. NBS helps assure this through

our relationships to the General Conference

of Weights and Measures, a triennial

international diplomatic conference

established by the Treaty of the Meter in 1875. The success of United States foreign

commerce, as well as the success of

international scientific cooperation, depends

upon the continued progress of this

cooperative international endeavor.

Because of our special interest in applied

science and in applied research services for

economic development, nations at all stages

of development have expressed great

interest in NBS. The recent visits of two

senior staff members of the national

metrological laboratories in Romania result

from high-level diplomatic initiatives by the

United States leading to bilateral cooperative

agreements in science and technology.

MAJOR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The chart shows the six major goals and

objectives of the Bureau of Standards. They

describe not only what we do, but through

what groups and institutions we work in order to achieve the desired results.

The first program helps scientists and

engineers make accurate, meaningful, and

compatible measurements and provides

them with data needed in research au6

engineering. Among the programs listed

under this heading are quite a number that are concerned with transferring into the

user's laboratory the measurement

standards or the measurement capabilities

realized at NBS. This is the traditional way to

transfer measurement accuracy. Increasingly

we are finding that time and money can be

saved and measurement accuracy and

confidence improved if the Bureau can

provide the scientist or engineer with a selfcalibration capability.

Our services for industry and government

are largely concerned with helping others

make more effective use of science and

technology in their achievement of identified

priority goals. Many of these programs are designed to apply research to the

elimination of barriers that inhibit the private

sector, or the rest of government, from the

most effective use of science in the public

interest. The Bureau of Standards is not in competition with industry. We do not

develop products or processes. We do solve

problems of general concern, provide

Measurement Services for Science

and Technology

Science and Technology for

Industry and Government

Technical Services for Equity in Trade

Technical Services for Public Safety

Technical Information Services

Central Technical Support

NBS has long been a meeting

place for a \yide variety of

scientific groups. This is the International Technical

Committee of 1910, gathered at the Bureau to establish new

values for the ampere, ohm. and

volt. Director Slratton is sixth from the left.
This machine, whic h was capable

of exerting up to 2,300,000

pounds in compression, was used

by the Bureau for many years in testing beams, girders and other

structural components.

8

technical data and useful knowledge, and

participate an an unbiased expert in the

development of voluntary industrial and data

processing standards. Our purposes are to

promote fair competition, improve

productivity in research, production and

delivery of services, assist regulatory

officials with objective, rational standardssetting and look for ways to release the

innovative energies of this great nation to use technology to solve its problems.

Earlier in this testimony I referred to the

importance of measurements used in

commerce to the maintenance of confidence

in a free enterprise economy. Programs of

this type are conducted under the heading,

Technical Services for Equity in Trade.

Important among these is NBS participation

in voluntary engineering and information

processing standards activity. A healthy and

effective national standards program can

promote innovation and improve productivity

In industry, and can provide the small

businessman with a better opportunity to

break into an established market or to bid

on components and materials subcontracts.

It can save millions of dollars in the writing

of technical specifications for competitive

bids and can improve the standards of

industrial practice throughout our Nation.

Since the system is a voluntary system,

established in the private sector, it is sometimes disappointingly slow and

occasionally even operates to impede

commerce or competition. There is frequently a need for public interest

Russell Young (X2216) has developed a field emission probe

for measuring the microtopography of replicas of diffraction gratings.

representation at the standards negotiating

table. It is uneven in its technical quality and

suffers from the lack of both financial and

scientific support from both industry and

government. But without a continually

updated set of tens of thousands of

standards prepared by private-sector organizations we would either have to revert to a

prelndustrial society, or establish the

standards by decree as they do in many

communist countries.

PRODUCT PERFORMANCE

We do not test consumer products at the

request of either manufacturers or consumers. We believe that a free market is the best determinant of overall relative

quality for consumer products. However,

both industry and consumer advocates

agree that the interests of all would be

served by engineering progress in the

development of criteria and methods for

evaluating those types of product

characteristics that are important to public

safety and welfare, and that lend themselves

to objective technical measurement.
With respect to safety programs, the

Bureau works on problems assigned to us in our enabling legislation dealing with fire

research and safety, on problems assigned

to us by special statutes such as the

Flammable Fabrics Act, and the Refrigerator

Safety Act and, in collaboration with other

agencies, in other fields where safety

research and standards are needed. NBS

has given a very high priority to

implementing our responsibilities under the

Flammable Fabrics Act. Our 1972 Flammable

Fabrics expenditures will be over 10 times

the budget level of 1969. But in spite of

considerable progress in that field, we have

made only a modest initial effort in tackling

the whole fire problem.

SPECIAL PROBLEMS AND

OPPORTUNITIES

During a time of rapid priority change and

laboratory reorganization, our staff has

proved admirably adaptable. Still, an annual

reduction-in-force averaging about 1-1/2

percent of our total personnel in each of the

last 2 fiscal years has been regrettable, but

unavoidable.

At the same time, we have permitted the

state of the Bureau's equipment to fall far

below the standard to which industrial

laboratories maintain themselves,

notwithstanding the fact that it is our

responsibility to be the measurement

reference laboratory for them. We have also

seen severe attrition in discretionary

operating funds over and above our basic

technical and support payroll. This, in part,

has forced the reductions-in-force as managers reduce staff to keeping

operational efficiency. Despite these

difficulties I believe the National Bureau of

Standards faces the most challenging

opportunity of any large research laboratory

in this Nation. We have the right

competence in the right organization at a

right time. We are effectively engaged in a way that I think is unique in bringing science

and technology to bear on national social

and economic problems as well as on our

scientific advancement. Our scientists

understand the complexities of the social

context within which their research must

find application. We enjoy a generally

excellent reputation among those who know

our work, even though we have not been

very active in making ourselves known to the

general public.

I am deeply concerned that

disillusionment may follow if government

fails to promote innovation and the

productivity of our technology and fails to

guide the regulation of technology on the

basis of objective evidence and fair and

accurate measurements. We see the national

measurement system and a system of

industrial and engineering standards as dynamic systems calling not for more

stewardship, but for leadership.

This test car was sent around

Nation calibrating railway trac scales, some of which were

grossly inaccurate. A similar

is still in service.

THE Institute for Basic Standards'

mission is the Custody, Maintenance,

and Development of the National Standards

of Measurement, ar\6 the provision of Means

and Methods for Making Measurements

Consistent with those Standards.

This mission puts us at the heart of what

we call the National Measurement System.

The primary goal of a National Measurement

System is compatibility—every participant

(individual or organization) must be

compatible in his actions and decisions with

others. Consider the need for compatibility

in the measurement of one quantity—time.

One person might check his watch with a

radio station, another by calling the

telephone company, and a third by calling

Western Union. Yet each of these three

people would expect the time involved to be

the same. It is the same because the radio

station, the telephone company, and

Western Union all get the correct time from

radio station WWV, operated by the Time

and Frequency Division. This same need for

compatibility can be traced in the other

quantities of measurement.

We are dealing with the highest levels of

accuracy, for which it is hard to see the dayto-day utility. The utility is to be found in the

needs for compatible measurement in a

highly industrialized society, which typically

become apparent only to the specialist.

This 30-metre laser interferometer, located in a gold mine

near Boulder, Colo., can detect vibration amplitudes as small as 5 X 10 < metre. Earthquakes, solar and lunar tides, and

rock deformation are being studied with this instrument

(Judah Levine, Boulder, X3903).

Naturally, we relate most closely to the

scientists and engineers who work on the

National Measurement System, and the

industries we relate to most closely are the

instrument manufacturers. This is a $6

billion industry with a favorable trade

balance. We feel that its growth and size

illustrate its relative importance to the rest of

industry and commerce, since other

industries buy instrumentationXo increase

theiro\Nr\ productivity.

All these instruments must be made to

give compatible readings at levels of

accuracy determined by the manufacturers'

specifications. This is accomplished in

general through the use of secondary

standards, which in turn are calibrated

against primary standards which we provide

and maintain. The National Measurement

System is thus a network that ensures

compatibility—commercial, industrial, and

scientific.

It is essential for me to point out that there

is an intimate connection between the

National Measurement System and science,

in particular the so-called Laws of Physics.

This connection leads to an International

System of Unitsiox physical measurement.

At the core of the International System of

Measurements there are only seven base

units. From these seven are derived all of

the other quantities used by science,

engineering, technology, and commerce.

It will be impossible for me to describe all areas that IBS is involved in, in relation to
In 1914 Frederick Kolster

developed a radio compass

that enabled a ship to establish

its position by determining the direction ofbroadcast stations.

12

the system of physical measurements, let alone all the ways in which this work relates

to users. Therefore,

1. I shall discuss technical work and

applications related to one of the seven base

units, namely LENGTH.

2. I shall do a similar thing with regard to

one of the derived units, namely ENERGY,

and I shall specialize in energy in the form

of electromagnetic radiation.

3. I shall attempt to take a crosscut of all our technical programs, showing how they

can be grouped into different kinds of

services. It is my intention in doing this to

give specific examples that will illustrate

how our work provides distributed benefits

to government programs, the public in

general, industry, and science and

technology.

LENGTH—A BASE UNIT

There are a large number of length

measuring devices available, ranging all the

way from the Krypton Lamp which defines

the unit of length, to lasers stabilized by

saturated absorption (an NBS development

which we fully expect to be the defined unit

of length in the future) down through

practical gages that the Bureau calibrates,

thereby transferring to users in a directly

useful, as well as compatible fashion, the

international standard of length.

These length standards—gage blocks,

balls, cones, rings, plugs, and angles—are workhorses of the engineering world. Of

particular interest are the American

Petroleum Institute thread gages, adopted as standards by the whole international

petroleum industry, even in Iron Curtain

countries. The specifications of these

threads originate, in fact, from the API

headquarters in Texas, and the threads are known worldwide as the "Texas Threads."

One of the most important improvements

taking place at the present time is the use of

the laser in length measurements. For length

measurement, the laser can be used in two

ways:

1. By sending out a short pulse of light,

and measuring the time of travel back and

forth between two points, as in the retroreflectors left by Apollo 11, 14, and 15 on the

moon. Peter Bender (X3846) at Boulder is the current team leader for this important

experiment. From this work valuable

information is being obtained on lunar

motion and earth angular position, to an

uncertainty of about 20 metres in a light

path of nearly a billion metres. Potential

improvements in accuracy can reduce this

uncertainty to only a few centimetres. This

work may lead to improved knowledge of

crustal motions in the earth, even permitting

a direct measurement of continental drift,

which has both geophysical and

astronomical importance.

2. By actually counting one-by-one the

wavelengths of light. A commercial laser

system is being presently employed at NBS

for measuring long gage blocks and coil

forms. This is the type of laser
instrumentation which is evolving for the

control of machine tools as they

simultaneously gage and shape materials.

The machine which sees and measures as it cuts is the embodiment of high-technology

productivity—it does three jobs at once. All

of these benefits from laser-control

technology are potentially applicable to

numerically controlled machine tools, which

now represent 20 percent of basic sales of

machine tools. Accuracy and precision are

absolutely critical to this $1.6 billion tool

industry, which is facing tough international

competition.

ENERGY: A DERIVED UNIT

Energy comes in many forms: mechanical,

thermal, electromagnetic, and in other ways.

For the moment, I want to concentrate on

the applications of measurements of

electromagnetic energy.

For 60-hertz power, we provide calibration

of reference standard watthour meters. To

give some idea of the effect which this has,

$22 billion worth of electrical power was

sold in the United States in 1970. Reliable

and accurate meters sell the output of this

huge electrical system, and monitor its productivity. We also perform calibrations

related to the metering of high ac and dc

voltages, necessary for tying high power

grids together.

In the radio-frequency part of the

spectrum, we are active in telecommunications and antenna gain

The velocity of sound was determined in this borosiiicate block by measuring the time required for a sound pulse to cross the block and be reflected back to a transducer applied

to one of the faces (Thomas Proctor, X3607).

measurements. For example, we calibrated

the small gain-standard measuring horn,

part of the JPL Goldstone deep space

tracking station. The cost of the horn is only

a tiny fraction of the whole system expense.

Many large communications antennae have

had to be overdesigned and overbuilt (from

an engineering point of view) because of a

lack of capability for measuring their gain

characteristics. Accurate information is also

available in planning the performance and

susceptibility to "jamming" of military radar

systems.

In the microwave part of the spectrum we

also take advantage of the interaction of

electromagnetic fields with atoms to operate

our cesium beam atomic clock. This type of

At about the time of the first World War the Bureau

established an experimental

paper mill to study the effects of

manufacturing conditions on the quality of the product. A

descendant of this mill is still in operation at the Bureau.

13
Shown here is a highly stable tungsten-strip lamp that serves as a basis for realizing the

International Practical Temperature Scale above the gold

point and as a standard for spectral radiance measurements.

(Dr. Henry KostkowskI, X2068).

Clock embodies the international definition

of the base unit, the second, which is now

maintained with an error of 1 second in

30,000 years.

In the visible part of the spectrum, we

have developed techniques to calibrate

instruments that measure the power output

of lasers. This is important, as lasers are

rapidly coming into general use for eye

surgery, cutting cloth for garments, and

making tiny holes in diamond dies. Such

widespread applications require accurate

power measurements to determine and

maintain safe radiation levels.

In the X- and gamma-ray region of the

spectrum, we are involved with dosimetry

measurements to protect the health of

medical patients, and we have started work

on new, sharp, high-intensity k x-ray beams,

which will assist with giving finer control of

x-ray machines, so that the patient may be

submitted to less total exposure.

In this rapid tour across the ranges of the

electromagnetic spectrum, I have shown

many places where we are doing practical

work, to make precise energy measurements

more useful.

BENEFITS FROM OUR SERVICES

Now I would like to adopt a somewhat

different approach by grouping our total
outputs and services under various

headings.

First of all, with regard to Calibration and

Testing, our general policy is to provide

services only when they are not adequately

available elsewhere from commercial

sources. Nevertheless, we calibrate about

1,200 items monthly and our list of industrial

and commercial customers reads like a

directory of U.S. corporations. The value of

the calibrations must be significant in

commercial terms, and in fact, in some

individual cases we have specific proof of a

high leverage.

Our Measurement Assurance Program

(MAP) is designed to see that the user's

needs are actually being met in his own

laboratory or on his test bench. The

possession of an NBS calibrated standard

does not by itself ensure good

measurement, and in fact, in some cases,

one has to worry whether the standard even

survived the trip back home. MAP is a program to test the user's measurement

processes as he performs them in his own

laboratory. Its prime tool for doing so is a "round robin" in which a test object is measured by NBS and the members of a group of cooperating laboratories.

Comparison of the results discloses those

members who are obtaining anomalous

results. Then analysis by NBS of how their

measurements are affected by procedural

variations and by environmental conditions

in their laboratories serves to pinpoint the

sources of the error. Periodic repetition of

this process then monitors the members

(including NBS) and ascertains if that

segment of the measurement system

remains under control.

Testing, which involves the properties of

materials or structures, is carried out in

adjustment with the needs of the user.

Consulting and Advisory Services are undertaken as a result of particular knowhow which we may possess. NBS is one of

the great laboratories of the world, we are

justifiably proud of it, and our real purpose

is to be helpful. These examples may show

you how and where we help.

One example will be familiar to you from

the newspapers—the "random calendars"

used in the 1970 and 1971 draft lotteries

were supplied to Selective Service by NBS

mathematicians. This role of "independent

3d party" is one which we are frequently

called upon to play. Only general confidence

in NBS as a "disinterested" source of

testimony made this contribution possible.

There is an intimate link between being

able to make measurements and data on the

properties of material. An example is our

recent work on the thermal properties of

oxygen, hydrogen, helium, and liquefied

natural gas. Liquefied natural gas is difficult

to store, to transport, and to meter. Our

advisory services and the research behind

them, partially sponsored by the American

Gas Association, have contributed broadly to

the healthy growth of the young cryogenics

industry.

Next, in the field of Mine Safety, we are

Using a technique invented by

William E. Hoke, the Bureau

produced 50 precision sets of

gage blocks for use by

A merican industry during the

first World War.

15
working with the Bureau of Mines to apply

Very Low Frequency electromagnetic waves

as a new way of locating and

communicating with trapped miners.

In the field of Aircraft Safety, we have

developed tests for evaluating locator

beacons for planes which crash. We have a

field station in Areata, Calif., alleged to be

the foggiest airport in the world, to examine

runway lighting, in conjunction with the FAA

and the Navy. We have developed standards

to assure that all cockpit lights are above,

but close to, the threshold for low-level

vision. These low levels of illumination

require a different scale and standard from

normal-level lighting.

Time and Frequency, and their

dissemination to users, are responsibilities

specifically designated to NBS. In fact, the

workhorses of the timing community are WWV in Fort Collins, Colo., and our recently

rebuilt station WWVH in Kauai, Hawaii. NBS

has made a comprehensive study of future

methods for improving timing signals which

will be generally available. One potential is the technique of carrying a time signal on

commercial television broadcasts. Tests of

this technique, in which time is displayed on

the screen of specially adapted receivers or used to control a clock at the receiver, show

great promise for a national system accurate

to 1 fjiS or better.

Part of the accurate manometer used in the continuing gas thermometry project. A column of gage blocks is used to establish the height of the center cell (Dr. Leslie Guildner,

X2076).
We develop Measurement Methods in

many fields, but I shall confine my attention

to standards related to nuclear energy. For

the Integrated Safeguards Experiment,

which assures that fissionable materials are

not directed to unauthorized purposes, we

have developed extremely accurate weighing

and volumetric measurements for shippers

and receivers of large amounts of fissionable

material. For the Navy, we have, in

connection with the McMurdo Station

reactor in Antarctica, and in other

connections, developed and operated

continuously low-level radioactivity

monitoring techniques for effluents.

With regard to neutron standards,

particularly as they affect the fast breeder

program, we have an expanding program

centered around the measurement of

neutron fluxes and precision neutron cross

sections.

Over the years NBS experts have

contributed to the work of several Nobel

prize winners. In the summer of 1931 Harold

Urey, lecturing at Johns Hopkins, discussed

his newly detected satellite hydrogen line,

that might be heavy hydrogen, with Fred

Mohler of NBS. Fred suggested that Frank

Brickwedde of the NBS Low-Temperature

Lab, who was studying ortho-para

conversion of hydrogen, might be able to

help. Successive distillation of liquid

hydrogen at NBS led to concentrations of

heavy hydrogen sufficient for unambiguous

proof—a finding announced by Urey,

Brickwedde, and Murphy in the March 1932

NBS Technical News Bulletin. This event

signalled the start of NBS involvement in

atomic energy, and in contributing to the

work of Nobel Laureates. Interestingly, the

energy extremes—nuclear energy and near

absolute-zero temperature—seemed a common feature.

In 1956, C. S. Wu brought the Bureau's

capabilities in nuclear paramagnetic cooling

together with Yang and Lee's suspicion that

all was not right with parity conservation in

weak interactions. This experiment, in which

I was involved, together with Miss Wu and

Messrs. Hayward, Hoppes, and Hudson of

our staff, helped to trigger a Nobel prize for

Yang and Lee.

More recently Luis Alvarez was gracious

enough to say in his Nobel Laureate

acceptance speech, when discussing

problems involved in building and housing

the 72-inch hydrogen bubble chamber, "We

were also extremely fortunate in being able

to interest the Bureau of Standards in the

project. Dudley Chelton, Bascom

Birmingham, and Doug Mann spent a great

deal of time with us, first educating us in

large-scale liquid hydrogen techniques, and

later cooperating with us in the design and

initial operation of the big chamber."

We are proud of our participation in these

distinguished efforts, and we remember that

we were able to contribute because good

science and good measurements go hand in

hand. Once we lose this connection we

regress intellectually and our technical work

gradually degenerates; if this should happen

Culihration of clinical llwnuoniclers.
our efforts would be of no use to anyone!

And I am pledged to assure that this never

happens.

LOOKING FORWARD

IN BASIC STANDARDS

Modern metrology is becoming

increasingly based upon the properties of

atomic and molecular systems, it being

accepted that such properties are the same

everywhere and invariant in time. The

behavior of such systems obeys the laws of

quantum mechanics rather than classical

mechanics, hence, the name "quantum

metrology." The name also encompasses

macroscopic quantum effects such as appear in superconductivity and the

Josephson effect.

A concomitant result of the dependence of

our basic standards of measurement upon

quantum metrology is an intertwining of

Base Units of Measurement and the

Fundamental Physical Constants, such as

the speed of light, which relates the unit of

length to the unit of time. Indeed then,

physical constants, or combinations of them,

play an important central role as transfer

constants relating measurable physical

quantities of different kinds. Thus, accurate

values of them are not only important to the

program of science itself, but also to the

progress of metrological science. Some

consequences of the trend to quantum

metrology follow:

New Definition of a Length Standard

We shall continue to pursue our program

to have the 3.39 fxvn He—Ne laser, stabilized

by saturated molecular absorption in

methane, adopted as the new definition of

the metre, while at the same time developing

other lasers as secondary standards,

particularly in the visible region.

Technological Implications

The stability of molecularly stabilized

oscillators has proven to be such that their

precision greatly exceeds that of the

presently defined length standards and

begins to rival that of time standards. Thus,

the work we shall be doing should be

reviewed in the broader sense of opening up

the range of the electromagnetic spectrum

by the development of highly stable and

coherent oscillators. Of central importance

in these technological developments is the

frequency locking of a chain of oscillators

from the microwave frequency standard up

to lasers in the visible region.

Implications for New Physical

Experiments

The ability to have optical frequencies

stable to parts in 10'^ or better opens up the

possibility of verifying to a higher accuracy

certain properties concerned with the

isotropy of space.
Implications for the Definition of the

Kilogram and Mole of the Accurate

Measurement of Atomic Distances

The continuation of the program on

measuring interatomic distances accurately

by the simultaneous counting of x-ray and

optical fringes will enable a more accurate

value for the x unit to be obtained.

Experiments aimed at characterizing highly

pure silicon with regard to physical purity,

chemical purity, and isotope ratio will be

completed, which will enable a more

accurate value of Avagadro's Number to be

determined. The close connection between

the kilogram, the atomic mass unit, the

mole, and Avagadro's Number allows the

possibility—albeit a distant one at present—of defining the kilogram in terms of

the mass of silicon atoms. The possibility is a distant one since one is really aiming for a characterization of silicon comparable to the

reproducibility of the prototype kilogram,

i e., to a few parts in 10".

The Application of the Josephson Effect

and SQUIDS to Electrical Standards and

the Measurement of Fundamental

Constants

The first step will be to monitor the legal

volt by means of Josephson junctions.

Should this prove successful, it is possible

to go over to the Josephson emf itself as a

definition of the legal volt. This would not be

so easy to accomplish.

Fluid meter under test at the Cryogenic Flowmetering Facility, Boulder (Douglas Mann, X3652).
The chiltlrcn's picnic luis been tin annual even! at NBS for many

ycar.s.

20

The world's largest testing machine, capable of applying 12

million pounds In compression, 6 million in tension, was

dedicated during the year (Roscoe Bloss, X2621).

Technological uses of SQUIDS

(Superconducting Quantum Interference

Devices, based upon the Josephson Effect

and the quantization of magnetic flux) will

find uses in precision magnetometry for

applications such as cardiography,

geophysics, etc. SQUIDS will also prove to be useful in the

accurate measurement of voltage, current,

and power ratios from dc up to microwave

ranges.

More precise values of the ratio of

fundamental constants h/e and h/m will be

obtained using these techniques.

The Josephson junction is being

incorporated in a "noise thermometer" for

the determination of very low temperatures

(- .01 K) on the absolute scale.

PRACTICAL STANDARDS OF LENGTH

AND SHAPE

A generalized three-dimensional

measuring machine will be built. Novel

designs of surface probes and the

measurement of the position of the probe

carriage within a volume - 1 metre cube, to an accuracy of 1 fim, or better, will be

developed. The system will be fully servoed

and automated.

Surface topography will be developed and

capabilities to measure vertical irregularities

of 30 A will be exploited.

TRANSFER OF MEASUREMENT

CAPABILITY

The NBS Measurement Assurance

Program evaluates and Improves the

capabilities of industrial, commercial, and

other-agency standards laboratories by

analyzing their measurements of standards

or instruments furnished by or exchanged

with the NBS. It has been tested by

measurements of mass and voltage and now

is ready to be expanded to other physical

quantities for which NBS maintains
standards. Also, the procedures will be

extended so as to operate between different

echelons of standards laboratories within,

say, a large corporation or a military service.

TIME DISSEMINATION

The next decade will see time and

frequency being disseminated with orders of

magnitude greater accuracy and wide

coverage using the TV networks and

stationary satellites.

RADIATION SAFETY

Radioactive standards will be developed

and applied to:

1. quality assurance in

radiopharmaceuticals

2. accuracy of monitoring at very low

levels of activity (environmental protection).

More precise methods of measuring x-ray

dose will be developed, along with transfer

instruments for assuring greater accuracy in

medical and biological dosimetry, as the

needs of the radiation processing field.

We have already developed an improved

instrumental method for measuring stray

microwave radiation (cooking ovens, radars,

diathermy, and industrial heating equipment)

and will promote its wider use in monitoring

compliance with safety regulations.

We will develop instrumental methods for

measuring ultrasonic power. These are

urgently needed in medical diagnostics and

also in industrial usage of ultrasonics, e.g., testing materials and structures.

NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING

There are widespread needs for physical

methods of testing materials and structures

for flaws, with a view especially toward

continuous monitoring during active service

and the forewarning of imminent failures.

We are especially fitted to proceed with

acoustic, holographic, x-ray, magnetic, and

electric methods of examination.

SURFACE PHYSICS

Phenomena at surfaces are of great

practical importance, e.g., in solid-state

microelectronics, heterogeneous catalysis,

adhesion, and composite materials. They

also are very challenging and elusive in the

laboratory due to the necessity of dealing

with single layers of atoms or even

individual atoms. We will expand our

research aimed at mapping surface states on

metals, the effects of adsorbed atoms on

field- and photo-emission of electrons,

methods of producing atomically clean and

flat surfaces, and the mapping of surface

topography. The results will support the use

of Auger electron analytical spectrometers,

x-ray photoelectron analytical

spectrometers, applications of electron

scattering in biological materials, and will

yield a new and very sensitive electronemission surface profilometer.

For many years the Bureau was a

leader in the field of

photographing high-speed

projectiles. This photograph was

taken by P. P. Quayle.

21

THE function of the Institute for

Materials Research (IMR) is to provide

the materials science support to the NBS

leadership role in three broad program

areas: (1) providing more accurate,

meaningful, and compatible measurements;

(2) promoting a more effective use of

materials science and technology in helping

to solve national problems; and (3) providing

central technical services and support to

other Government agencies for the effective

discharge of their statutory responsibilities.

The IMR mission is to:

• Furnish certified standard reference

materials for the calibration of measuring

instruments, and test methods, quality

control, and research;

• Develop new and improved methods for

measuring the properties of materials;

• Generate and evaluate scientific and

engineering data on well-characterized

materials;

• Relate the physical and chemical

properties of materials to their behavior and

their interaction with their environments;

• Provide advisory, consulting, research,

and technical services to other Government

agencies in support of their statutory

responsibilities.

The mission of the Institute is carried out

Looking Into the ultra-high vacuum environment of an

instrument used in studies of metal oxidation. A metal specimen disk Is heated by electrons from the wire coll, and

then exposed to controlled amounts of oxygen while being

examined by ellipsometry and low-energy electron diffraction

(Dr. Allan Melmed, X2998).

in six technical Divisions: Analytical

Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Reactor

Radiation, Polymers, Metallurgy, and

Inorganic Materials; and in two program

offices, the Office of Measures for Air

Quality and the Office of Standard Reference

Materials. It is within our six line divisions

that we maintain and advance our basic

scientific and technological competences so

that we can provide input to the National

Measurement System and respond to

materials needs in such program areas as Standard Reference Materials, Air and Water

Pollution Abatement, Failure Avoidance and

Biomaterials, of which more will be said

later.

The Institute has a full-time staff of about

465 which includes 330 professionals of

whom 175 have Ph.D.'s in science and

engineering. In addition there is a part-time

staff of about 125 scientific consultants,

research associates and guest workers. We

operate on a budget which, in fiscal year

1971, was over $16 million. This included

over $10.5 million in direct congressional

appropriations, $4 million in other-agency

support and about $1.8 million for our

Standard Reference Materials Program, most

of which is reimbursed by subsequent sale

of Standard Reference Materials.

IMR PROGRAMS

Our current technical activities are in the

following program areas.

• Materials Science and Technology

INSTITUTE FOR

1

Dr. John D. Hoffman I Director, Institute for Materials Research | (X2828) j

I

I

23
hi 1922 Percival Lowell invented

a rectifier that made it possible to operate radios on alternatini^

ciirrenl. This revolutionary

development tremendously

expanded the marketfor home

radios.

24

• Standard Reference Materials

• Measures for Air Quality

• Technical Services and Cooperative

Research

These programs are described briefly

below.

Materials Science and Technology

Our materials research activities provide

the essential base on which all of our other

programs depend. The Materials Research

Program is concerned with the preparation

and purification of materials; their thorough

characterization as to chemical composition,

impurity content, and physical structure; the

development of new methods for measuring

the properties of materials, and the

generation and evaluation of needed data

and information on the properties of

materials; and the development of concepts

which explain the properties and behavior of

materials.

An excellent illustration of our work in the

area of materials preparation is provided by

our development of a series of new synthetic

procedures that have led to the preparation

of several new families of tungsten

compounds in its highest oxidation state.

The techniques developed by four (MR

scientists overcame several problems that

have been common in synthetic work on

high-valent tungsten compounds and may

provide general methods for rational

synthesis of organo-derivatives of the

transition elements in their highest oxidation

states.

The generality of their approach to this

problem offers a prospect for developing an

extensive, rational chemistry of the transition

elements in their high oxidation states. A

better understanding of the chemical

behavior of these elements offers the

prospect for more effective utilization in

technology. One possible application of this

work, for example, is the use of the new

reaction procedures to introduce heavy

elements into organic materials to improve

their flame-retardant properties.

An example in the area of new

measurement techniques is our research on

the high-pressure properties of materials in

our Inorganic Materials Division. This work

exploits the diamond-anvil pressure cell,

invented and developed by our scientists.

In the tiny cell between two diamond

surfaces, pressures up to 50 kilobars

(725,000 pounds per square inch) may be

generated. The diamond window of the cell

is transparent to x ray, visible, infrared, and

ultraviolet rays, permitting direct observation

of the changes that occur in materials as pressure is applied to them. This makes

possible the acquisition of needed data and

information on materials intended for use in a high-pressure environment.

This cell was used at the request of the

Picatinny Arsenal to measure the highpressure properties of the most commonly

used explosive detonator, lead azide. IMR

scientists found that lead azide was stable to

pressures in excess of 20 kilobars (290,000

pounds per square inch) which is much
higher than is found in the chamber of a gun, even during firing. It was concluded

that the detonation of lead azide was not a

result of the absolute pressure, but was

probably caused by the rate of change of

pressure and possibly by the rapid

generation of heat that occurs as the

detonator is struck.

In the area of data generation and the

acquisition of needed data on the properties

of materials, an example is the work on the

corrosion of metals which has been actively

pursued for many years in our Metallurgy

Division. Data which have been obtained on

corrosion rates under various conditions are

of extreme importance to the metals and

construction industries. It is estimated that

corrosion costs the U.S. consumer over $10

billion per year. A study of the corrosion of

steel pilings in soils by this group led to the

finding that you should drive the piles into

the soil, thus depriving them of oxygen that

causes rusting; instead of digging the soil

loose, which admits oxygen, and then

putting the piles in. The results of this study,

which were reported in NBS Monograph 58,

were received most enthusiastically by

engineers in this country and abroad, as evidenced by the 35,000 requests received

for the publication. These activities show the

kinds of research we do in acquiring data at the forefront of science on the properties

and behavior of materials. I feel that such

activities are of considerable value to

The atomic weight of zinc was measured with high accuracy in this couiometric ceil (George Marinenl(o, X2883).
Fifly years ai;o. even listening to a crystal set was a rather exciting

experience. Shown here is Mrs. W. F. Harlow of the Bureau's Radio Division.

26

science, industry, and the public welfare,

including defense.

An example of an accomplishment in the area of precise data acquisition is the

precise determination of the numerical

values in the Mark-Houwink equation which

defines the relationship between the

molecular weight (size) of a polymer (plastic)

and the viscosity of a solution of the

polymer in an organic solvent. This

relationship is extremely important to the

plastics industry for it provides a quick,

simple, and accurate method for

determining the molecular weight of the

polymer chain as the solution viscosity is easy to measure. It is the molecular weight

of the plastic which greatly influences its properties—for example, its mechanical

strength. Scientists in our Polymers Division

have carefully measured the constants in the

equation defining the viscosity relationship

in the case of polyethylene, a plastic

produced in billion-pound quantities last

year. Other important plastics are currently

being studied.

As part of the Materials Research

Program, we do some exploratory research

that provides us with a better understanding

of the behavior of materials. A good

understanding of the behavior of a material

is in general a boon to its eventual proper

use. We also have a number of data

compilation efforts that are closely

associated with this program. Our Institute is one of the principal contributors to the

National Standard Reference Data Program

and provides carefully evaluated and

meaningful data on the properties of

materials and chemical compounds to the

Nation's scientists and engineers.

Standard Reference Materials (SRMs)

Since 1910, NBS has provided a wide

variety of materials that are used by science,

industry, and technology to accurately

calibrate many kinds of measurement

systems. Over 800 different Standard

Reference Materials are now available under

this program, and about 30,000 units are

sold each year.

SRMs are used in many areas:

• For environment, we have the sulfur

dioxide permeation tube, used for

calibrating instruments designed to measure

this pollutant in the field.

• For health, we have high-purity

cholesterol, which is used to control

accuracy of measurement of cholesterol in

clinical laboratories.

• For agriculture, the example is orchard

leaves, certified for trace elements such as

calcium, copper, iron, and nickel.

• For productivity enhancement, we have

steel standards used to calibrate rapid and

accurate methods for analysis of steel

during its manufacture.

• For energy production, we have uranium

isotope abundance standards.

• For research, we have the tin freezing

point standard used in realizing accurate

temperatures in the laboratory.
• For defense (and incidentally, safety in

transportation), we have metallo-organic

compounds such as an oil-soluble copper

SRM used to control analysis of engine and

bearing oil for the purpose of preventive

maintenance.

As an example of how an SRM is employed, the copper in oil SRM is used to

determine the performance characteristics of

engines in the trucking and railroad

industries, and in aircraft of the Department

of Defense. Chemical analysis, on a periodic

basis, of the metal content of the lubricating

oils of these engines can predict when

failure of a bearing containing copper is imminent, as the sudden appearance of

excessive amounts of copper in the oil would signal such an event. These oils are analyzed with a spectrometer whose

accuracy and constancy of operation is assured through calibration with the use of

the NBS oil-soluble copper SRM. An early

success of this technique was the detection

of an incipient failure in an engine in an

aircraft used by a former President of the

United States.

Measures for Air Quality

Our Measures for Air Quality (MAQ)

Program was initiated 2 years ago. MAQ

attacks the most urgent air pollution

measurement and data problems with

special emphasis on their quantitative basis

and technical credibility to insure adequate

but fair abatement and minimize

unnecessary restrictions on industry and

The high-pressure diamond cell developed at NBS has been

used for several years to study crystal and molecular

structure of materials at pressures up to 60 kilobars. Here the

cell is mounted on a goniometer in the precession camera so

that It lies between the x-ray source and a photographic film (George Piermarini, X2950).

citizenry. Specific goals of MAQ are: (1) the

development of a broad approach to the

particulate measurement problem via the

development of new methodology for

particulate size and distribution

measurements and for physical and

chemical analysis of particulates; (2) the

development of precise methods for the

analysis of gaseous pollutants through the

use of laser and optical methods and the

adaptation of existing analytical techniques

not now used for air pollution

measurements; (3) the development of

standard reference materials for the

calibration of analytical instrumentation; and

(4) the compilation, evaluation, and

dissemination of critical data pertaining to

air pollution.

In 1923 Lewis B. Tuckerman

devised an optical strain gage b

which deformations as small as

millionths ofan inch could be

detected. This device is still in wide use.
Dr. Geort>e K. Burgess, who had

been cil NBS since 1903 and had

established a soHd reputation

in heat measurement and

metalhirgx. served as Director

from 1923 to 1932.

!

i

I

'!

1 28

Examples of recent accomplishments in

this area include the development of a sulfur

dioxide permeation tube that serves as a standard reference material to calibrate air

pollution measuring instruments and the

development of a light-scattering technique

which measures the size and size

distribution of particulates.

Technical Services and Cooperative

Research

The research and standards capabilities

and facilities of all IMR technical divisions

have been utilized by other Government

agencies, industry, national standardization

bodies, and the general scientific community

to help solve materials problems.

One example of a collaborative research

program with a private organization is that

of the NBS-American Dental Association

joint Dental Research Program. The National

Institute of Dental Research is also involved.

This program, which has been in existence

for more than 40 years, has resulted in many

significant advances in both diagnostic and

therapeutic dentistry.

These advances include two

breakthroughs in dental instrumentation.

The first is the development of a high-speed

hydraulic dental drill which has helped to

revolutionize dental practice by conserving

the dentists' time and reducing patient

discomfort. The second breakthrough was

the development of a panoramic x-ray

machine that produces an x-ray picture of

the entire dental arch, with the supporting

bone structure, on one large film, as opposed to the 18 separate pictures

otherwise needed for a complete mouth

examination. This machine reduces by a considerable factor the time required to x

ray a patient's mouth and also reduces his

exposure to x rays.

The Dental Research Program has also

contributed extensively to our present

understanding of tooth structure and the

surface chemistry of teeth, and has made

numerous contributions to the development

of restorative materials.

The second example involves the NBS

Nuclear Reactor, which is currently being

used by many Government agencies. The

U.S. Geological Survey is using it to

determine trace constituents in geological

materials. The Food and Drug Administration

is using it for a variety of studies including

the determination of fluorine in bone meal

and mercury in foods. The Federal Bureau of

Investigation is one of the primary reactor users in its studies of gunshot residues in

criminal cases and bomb associated

residues. The U.S. Postal Service has utilized

the reactor and the services provided by our

Analytical Chemistry Division for detailed

examination of physical evidence involved in

post office burglaries and for the

examination of, for instance, bomb parcel

mailings. The method of neutron activation

analysis, which the reactor makes possible,

has proven to be a powerful tool for

obtaining information relating to crimes, and

has provided a substantial amount of
Nitrogen dioxide permeation device being evaluated in the

laboratory. The small tube within the ccridenser contains

liquid NO which permeates through a porous plug at the right-hand end. the permeation rate being a function of temperature (Ernest E. Hughes, X2886).

evidence that has been accepted by the

courts.

HIGHLIGHTS

FISCAL YEAR 1971

The word "material" has many different

connotations. Materials Science and

Materials Engineering are disciplines that are very broad in scope. Past advances

made in Materials Science and Technology

have contributed to the betterment of all aspects of human life including health,

safety, and economic well-being. Thus it is understandable that there is a whole

multitude of areas within the scope of

Materials Science where various

Government agencies either have a primary

responsibility or at least play an important

role in conducting basic and applied

research on materials and in the

experimental development of new and

improved materials.

Within this broad context the Institute for

Materials Research has played a rather

unique role especially in the areas of

materials standards, the development of

improved measurement techniques, and the

elucidation of concepts which explain the

behavior of materials.

The following examples are a

representative sampling of the many

accomplishments of IMR during fiscal year

1971.

1200 Series Ferrous SRMs Issued

The 1200 series of iron and steel Standard

Reference Materials (SRMs) has recently

been completed. These SRMs are five

essential "benchmarks" to the iron and steel

industry for production control, customer

acceptance, and research and development.

The five standards provide for the "complete

SRM package" needed for chemical analysis

by the many techniques used in industry; for

example, optical emission, x-ray

fluorescence, flame emission, atomic

absorption, polarography, gravimetry,

calorimetry, neutron activation, microprobe,

spark-source mass spectrometry, and

vacuum and inert gas fusion.

These standards were developed at NBS

through the efforts of many members of the

Analytical Chemistry Division and with the

collaboration of 21 outside laboratories.
Dr. K. S. Gibson of the Colorimetry Section built one of

the first spectrophotometers in which a photoelectric cell rather than the eye was used to make

accurate determinations of color

30

The technical and support aspects

involved in the preparation, certification, and

issuance of these SRMs were coordinated

through the Office of Standard Reference

Materials by Robert E. Michaelis (X2082).

Contact: R. E. Michaelis (X2082)

Fluorine-18 Radiopharmaceutical for Bone

Lesion Localization

Radioactive fluorine-18 (F-18) has been

known for several years as the agent of

choice for bone lesion imaging. The

radioisotope administered orally or

parenterally accumulates in bone in direct

proportion to the bone flow and metabolic

activity. Fluorine-18 scintographs

demonstrate lesions far earlier than x-ray

radiographs which require a 30 percent

change in bone density in order to produce

lesion images. Fluorine-18 also gives a

sufficiently low radiation dose to patients to

permit its use in skeletal surveys and benign

lesion imaging. In comparison, the radiation

dose of strontium-85, the readily available

bone imaging agent, is so high that its use is

restricted to patients with diagnosed primary

carcinoma. Due to the short half-life (110

minutes) of F-18, however, it is necessary to

produce it rapidly and near the location of use.Fluorine-18 produced at the NBS reactor

has been successfully used in patients at the

Fairfax Hospital, Fairfax, Va.; Georgetown

University Hospital, Washington, D.C.; the

Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Md.;

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.;

National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda,

Md.; Walter Reed General Hospital,

Washington, D.C.; Northern Virginia

Pathology Laboratories, Fairfax, Va.;

Veterans Administration Hospital,

Washington, D.C.; and the Washington

Hospital Center, Washington, D.C.

Contact: R. S. Carter (X2421)

F-18 Production, Processing and Patient Use—G. Dunson et al., J. Nucl. Med. 11, 316 (1970).

Bone Scanning with Orally Administered F-18, A. E. Jones et al., J. Nucl. Med. 12, 441 (1971).

Production, Processing and Application of Research

Reactor Produced F-18 Radiopharmaceutical, G. Dunson et al.. Nuclear Medizin 13, XIII, 256 (1971).

Chemistry of the Stratosphere

The Physical Chemistry Division has

undertaken a study of the chemistry of the

stratosphere. This work is in support of the

Climatic Impact Assessment Program (CIAP)

of the Department of Transportation. The

purpose of CIAP is to study the possible

environmental impact of high flying aircraft

on the stratosphere. This is a topic of

extreme national importance.

Photochemical processes control the

composition of the stratosphere. They are responsible for formation of the ozone layer

This volcanic-like eruption on a lunar soil particle from the

Apollo 12 mission was investigated with the scanning electron microscope (SEM). X-ray scanning with the SEM showed no

metal on the surface. The particle was later cut and metallic inclusions were found inside, leading to the conclusion that the eruption was produced by stresses set up in the originally hot mass. These stresses resulted from differences in thermal

conductivity of the included metal and the glassy host (Harvey

Vakowitz, X2965).

NBS conductedfire severity

tests on abandoned buildings in Washington during the 1920's. Observations were made on the structure itself and on office safes placed in the building as part of the test.

32

that filters out harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Exhaust from high-flying aircraft will

introduce small quantities of chemicals,

such as water, carbon dioxide, and the

nitrogen oxides, that might react with ozone

and change the ozone shield.

It is not known now to what extent, if any,

fleets of high flying aircraft will affect the

stratosphere. But the answer to that

question appears to be accessible (before

the planes fly) through a series of laboratory

experiments and tests in the stratosphere.

A task force of 10 scientists in our

Physical Chemistry Division is studying the

chemical aspects of this problem to obtain

reliable values for the rates at which

possible chemical reactions will occur. The

study has already led to recommendations to

the Department of Transportation about the

chemical systems which must be

investigated to fill in gaps in our existing

knowledge. Experiments are currently

underway at NBS to supply much of these

vitally needed data.

Contact: D. Garvin (X2771)

Coulometry

The high accuracy and precision

attainable by constant-current coulometry

for the analysis of major constituents of

materials has contributed to many aspects of

our Analytical Chemistry Division program.

For example, as part of an international

characterization exchange coordinated by

the Organization for Economic Cooperation

and Development, George Marinenko

Dr. Allan Melmed (X2998) adjusts connection to low- temperature field-ion microscope. This Instrument Is being

used to photograph the atomic details of metal and alloy structures in corrosion research sponsored by the Office of Saline Water.

developed a coulometric procedure for the

determination of the stoichiometry (i.e., the

gallium to arsenic ratio) of gallium arsenide

with a higher degree of accuracy and

precision than ever before. At present the

gallium-arsenic ratio can be determined to

better than one part in 10,000. Data such as these are of vital importance to progress in

the semiconductor industry and to solidstate physics in general because the

properties of semiconductors are as

critically dependent on the major constituent

stoichiometry as they are on dopants.

Mr. Marinenko has also employed

coulometry for a redetermination of the

atomic weight of zinc with an uncertainty of

only 0.002 percent. On the basis of this

study, the International Union of Pure and

Applied Chemistry has recently revised the

accepted value for this atomic weight. In modified form, this technique will be used

for the precise determination of the atomic
weights of other elements and make an

important contribution as a source of

benchmark data.

Contact: G. Marinenko (X2883)

Surface Damage of Laser Exposed Glass

Under partial sponsorship of the Advanced

Research Projects Agency, Department of

Defense (DoD), investigations of surface

lesions produced by high powered laser

pulses on black alkali-lead-silicate glass

were conducted by Drs. W. Haller and N.

Winogradoff of our Inorganic Materials

Division. They found that the explosive

release of alkali oxide vapors from the

shock-molten glass causes lesions which,

macroscopically, resemble thermal spall

fractures. The burn pattern consists of

circular, concentric bands of roughened

regions in the glass surface. Nonuniform

energy distribution in the laser beam caused

by wave mode interference produces this

particular pattern. Small glass fragments are emitted from the lesioned area in the course

of the damage process.

Because of the success of this method

and because of the importance of glass as a

material in laser technology, the mechanism

of the burn pattern produced on the glass

surface was investigated. The laser lesions

were first examined in a scanning electron

microscope. They showed many rounded

edges and deep craters which suggested

that the damage was caused by shock

melting and the explosive release of gas or vapor and not, as may have been suspected,

by a thermal microfracturing "spall" of the

glass surface.

To verify this hypothesis, the surface of

the glass was examined by an electron

microprobe technique. The major

constituents of the glass were silica, lead,

and potassium. The concentration profiles

for lead and silica across the glass surface

were found to be substantially constant and

not affected by the laser-induced burn

patterns. The concentration of potassium,

however, decreased significantly in the

regions of the burn pattern. In a lesion

caused by shock melting and explosive

vapor release it would be expected that the

damaged glass surface would become

relatively depleted in one of its chemical

constituents. The excellent correlation

between the visible lesions and the recorded

decrease in potassium concentration proves

the postulated mechanism and provided

DoD with needed information.

Contact: W. Haller (X2819)

Studies of Stress Corrosion Susceptibility

During the last year significant progress

has been made in understanding the role of

passive film growth kinetics and properties

in stress corrosion susceptibility. This work

was done by Dr. Jerome Kruger and Mr.

John Ambrose of our Metallurgy Division.

Our ability to measure the rate of film

repair after removal of damage of a surface

film has improved in three major ways. First,

the technique has been refined so that

repassivation events occurring during a
S. N. Petrenko (above) and

H. L. Whittemore developed the proving ringforforce

measurements.

period of 10 milliseconds can be measured.

Previously the speed of detection was of the

order of 100 milliseconds. Secondly, the

efficiency of film removal was markedly

improved by the development of an abrasive

pad that conforms to the specimen surface.

Finally, the sensitivity of film thickness

measurement was increased so that 3-5 A

(10 ^ cm) films can be detected during a 5-10

millisecond time interval.

This newly refined technique, to which we

have given the name "tribo-ellipsometry"

has been applied to studies of low-carbon

steel in nitrate and nitrite solutions at various temperatures. For these systems,

tribo-ellipsometry has been able to separate

the film repair process from the metal

dissolution process that follows film

removal. This was done by comparing the

total current obtained from measurements to

the current calculated from film thickness

measurements. By this approach, it was

found that, at elevated temperatures, where

low-carbon steel is susceptible in nitrate but

not in nitrite, the current transients for both

anions were not too different. However, the

amount of current going into metal

dissolution was greater for the nitrate. Thus,

in the susceptible solution both the rate of

repair and the ability of the repaired film to

stop dissolution were less than that for the

nonsusceptible solution. Results of this sort

can have great relevance in both predicting

susceptibility and in achieving an understanding of the mechanism of stress

corrosion.

Contact: J. Kruger (X2094)

Composite Dental Restorative Materials

One of the most dramatic developments in

modern day dental research has been the

development of direct-filling composite

restorative materials, composed of an

organic resin and inorganic reinforcing

fillers. A cross-fertilization of expertise has

been marshalled in our Polymers Division in an effort to meet the challenge of replacing

silicate cements, an esthetically pleasing

filling material, but one that is mechanically

weak and is prone to early chemical

disintegration in the oral environment.

Leading the research has been Dr. Ray

Bowen, Associate Director of the American

Dental Association Research Unit at NBS.

Mr. Given Cleek of our Inorganic Materials

Division has contributed his extensive

knowledge of glasses to the work of Dr.

Bowen and his assistant, Mr. Argentar.

Experiments performed by these workers

have provided the basis for private industry

to produce seven composite restoration

materials that are now commercially

available and are finding steadily increasing use in the dental profession. Latest

estimates consider the composite materials

to have replaced the use of silicate cements

to an extent of about 50 percent.

Contact: J. M. Cassel (X3336)

CURRENT TRENDS

AND FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

I would like to briefly discuss some

opportunities that we see in the future. One
area is in failure avoidance and failure

analysis. An example of our past

accomplishments in failure analysis is our

work on the bridge that collapsed into the

Ohio River in December 1967, carrying 46

persons to their death.

NBS experts, at the request of the

Department of Transportation, found that

corrosion in the head end of an eyebar

supporting the bridge led to the

development of stress corrosion cracks.

Over a period of years, one of these reached

a depth of about 1/8 inch. At this point, the

metal, of a type having low resistance to

fracture once a "notch" of this depth had

been established, failed catastrophically,

causing the entire bridge to collapse.

Evidence was found which indicated that

sulfur compounds in the atmosphere may

have played a role in the corrosion.

We believe that basic knowledge of the

general causes of failure will assume an

even greater importance as dwindling

natural resources and mounting costs force

the use of more substitute materials. Our

program will be aimed not only at analysis of

actual failures such as the example cited

above but also at trying to more fully

understand the causes of failures of

materials in service by studying such

phenomena as the wearing, degradation,

and fracture of materials in order to prevent

or minimize future disasters. The consumer

should benefit (as in the bridge case) by

increased safety and performance.

We see additional opportunities in

environmental pollution abatement. Two IMR

programs are concerned with pollution

abatement—our Measures for Air Quality

Program which was started 2 years ago, and

our Water Pollution Program which we hope

to initiate in the near future.

We feel that another opportunity is in the

characterization of synthetic implant

materials (biomaterials). Some major

problems associated with the use of

synthetic biomaterials in prosthetic devices

and for implants in the human body are the

incompatibility of foreign materials with

body substances such as blood and tissue,

the degradation of the implant material in the body, and catastrophic failure or fracture

of the implant. Our program would be

designed to help solve these problems by

performing studies in such areas as chemical analysis of implant materials,

physical characterization of implant

materials as to microstructure and surface

characteristics; studies of degradation or deterioration of implant materials, and stress

corrosion and fracture of implant materials.

We believe that this program would be

efficient only if done in an atmosphere of

appropriate arrangements with other

Government agencies, and with the advice

of appropriate professional groups—by

analogy, with the type of relationship that

proved successful in our Dental Materials

Program.

NBS began producing optical

glass whfn European supplies were cut off by WW I. This

expertise led to the casting of a

69.5-inch telescope mirrorfor

Ohio Wesleyan University, the

largest made in this country to that time. Prof. Crump of

Wesleyan University and Dr. Burgess, NBS Director, inspect

the c'isli after a mounting hole

had been drilled.

<4

m

THE Institute for Applied

Technology (lAT), as its name implies, is concerned primarily with applications,

although its activities cover a wide part of

the basic-to-applied spectrum which

characterizes the overall program of NBS.

While lAT is responsible in NBS for a number of the more engineering-based

programs, there is a strong interplay

between its activities and those of the other

Institutes and Centers.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

TO THE STATES

One example of the lAT's applications

orientation, as well as its interplay with other

parts of the Bureau, in this case the Institute

for Basic Standards, is the program of our

Office of Weights and Measures (OWM).

OWM's task is to make sure that the weights

and measures activities of the 50 States are compatible. It is a job which requires both

technical and diplomatic skills. The weights

and measures officials of the States,

counties, and municipalities have the

regulatory authority and responsibility.

Under Mr. Tom Stabler's (X2401) guidance,

the Office supplies these officials with

technical information and provides training

and a variety of other assistance. In support

of the National Conference on Weights and

The scanning electron microscope is being used in an

evaluation of the bond between wire leads and semiconductor

surfaces. Here an area of good adhesion surrounds an unbonded area (Kathryn Leedy, X3625).

Measures, an organization of State and local

weights and measures officials, model

regulations are provided for adoption by the

States. The Office is in the technology

transfer business. The staff supports the

transfer of measurement science skills,

which are under continuing development in

the Institute for Basic Standards, to State

and local government officials thereby giving

them the skills needed to facilitate trade and

honest commercial transactions. It is an

activity which antedates the formation of the

NBS and yet it has a very contemporary

flavor since it clearly acts as a protective

service to the consumer as well as to the

producer and distributor of goods. It is a simple but clear example of an NBS service

of direct help to the public.

BUILDING RESEARCH PROGRAM

The NBS Building Research Program is taking on a new, more public serviceoriented emphasis. During most of its half

century in building research, the Bureau

directed its attention to the development of

technical data for engineers working on

materials and structures for the building

construction industry. Over the past few

years. Dr. James R. Wright (X3377) and his

staff have broadened the pursuits of building

researchers to include studies on the needs

of building users. Research programs are now being carried on in environmental,

sociological, and psychological areas, as

well as building fire research, systems

INSTITUTE FOR ^mmm

flltAliAiitV

Or. F. Karl Willenbrock

Director, Institute for Applied

Technology

(X3434)

37
engineering, building economics, materials,

structures, and building information. In these programs, the performance approach

to building is fostered. The performance

approach defines performance in terms of

function; function is defined by the

attributes necessary to satisfy user needs.

The means of delivering an attribute is left open; thus, innovation in building

construction processes and materials is encouraged.

A series of events took place which put

the NBS in a position to provide significantly

increased support in the public service area. Among these was Operation

BREAKTHROUGH, a demonstration project

of the Department of Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) designed to increase the

volume of factory-built production in the

United States. HUD elected to rely on the

NBS building research staff as its technical

arm in housing technology. An

interdisciplinary NBS team developed the

performance criteria for the evaluation of

this housing and Is managing the evaluation

program itself which involves 22

Industrialized housing systems.

In addition to working with HUD, the NBS

Is cooperating with a number of other

agencies Including the National Science

Foundation's Research Applied to National

Needs (RANN) program. It Is our present

endeavor to translate the research output of

RANN's university-based program In earthquake engineering into the appropriate

form so that it is useful to building designers

and building code officials. The universitybased earthquake engineering program

complements our research program In structural design and together these

programs should produce results of value to

the building construction community in selsmically active areas.

FIRE PROGRAM

Another area in which the potential

contribution of the NBS Is tremendous Is the

fire protection and safety area. Leading fire experts In this country have

made two major points:

1. the losses of life and property In the

United States due to unwanted fires are very

high. Among developed countries our death

toll Is three times the world average; our

property losses are twice the world average.

2. this country Is underinvesting\u Its R&D effort in this area. It Is no coincidence

that two countries whose per capita fire

losses are substantially lower than ours,

Japan and Great Britain, also have two of

the best ongoing fire research programs.

Both of these countries have well-equipped

and well-staffed, government-supported fire

research laboratories of top quality.

At NBS, we are developing a top-quality

fire program. We have recently combined

our three ongoing fire efforts Into a single

Integrated program under the management

of Dr. King Walters. The three programs are

In order of their establishment; the fire

research effort in the building research
program, the Office of Flammable Fabrics,

and the activities under the Fire Research

and Safety Act. These projects will retain

their objectives of developing improved life- safety systems for buildings, the reduction of

deaths and injuries due to fabric

flammability, and the expansion of fire

research knowledge plus improvement of

the technology available to the fire services.

Our reason for combining the

management of these projects are that they

are all in need of a substantial research

effort'm such areas as the toxicity of the

products of combustion, flame spread, firedetection systems, and flame retardancy in

fabrics. Another research area of utmost

importance is the theory of scaling or modeling. At present, there is no satisfactory

theory of scaling in the fire field, so that

experimental results observed in laboratory

experiments cannot be extrapolated to

large-scale phenomena. We are in the same

position that an aircraft designer would be if he were without a wind tunnel; that is, each

experimental design could only be tested by

building a full-scale model and attempting to

fly it. In order for us to predict how a

building will burn, we have, at this point in time, no alternative to building a full-scale

model and burning it. A scaling theory for

fire phenomena is a high-priority research

need.

One spur to our efforts is the state of

technology developments'^ the fire

equipment field. We know that it is technologically feasible for men to survive in

toxic atmospheres; witness the exploits of

American astronauts who cope with the

hostile environment on the moon's surface

with equipment that is relatively light and

very efficient. Yet, under hostile fire hazards,

the breathing masks and bottles used by

firemen only supply air up to 15 minutes on

the average; the bottle weighs about 30

pounds and is so bulky that it is common

practice for a firefighter to take off the mask

and bottle as he climbs through the window

of a burning building and have them handed

to him when he is on the inside. While he is on the inside putting his mask back in

operation his major source of protection is his turn-out coat. However, there is presently

no flammability standard for the turn-out

coats and some do not pass the flammability

standard which the Department of

Commerce promulgated recently for

children's sleepwear! Our developing fire

program at the NBS can be of direct help in

improving this present lack of knowledge

and outdated technology.

OTHER PROGRAMS

in describing two of the lAT's programs in

some detail, I have, of necessity, had to

neglect many others of importance. For

instance, in our electronic technology

program, we have recently developed test

methods relating to the wire bonds used in

integrated circuits. As a result of the

application of our findings, there has been a

dramatically decreased rejection rate for

Dr. Paul Heyl workedjor nuiny

years on the redetermiiuaion of

the gravitational constant. G

.

)

39
components coming off the production

lines. In our product safety program, we

have started the difficult task of developing

the criteria for a product safety technology.

This is being done in conjunction with our

support to HEW's Toy Safety Program. For

the Department of Justices' Law

Enforcement Assistance Administration, we

have started the development of equipment

standards to assist law enforcement

agencies in their fight against crime.

NBS has the strongest and most

diversified operations research capability in

the civilian sector of the Federal

Government. In the past several years, it has

given convincing evidence of the great value

of this activity to other Federal agencies and

to State and local governmental agencies.

This group, under Dr. Ed Cushen (X3563),

brings together systems analysis techniques

and the technical know-how of the various

engineering and physical-science-oriented

divisions of the Bureau.

The list of services performed is long and

varied and includes planning and the

allocation of resources for the Coast Guard's

search and rescue activity; systems

engineering and human factors studies of

mail processing equipment for the Postal

Services; the analysis of court reporting

systems for the Department of Justice;

In lending technical assistance to the Food and Drug

Administration in the area of toy safety. NBS has studied the

susceptibility of clacker-balls to fracture or shatter under

impact. Here 5-year-old Paul Calvano demonstrates their operation with a safe pair of clacker-balls (Karl Plitt, X2933).
analysis of airport runway capacities; key

participation in the Northeast Corridor

Transportation Project for the Department of

Transportation; analysis of the proficiency of

clinical laboratories; and the development of

operations research packages to be

implemented by State and local

governments. The primary distribution

mechanism for packages utilized by

municipalities is the Technology

Applications Program of the International

City Management Association.

COMMONALITIES

IN lAT PROGRAMS

Although lAT has rather diverse activities,

there are commonalities which make these

activities part of a coherent effort.

First and most obviously, our activities are

strongly problem oriented. We undertake to

solve technical problems for a number of

other agencies as well as those derived from

our own programs. The Institute for Applied

Technology is much more heavily otheragency funded than the Bureau's other

major operating units. This fact has a number of effects; one is that we are very

closely tied into the problems of the other

agencies, and another is that we frequently

have to respond to short time deadlines.

However, the other-agency funding permits

us to expand our capabilities to meet

changing technological problems of national

significance and as these problems are

related to our ongoing programs, there can

be favorable synergistic results.

Second, we have strong ties to many parts

of private industry, particularly with their

R&D sectors. The Research Associates

Program, by which industries supply full- time technical personnel to work at the

Bureau for a period of 1 year or more, gives

us valuable insight into industrial operations

and problems.

Third, we have demonstrated a capability

to work effectively with State and local

governments. Through the National

Conference on Weights and Measures and

the National Conference of States on

Building Codes and Standards, in our Fire

Program, in the Law Enforcement Assistance

Administration Program, and, increasingly,

through our Technical Analysis Division, we

are helping State and local officials in a number of ways. With the new

Intergovernmental Relations Act we will be

able to exchange personnel between our

staff and State and local governments. This

exchange, as in the case of the Research

Associates Program, will lead to our having

a better comprehension of the operational

and technological problems of State and

local governments.

Fourth, we are increasingly developing the

ability to work successfully on problem

areas which have important nontechnical as

well as technical aspects. In such cases,

nontechnical constraints must be identified

and analyzed before workable solutions can

be found.

With this apparatus H. Dirkinson

and F. Brickwedde produced the

first liquid helium made in this country.

41
Concerns uhoiit mercury

pollution aren't new. In 1931 Dr.

IV. T. Sweeney, throufih precise

measurements, laid to rest fears

that mercury in dentalJlllinf^s mi}>ht be poisonous.

42

PRESSING QUESTIONS

The question we face is how best to use

and develop the unique resources of the lAT

as part of NBS to respond most effectively to

those national problems to which we can

contribute. The Secretary of Commerce has

stated that other nations have taken steps to

assist technological development in civilian

R&D and urged that "we accept the idea that

it has become a proper sphere for

governmental action." What part the lAT, as

a major component of the Bureau, can play

in such action is a question of interest and

concern to us. It is our perception that the

research services offered by the Federal

Government through agencies such as the

NBS should be such as to serve as an

incentive to private industry to increase their

R&D efforts rather than to become

dependent on Federal R&D If research

services of this nature are provided, they do

not compete but rather supplement and

promote private sector technical advances.

In order to consider these possibilities in a systematic way, we are undertaking a modest study effort to examine the influence

of technology on industrial and service

sector productivity with a view of identifying

those factors which have limited

technological progress. Our Office of

Invention and Innovation assists the National

Inventor's Council and has been concerned

with questions of this type for some time.

We expect that an interdisciplinary team will

be needed to make such studies. We expect

to involve experts from industry and

universities in both technical and

nontechnical aspects of the study. It is our

present hypothesis that it will not be

possible to generalize from one sector to

another but that each sector will have its own characteristics which must be

understood before barriers to technological

progress can be removed.

Some milestones for the year were:

Consumer Information

Many lAT programs generate information

of direct use by the consumer public, and

during the past year our efforts to make this

information available progressed

significantly. A consumer guide series was

started, and three widely distributed

brochures were published. These are Fibers

and Fabrics; Tires: Tlieir Selection and Care;

and Adhesives for Everyday Use. These

brochures have been distributed through

sales at the Government Printing Office, and

the tire industry has also distributed

thousands of the tire pamphlet through its market outlets. The brochures can be

purchased from the Superintendent of

Documents, U.S. Government Printing

Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

Homeowners and building operators want

to reduce the costs of heating and cooling

buildings. These costs are considerable, and

for most buildings, higher than necessary.

While this is wasteful in its own terms, it also represents a needless drain on the

Nation's finite energy resources and an
unnecessary aggravation of the air pollution

problems.

Environmental engineers in the Building

Research Division (BRD) have found that if present knowledge and available materials

are applied in the design and construction

of new buildings, savings in fuel as much as 50 percent can be made. In the case of

buildings already built, an average of 10

percent in fuel saving seems feasible.

The BRD collaborated with the Office of

the Special Assistant to the President for

Consumer Affairs to inform homeowners of

ways to achieve greater comfort, while at the

same time conserving energy resources in

heating and cooling buildings. This

information is published in two brochures: 7

Ways to Reduce Fuel Consumption in

Houseliold Heating . . . Through Energy

Conservation, and 1 1 Ways to Reduce

Energy Consumption and Increase Comfort

in Household Cooling. Hundreds of

thousands of these brochures have been

distributed by electric utilities under the

auspices of the Edison Electric Institute.

They are also available from the

Superintendent of Documents in

Washington, D.C.

Promoting Safety

Many lAT programs made significant

contributions to the advancement of public

safety during fiscal year 1971. The vehicle

systems research group, recently transferred

from NBS, prepared a standard for brake

fluids which was made mandatory by the

National Highway Safety Bureau of the

Department of Transportation. In its ongoing

programs, the lAT is concerned with product

safety, fire safety, and the flammability of

fabrics.

The responsibility for product safety rests

with the Department of Health, Education,

and Welfare (HEW). NBS and the HEW

Bureau of Product Safety operate a cooperative program whereby the lAT

program in Product Evaluation Technology

serves as the HEW technical arm. Particular

emphasis is given to toy safety standards as mandated by the Toy Safety Act.

Investigation of toys was conducted, for

example, for the sharpness of points and

edges, the burn hazards of electrical toys

such as Irons or stoves, hearing hazards

from toy caps, and injury hazards from

plastic "clacker-balls" that shatter in use. The findings were used by HEW In carrying

out its responsibilities under the Toy Safety

Act. However, other public benefits are

anticipated. For example, the temperature

burn-hazard findings on toys may be applied

to household appliances In the development

of standards aimed at eliminating burn

hazards in the home. Similarly, the research

findings on measuring hazards from

sharpness of points or edges are applicable

to many consumer products.

Contact: Dr. Melvin M. Meyerson (X2907)

In the area of fire safety,\\r\e Department

of Commerce issued a mandatory standard

for the Flammability of Children's Sleepwear.

This standard, established on July 29, 1971,

Thefirst system for blindflying

and landing of aircraft was

assembled by NBS and

demonstrated in actualflights.

Harry Diamond, Frederick

Kolster, Francis Dunmore, and

others were involved in this and

other pioneering aircraft instrumentation projects.

43

ii
Dr. Lyman J. Briggs, was

appointed Director in 1933, a

position he held until his retirement in 1945. Dr. Briggs

had been at NBSfor many years, serving as Chiefof the Mechanics

Division and then as Assistant

Director.

44

will become effective July 29, 1972 for

mandatory labeling for noncomplying

sleepwear items, and will be fully effective 1 year later. Plans for fabric and garment

sampling are being developed that will

permit a test level assuring both public

safety and application feasibility in the

industry.

In another step toward reducing fabric fire

hazards, a Proposed Flammability Standard

for Mattresses was published in the Federal

Register on September 9, 1971. The

proposed standard is now under review and

industry and public comments have been

solicited. It is designed to reduce the hazard

from the smoldering combustion of

mattresses ignited by cigarettes. Analysis of

mattress fire cases showed that cigarettes

are the major ignition source of such fires.

Studies are underway on a flammability

standard for blankets.

Contact: Dr. Joseph Clark (X31 16)

Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies

Under terms of an NBS/National Institute

of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

(U.S. Department of Justice) agreement, the

Bureau established a Law Enforcement

Standards Laboratory (LESL). The laboratory

conducts research to develop national

voluntary standards to assist law

enforcement agencies in their selection and

procurement of equipment. The laboratory

will also develop methods for measuring the

required performance of items in various

categories including, among others,

warning and safety devices for vehicles,

communication devices, sensors for crime

detection, protective equipment for

personnel, and alarms. Altogether some 14

categories of equipment have been

identified for which standards and

performance measures are needed.

Contact: Dr. R. B. Morrison (X3161)

Wire Bonds in Transistors and Integrated

Circuits

Despite the technological sophistication of

the semiconductor electronic industry, the

technology of measurement required for

control of material and device production

and exchange is not fully adequate for

present and future demands. This leads to

limitation of the exploitation of electronics

for the benefit of the Nation and sometimes

to excessive costs. The lAT Electronic

Technology Division Program is dedicated to

providing the technical base required for

productivity enhancement and cost

reduction in the field.

One phase is the identification and

elimination of faulty wire bonds—the largest

cause of failure in transistors and integrated

circuits. During the past year, uncontrolled

factors in bond fabrication were identified,

and means for controlling them were

developed which will lead to greater

uniformity and reliability. Use of these

techniques in assembly line tests by

manufacturers resulted in reduction of

rejection rate at visual inspection by more

than a factor of 2.
The Division's leadership in such activities

for advancing standardization of

measurement methods used to specify

properties of electron devices materials, and

processes in fabrication was accorded

special recognition this year. Judson C.

French (X3622) received the NBS Rosa

Award for his contributions over the years to

the understanding of the phenomenon of

second breakdown, a new basis for

specifying safe operating limits of power and

high-frequency transistors, and to

improvements in the four-probe method for

measuring the resistivity of germanium and

silicon slices.

Contact: M. G. Domsitz (X3357)

WHERE WE HOPE TO GO

Continued strengthening of our basic

competence is a must. However, the wide

variety of problems inherent in the advances

and application of technology requires

constant review of our programs and

decisions on the priorities for use of our

limited resources. The current emphasis on

safety (e.g., structures, fire, and consumer

products) will continue to use a significant

part of our resources. Statutory

responsibilities for fire research and safety

and flammable fabrics in part dictate this,

but it should be noted that NBS has long

recognized the national need to reduce the

tragic life and property losses from fires and

for many years pioneered in the

development of fire safety in buildings. We

see this area as one in which significant

contribution can be made in the prevention

and control of building fires, in support for

the greater effectiveness of the fire services,

and in progress in fabric flammability

standards.

Equally, there are contributions which can

be made to assure standards for consumer

product safety, although the definition of the

problems and ultimate role of NBS is not as

clear. In part, the legislative decisions made

by the Congress will determine the degree of our participation and responsibilities under

law for consumer safety standards in the

product field. Nonetheless, our support of

other Federal agencies with such mandates

will continue and grow; and in the voluntary

standards system, our technical support role

will increase as the system is strengthened

by industry's growing recognition of

consumer safety demands.

We anticipate that our technical support of

Federal agencies in the housing and

building field will continue at about the

current level of activity.

Finally, we expect that the lAT will

continue to be more heavily engaged in other-agency supported projects than the

other major operating units of NBS. This is inherent in the nature of our services which

are weighted in the direction of solving

technical engineering standards problems.

The competence of Martin

Shepherd and the Gas Chemistry

Section in the field of atmospheric

analysis resulted in their participation in early attempts

to define the composition ofair samples from the stratosphere.

Samples were collected by the balloon Explorer II, flown to a

height of 73,000 feet as a joint

project ofthe National

Geographic Society and the Army Air Corps {photo

courtesy National Geographic

Society).

45

THE National Bureau of Standards has

provided impetus and leadership for the

development of major technologies over the

last 70 years, but perhaps nowhere has its contribution been greater than in the field of

computer technology. Starting with its development of the first automatic electronic

computer, called the Standards Eastern

Automatic Computer (SEAC), NBS has been

at the center of the development and

application of computer technology for the

benefit of man and society. Today, at the

end of the first quarter-century of the

computer, NBS, through its Center for

Computer Sciences and Technology, plays a strong and important role in improving the

effectiveness of computer utilization and in

providing solutions to the serious problems

that have been created by the computer.

During the last year, I have concentrated

on making the Center for Computer

Sciences and Technology the scientific and

technical conscience of the computer world.

The computer world served by the Center is complex and sprawling, affecting every

segment of our society, our economy and

our Government. It is a world of far more

than the equipment which we call the

computer system; it is dominated by

software, the schemata which makes

possible the desired applications of any

computer system. I see the computer world

as a domain of services in which the

customer is principally concerned with the

COST is participating in the ARPA Network as part of a program to evaluate alternative approaches to computer

networking. Here Mrs. Shirley Watkins (X2601) is using a program located in a remote computer in the Network.

quality of the services he receives from the

computer; the customer is only secondarily

interested in hardware and the programs

written for specific applications. I am

focusing the Center's resources and

technical activities in areas which will insure

that computer services meet the needs of

the computer customer.

One of my principal concerns is with

maintaining and improving the computer

technological supporting system, i.e., the

essential legal, economic, administrative,

ethical, and intellectual arrangements

through which computer power is made

available to customers and subjected to

society's controls. I believe our work in this area is extremely important because, at this

moment in computer history, the

technological supporting system and

software have become the "Achilles Heel" in

our attempts to channel the power of

computers to serve our best interests.

Another component of the computer world

over which the Center for Computer

Sciences and Technology watches is computer science and technology from

which are derived improvements in

computer applications and products.

Because of the great technological

explosion in the computer field during and

immediately subsequent to World War II, computer science was overwhelmed by the

surge of computer applications. The current

imbalance is highly visible in that our ability

to produce computer equipment and

computer programs has far outstripped our

ability to measure and judge their quality.

CENTER FOR

mm

Dr. Ruth M. Davis

Director, Center for Computer

Sciences and Technology

(X3151)

47
The radiosonde — a balloonborne device thai transmits data on cloud height, temperature,

pressure, humidity, etc. from

heights up to 15 miles or more. Thousands are used annually

in weatherforecasting.

Developed during the 1930's by

Allen Astin, Leon Curtis. Harry

Diamond. Wilbur Hinman, and

Francis Dunmore: shown here is a later model.

48

The Center, as the conscience of the

computer world, attempts to decrease the

problems now besetting the computer

customer, and, most importantly, to predict

and prevent the occurrence of additional

problems to the extent permitted by

conscious action.

The Center possesses its unique

responsibilities and authorities partially

through its congressional mandate, Public

Law 89-306 (Brooks Bill), enacted in 1965 to

improve the Federal management and

utilization of computer technology. Under

authorities delegated to the Secretary of

Commerce by P.L. 89-306 and policy

guidance issued by the Office of

Management and Budget, the Center is specifically responsible for providing

scientific and technological advisory

services to the Office of Management and

Budget and the General Services

Administration to support the formulation of

ADP management and procurement policies,

and to other Federal agencies to assist in

the solution of specific automation

problems. The Center is responsible for

recommending Federal Information

Processing Standards and participating in

the development of voluntary ADP

standards, and for conducting research

necessary to support the scientific and

technical objectives of P.L. 89-306. Finally,

the Center operates a computer facility to

meet the computer services needs of NBS

and to provide services to other Federal

agencies on a reimbursable basis.

The Center also derives its responsibilities

and authorities from the NBS Organic Act

which allows it to share in the overall NBS

responsibility for promoting strength in science and technology and applying them

effectively for public benefit. Thus, the

Center serves both the producers and the

consumers of computer products and

services, and has a special obligation for

ensuring that computer technology serves

the American citizen in ways that enrich and

improve his life without encroaching on his

right to privacy and dignity.

Within the Center's broad objectives, the

resolution of outstanding issues and

problems demands an immediate focus of

our efforts on quality control and

measurement of computer services and

products, on increasing professionalism in

the computer field, on intensifying the

applications of automation technology, and

on decreasing the enormous dissipation of

skills in unproductive labor in the computer

field.

There is an urgency here resulting

primarily from a growing apprehension

everywhere over undesired and unforeseen

consequences of computer use. "Everywhere" is a most significant and

meaningful term in the computer world.

There are currently some 88,000 computers

in the United States and an additional 56,000

in the rest of the world. The Federal

government alone has more than 5,900

computers In its current inventory. In addition to Federal, State, and local
governments, which account for some 18

percent of total computer usage, computers

are diffused broadly through the economy.

Some 40 percent of all computer facilities are used in the manufacturing industries'

the financial community, including insurance

companies, accounts for another 16 percent;

the remaining 26 percent is distributed

among the utilities, wholesale and retail

trade, health care facilities, and data

processing firms.

With computers and their services so widespread and their customers so diverse

and dispersed, it is apparent that any

accompanying problems are going to be

extremely costly to the economy as a whole.

Computers have, in fact, become the major

technological ingredient of progress in the

world of today and it is the problems

accompanying their services and utilization

which must demand our attention and

resources. QUALITY CONTROL IN SOFTWARE

One serious problem is the inadequacy of

computer software selection, procurement,

and management procedures. There is probably no more elusive commodity bought

and sold today than computer software.

Included in software management are program production, measurement, testing,

Nicholas Goumas (X3494) performing a calibration measurement on a reference single platter u-spd for quality control In the manufacture of multlplatter disk pack storage

units. This work should lead 'o a calibration service tor the

Industry and other users
Frank Wenner. world renowned

electrical metrologisl {at NBS

1907-1943). measures the inductor used in his ohm

determination. The results were

important in the 1948 assitinment

of the ohm in terms of the meter

and second.

50

validation, documentation, control,

transferability, legal and proprietary rights of

buyer and seller, maintenance, and costing.

Althougli the United States is the world's

greatest producer of computer software,

there is virtually no quality control in the

computer service industry. No one has yet

paid adequate attention to software

management in spite of the fact that it is through software management that a whole

new dimension of efficiency is opened to the

customers of computer services. A recent

report by the General Accounting Office has

stressed the seriousness of the software

management problem and the associated

lack of quality control.

Software management is becoming

increasingly complex because computer

customers are being confronted by a rapidly

growing number of alternatives in software

products. Until quite recently, the customer

had few alternatives available in the software

area. But now, software is being produced in

large quantities by computer manufacturers,

computer users, independent software

producers, research institutions, universities,

and others. The customer's selection,

utilization and costing problems are complicated and further compounded by the

lack of measuring sticks or product

"guarantees" by the seller. The urgency of

solving the problems of software

management is underscored by the fact that

initial software costs invariably equal

hardware costs for any application and that

for a majority of applications initial software

costs are estimated to run three to eight

times hardware costs.

SOFTWARE DOCUMENTATION

Software documentation is the detailed

description of a computer program.

Standardized documentation procedures are

crucial to good software management;

without them the result is the kind of chaos

that would occur in accounting if CPA's did

not have standardized nomenclature and

conventions. Effective documentation is essential to the buyer in evaluating software

for purchase and application to his problem.

There is an urgent need for standardized

ways of describing computer programs so

that potential users can make decisions on a program's applicability to the solution of a given problem. The ability to share computer

software extensively is directly dependent

upon the uniform documentation system for

describing computer programs. The Center

has placed high priority on the development

of software documentation standards as an

important part of the Center's program to

improve the effectiveness of computer

services and insure the customer equity in

the computer marketplace.

SOFTWARE VALIDATION

Software validation is the process of

determining the extent to which software

conforms to certain stated conditions or requirements. Software validation services,
Sidney Geller (X3494) positions a probe over a reel of magnetic computer tape to plot the field produced by the magnet at the left. This worl< Is part of a study of the danger

of accidental erasure of data encoded on the tape.

in their totality, are an essential ingredient of

effective computer utilization—none exist

today. The result of the software validation

process is software certification

designating which stated conditions or requirements the software has met.

The absence of software validation

services has resulted in customers buying

software without knowing the extent to

which the software conforms to stated

conditions and requirements. In most

instances, each customer performs his own

validation of the same piece of software. An

example within the Federal computer

environment will illustrate the problem. The

fiscal year 1970 GSA ADP inventory shows

that Federal agencies bought 180 computer

systems for which the vendor maintains a COBOL compiler. Under present

procurement practices, 720 COBOL

validations were required, assuming there

were four bidders for each procurement. At an average cost of $3,000 per validation, the

total expenditure for all the required

validations on a decentralized basis would

have been $2,160,000. Since there are only

about 33 unique COBOL compilers

maintained by computer vendors, the entire

validation process could have been

performed for about $99,000—33 validations

at $3,000 each—or a savings of more than

$2 million.

In response, the Center has initiated an

effort to determine the best means for

instituting COBOL and FORTRAN validation

services, and is working closely with the

General Services Administration in serving

Federal customers.

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT OF

COMPUTER SERVICES

Presently, the computer industry has few

meters or gauges for measuring either

hardware or software performance. After 20

years, there are only some half-dozen

computer-hardware monitors which can

provide data on how various components of a computer system are performing; these

have been developed, generally, within the

last 5 years. And yet, first tentative findings

show that a 25 percent improvement in

computer utilization can be expected from

The radio proximityfuze —

developed during WW II to explode shells at a preselected

height above a target. The fuze

emits radio waves, which are

reflectedfrom the target back to a

receiver in the fuze. When the received signal exceeds a predetermined intensity, an

electronic switch is activated

that detonates the fuze.

51
The Bureau helped develop the

Bat, the first guided missile ever used in combat. It was unpowered,

gliding from the release plane to the target.

52

simple changes apparent from primitive

analyses of the data produced by these

hardware monitors. Grossly, this could mean

a 25 percent decrease in the cost of

computer services provided by a given

installation.

The Center has included in its technical

program an effort to develop and provide to

the computer customer a body of techniques

and guidelines for measuring the

performance of computer systems.

STANDARDS

Finding the remedy for computer

hardware and software incompatibilities is not an easy task. We believe that properly

conceived ADP standards can usefully serve

to resolve incompatibility problems.

Standards in this sense are consensus

agreements on how the design, performance

and other characteristics of computer

products, processes, services, and systems

are to be described and, when possible,

measured. Desired compatibility among

computer hardware is achieved when one

set of equipment can accept and process

data prepared by another set of equipment

without having to convert the data or modify

its own program. The desired compatibility

among software packages is achieved when

the operating system of one computer can

run programs written for another

(compatible) computer and achieve the same

results.

The standards program of the Center for

Computer Sciences and Technology

attempts to achieve these objectives through

support of and cooperation with the Nation's

voluntary ADP standardization activities,

especially those of the American National

Standards Institute (ANSI) and the

International Organization for

Standardization (ISO).

To date, 15 standards which are aimed at

resolving problems of ADP incompatibility

have been issued as Federal Information

Processing Standards. In addition, the

Center is actively participating along with

representatives from other Government

agencies and industry in the standards

committees of ANSI and ISO, where some 80

other ADP standards are in various stages of

development. We intend to continue a vigorous technical participation in these

standards activities.

PROFESSIONALISM IN THE COMPUTER

WORLD

The effective utilization of computer

technology to solve pressing national

problems is directly dependent upon the

availability of an adequate force of

professional computer personnel capable of

advancing computer science. Presently,

there is a serious shortage of properly

trained, experienced computer

professionals. Current estimates are that the

total need for computer personnel of all types will double in the next 5 years. The

Department of Labor has estimated that

there are currently about 500,000 computer

personnel in the United States; most of

these are applications oriented personnel
without formal education in computer

science.

The trained professional manpower base

capable of contributing to the advance of

computer science is a small but increasing

fraction of total computer personnel. As of

1969, only 4,343 computer science degrees

had been awarded over the preceding 5

years; only 163 of these were at the Ph.D.

level. As a result, the current ratio of

application manpower without formal

education in computer sciences to those

who have formal degrees in computer

science is at least 100:1. This imbalance is producing a drag effect on computer

application and utilization. The Center

endorses all efforts leading to increased

computer manpower skills and to a respectable computer science.

DISSIPATION OF SKILLS

The dissipation of skills in the computer

world today is enormous. This intolerable

condition exists for several reasons. First of

all, we cannot exchange software except in

highly restrictive situations because of the

lack of compatibility of computer equipment

and software and our present inability to

document and thus define a computer

system. The result is duplicative costs for

the same development and a waste of

computer manpower. Our economy can

afford neither.

A second reason for low productivity of

computer professionals results from the

inability of the computer customer to specify

the performance he requires from the

service he is buying. When this problem is coupled with the present lack of

performance measurement tools and

techniques for computer products we have

the almost ludicrous situation of a marketplace where the buyer does not know

whether his "purchase" is satisfactory and

where the seller does not know how to

describe his product. The result is the well

known horror story of the organization with an unacceptable computer system after 2

years of contractual development and

several million dollars outlay.

Still another reason for dissipation of

expensive computer manpower skills is our

inability to find ways of sharing the costly

computer products and resources we as a

nation now possess. We are taking the first

steps toward removing the obstacles to

remote sharing of costly computer resources

developed through large manpower

expenditures. The process of sharing is called teleprocessing and is accomplished

through the networking of computers and

customers by communications.

The Center for Computer Sciences and

Technology is active in attempting to

eliminate all these problems resulting in wasted resources and unsatisfied

expectations. It has, as noted earlier,

projects to increase compatibility of software

and hardware and to develop and apply

performance measurements to computer

services. It is also developing teleprocessing

as a radically better way of utilizing

computers.

Dr. Edward U. Condon came to NBS as Director in 1945, having

established a reputation as an

outstanding theoretical physicist.

He resigned to return to private

industry in 1951

.

53
TELEPROCESSING

Not everyone who needs computer

services can afford a computer, and,

conversely, not everyone who has a computer needs all the services he has

available. Similarly, those who do own

computers cannot afford to develop all the

software and data banks they would like to

have to be completely self-sufficient. Clearly,

then, there is a need for effective methods

which will permit communities of customers

to share expensive computer resources. Resource sharing among computer

customers is increasing but has not yet

reached truly effective levels. Much of

today's sharing is in the form of exchanging

computer software and data files but even

here effectiveness of sharing is severely

limited by the lack of compatibility between

hardware and software. Our ultimate

objective is a set of procedures which permit

the effective and efficient sharing of

hardware, software, and data files without

the necessity to physically move resources

or perform any conversion or modification of resources.

Dr. Selden Stewart (X3491), a Postdoctoral Fellow, conducting

experimentation via satellite with computers at a remote

location.

A program is underway to certify secondary standard

reference digital tape cassettes (foreground). Tiie apparatus

on which Amory Ericson (X3494) is preparing to calibrate an

International Standard Magnetic Tape (sold by NBS as SRM

3200) will also be used to calibrate cassettes.
The most advanced current concept in

computer resource sharing is computer

networking. A computer network is a set of

independent computer systems

interconnected by telecommunications lines

to permit interactive resource sharing

between any combination of systems and

customers. Teleprocessing is the popular

term used to describe computer networking.

Teleprocessing systems can be as simple as

a single computer to which several remotely

located access terminals are connected via

standard telephone lines, or as complex as a nationwide network of large-scale computer

systems interconnected by high-speed

dedicated communications lines.

It is clear even at this early stage of its development that the future structure of

teleprocessing usage will be affected by

Federal policies and that these policies may

well be the determining factor in future

trends as teleprocessing is applied to

increasing numbers of applications within our society.

The Office of Telecommunications Policy

(OTP) was established just a year ago in recognition of the importance of Federal

policies on communications practices and

trends. On September 1, 1971, this Office

asked the National Bureau of Standards to

assume a distinct and special role in

assisting the OTP in carrying out its functions assigned by the President in the

area of computers and communications. In

particular, the NBS was asked to provide

technical advice and analysis in teleprocessing matters.

We consider this an extremely important

assignment and appropriate for the Center

for Computer Sciences and Technology

under its congressional mandate.

There are many concerns with the

technology and economics of

teleprocessing. Some of these concerns are

socioethical in nature and deal with

questions of the privacy aspects of the

information, and to the integrity of such

information, especially when that

information is transmitted from computer to

computer. Very serious concerns exist with

respect to the methodologies for verifying

electronically stored information concerning

an individual or business. Similar concerns

arise regarding procedures for correcting

erroneous information, especially if that

information has been disseminated to

locations where it may be used to respond

to inquiries. We have classified this problem

of privacy of data as one of controlling the

accessibility to computer-maintained data

bases.

CONTROLLED ACCESSIBILITY TO

COMPUTER DATABASES

The pervasiveness of the computer has

raised widespread fear of the computer as a

threat to the privacy of the individual.

Teleprocessing has escalated such fears.

Although the issue has been frequently

exaggerated and charged with excessive

emotion, there is a necessity for a rational
A magnetic fluid clutch, operating on the principle that a magnetized

fluid medium (such as iron

particles in oil) can transmit

torque between movable plates, was.developed by Jacob

Rabinow. This device has had

widespread commercial

application.

56

approach to the problem of security, privacy,

and confidentiality of information contained

in computer data banks.

The problem of controlled accessibility of

data bases has two major facets, the

technical problems of protection by use of

hardware or software techniques and the

social or legal aspects of privacy and the

protection of property rights. It appears that

the technical aspects of the problem, while

significant, are not insurmountable although

their adequate resolution will require

analysis of the social or legal problem to

determine what limitation on access must be

provided for.

The social or legal problem has two major

facets—the protection of privacy and

property rights. In the first case, all of us have misgivings about the accumulation of

vast amounts of personal data about

ourselves in an information system with that

data made available to users of the system.

The uses of this data by properly motivated

people could be of immense social value;

however, the potential for abuse of the

information by unscrupulous individuals is equally immense. Such misuse may range

from using credit-rating information to

determine likely prospects for making

unauthorized charge account purchases to

blackmail through use of collected and

correlated facts about past conduct which

individually are insufficient to prove anything

but when taken in the aggregate tend to

circumstantially show some undesirable

conduct.

In the case of protection of property, the

problem involves not only the use of the

data but the control of the data base.

The technical issues underlying all aspects

of privacy of data are a major program

thrust of the Center for Computer Sciences

and Technology.

The Center has initiated substantive

scientific and technical programs in each of

these problem areas and has begun to

record significant progress over the last

year. The development of techniques and

guidelines for the centralized validation of

COBOL and FORTRAN compilers has

reached an advanced stage. Similarly, the

Center has made significant progress in the

development of a detailed methodology for

resolving interface problems through the use

of performance specifications to be

employed in the acquisition of computer

systems and components. The Center has

initiated a comprehensive program to

develop techniques for measuring the

performance of computer systems and

services. Research in performance

measurement is a crucial part of the

Center's teleprocessing program which uses

the Advanced Research Projects Agency's

nationwide computer network as one

experimental vehicle. The Center, through a

terminal interface message processor (TIP)

located at the NBS, can access computers in

the ARPA network and also can provide

access to other Federal agencies wanting to use the network.

We will continue to expand and intensify
our technical program and to place heavy

emphasis on developing the tools,

techniques, and procedures which will

enable the customer to increase the

effectiveness of computer utilization. Toward

this end, the Center has requested an

increase in its fiscal year 1973 budget of

more than 40 percent.

HIGHLIGHTS

OF FISCAL YEAR 1971

The Center for Computer Sciences and

Technology made significant progress in

several areas of its assigned responsibility

during fiscal year 1971. In terms of overall

impact and continuing benefit to the Federal

computer customer, the reorientation of the

Center's technical program to focus

resources on the high priority problems and

issues currently confronting the computer

customer is a major accomplishment. In

fiscal year 1971, the Center also initiated

specific scientific and technical projects to: develop techniques and guidelines in the areas of performance measurement,

software management, and computer

utilization; explore problems in teleprocessing and computer networking

related to the effective sharing of expensive

computer resources, i.e., hardware, software,

and data banks; and develop automatic data

processing standards. These projects, which

are representative of the major new

initiatives being undertaken by the Center,

have both near-term and long-range

objectives and will generate outputs over an extended period.

Selected specific examples of fiscal year

1971 accomplishments are.

Completion of Six Federal Information

Processing Standards

The Center completed the development of

six Federal Information Processing

Standards (FIPS) and forwarded them to the

Director, Office of Management and Budget

for approval:

• FIPS PUB 16: Bit Sequencing of the Code

for Information Interchange in Serial-by-Bit

Data Transmission

• FIPS PUB 18: Character Structure and

Character Parity Sense for Parailel-by-Bit

Data Communication

• FIPS PUB 17: Character Structure and

Character Parity Sense for Serial-by-Bit Data

Communication in Code for Information

Interchange

• FIPS PUB 14: Hollerith Punched Card

Code

• FIPS PUB 15: Subsets of the Standard

Code for Information Interchange.

Contact: Harry S. White, Jr. (X3551)

Development of a Teleprocessing

Dialogue Monitor

The Center completed the development of an initial version of a hardware/software

device for monitoring, recording, and

analyzing the "dialogue " between a user at a remote terminal and an on-line computer

//( 1 949. Bureau test on battery

additive A D-X2 showed it —

like all other additives tested over the previous 30 years — had

no positive effect on battery life or performance. In fact, a

negative effect wasfound during

a 10-yearfield trial. Three of the

batteries used as part of the NBS

dc power supply f top ) were

treated with A D-X2 and returned

to service; three companion cells were not treated. After 10 years ofroutine service the treated cells

cells (second, third and sixth,

left to right, bottom) showed

more deposit and their averaged

electrical capacity was hut

3.5% of the untreated cells.

57
The first atomic ( ammonia

)

clock, w ith its developer Dr. Harold Lyo/is irii;l\t) and Dr. Condon.

58

system. The monitor, inserted between the user and a remote computer system,

provides data about user behavior, system

performance, and communications facility

utilization. Four types of data are acquired:

total time required and number of characters

transmitted during user input; system delay

time before beginning to respond to user

input; time required and the number of

characters transmitted during system output;

and time until user starts again transmitting

characters to the computer system. The

monitor time-tags each character and

through a post-processor program prints the

entire dialogue. The dialogue monitor is an

important tool to assist in measuring the

performance of teleprocessing systems.

Contact: Thomas N. Pyke, Jr. (X2601)

Preparation of a Comprehensive Study of

the Role of the National Bureau of

Standards in Federal ADP Operations

During fiscal year 1971, the Center for

Computer Sciences and Technology

completed a comprehensive study of the

role of the National Bureau of Standards in

Federal ADP operations and how to increase

NBS's effectiveness in achieving greater

efficiency and economy in Government ADP

operations under the Brooks Bill. The study

describes the Federal computer

environment, discusses the Center's

authorities and policies to implement P.L.

89-306, presents the Center's technical

program, and summarizes the Center's

major accomplishments. The study directly

supports the Center's fiscal year 1973

budget request and provides a foundation

for a 5-year development program.

Contact: Dr. Ruth M. Davis {X3151)

CURRENT TRENDS AND NEW

ACTIVITIES

The Center's program is directed toward

the objective of insuring that computer

services meet the needs of the customer and

that the computer technological supporting

system keeps pace with computer

technology itself. Against the background of a services-oriented computer world that is dominated by software and its management,

the Center will concentrate on developing

and making available to the customer those

techniques and tools which will enable the

customer to measure the performance of

computer systems, exercise effective quality

control over computer services, determine

the cost-effectiveness of computer services,

simplify computer system selection and

acquisition, and produce more effective

software with greater capability for

transferability. The Center, as the Federal

scientific and technical focal point for

computer sciences and technology, will

emphasize its technical support to the Office

of Management and Budget, General

Services Administration, Office of Science

and Technology, National Science

Foundation, Office of Telecommunications

Policy, General Accounting Office, and the

Department of State in formulating policies

regarding ADP management and
procurement, teleprocessing, international

computer technology, and advancement of

computer science. Selected examples of

current and future activity are:

Development of Centralized Validation

Service for COBOL and FORTRAN

Compilers

The Center, in concert with other Federal

agencies, is at an advanced stage in the

development of centralized services for

validating COBOL and FORTRAN compilers.

The Center is developing the specifications,

techniques and guidelines for these services

and will designate specific Federal agencies

to perform the actual validation. The

routines developed by the Department of

Defense will be used for COBOL validation;

the Center's own routines will be used for

FORTRAN validation. Centralized COBOL

validation services will be available by fiscal

year 1973; FORTRAN validation services will

be available by fiscal year 1974.

Contact: Harry S. White, Jr. (X3551)

Development of Performance

Measurement Techniques

The Center is currently experimenting with

hardware performance monitors and is developing techniques and guidelines for

the application of these monitors to improve

the effectiveness of computer utilization.

This work will be expanded to include

software monitors. In addition, the Center

will continue its development of devices and

techniques for calibrating computer

recording media, e.g., magnetic tape, tape

cassettes, disks, etc. This work benefits both

the buyer and the seller of recording media.

Contacts: Dr. Selden Stewart (Performance

Monitors) (X3491)

James P. Nigro (Calibration Services)

(X3476)

Experimentation in Computer Resource

Sharing

The Center has initiated a major program

in teleprocessing and computer networking

in order to advance the understanding of

this most rapidly growing segment of

computer technology and to develop

techniques for improving the effectiveness

of its utilization. The program will include

experimentation with a number of

teleprocessing systems and computer

networks. The Center has a terminal

interface message processor (TIP) which

gives it access to the Advanced Research

Projects Agency (ARPA) computer network

and, in turn, provides a means for other

Federal agencies in the Washington area to

gain easy access to the network. Using its dialogue monitor and other techniques, the

Center will study user behavior, system

response, and data transmission to provide a

technical base for measuring performance

and developing techniques and guidelines

for effective sharing of equipment, software

and data banks.

Contact: Thomas N. Pyke, Jr. (X2601)

SEA C — Standards Eastern Automatic Computer— the first general-purpose, internally

sequenced electronic computer, was completed in 1950. Shown

in front ofSEAC is Samuel

Alexander, who initiated the NBS

computer group that evolved into the present Centerfor Computer

^ciences and Technology.

59

THE Office of the Associate Director

for Programs has celebrated its first

birthday. The purpose of the Office is to

support the Director and Executive Board in

focusing the Bureau's activities. Priority v\/as

placed during the first year on conceiving

and establishing a Bureau-wide

infrastructure for the systematic planning,

formulation, evaluation and promotion of

agency programs. The role of the Office in

the infrastructure is to (1) develop and

interpret agency-level policies and

objectives; (2) analyze and evaluate

programs (proposals, plans and progress) in

context of policies and objectives; (3)

manage the annual cycle of program review,

planning and budget formulation; and (4)

promote NBS programs.

The basic nature and purpose of the

Office dictates that practically all activities,

to be successful, must be carried out in

close collaboration with some combination

of the Director, the Executive Board, line

managers, or staff.

SOME PRINCIPAL

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Working definitions were developed for

the elements of the new Program Structure

developed by the Director and Executive

Board in 1970. The Structure documents the

goals and objectives toward which the line

The sophistication and cost of scientific equipment is constantly Increasing. Dr. Sanford Newman (X3130) of the Program Office made an extensive study of NBS equipment

needs and policies, finding that the fraction of NBS funds

spent on equipment, approximately 3 percent per year, Is far less than that of industrial laboratories, which average about

10 percent.

managers address their plans and services.

Together with criteria for selection of

Bureau programs developed by the

Executive Board, the Structure is used by

the Director in allocation of NBS resources. The Office of Programs was particularly

active during this year in collaborating in

many important ways with the Department of

Commerce, Office of Management and

Budget, and the Office of Science and

Technology in the planning and evaluation

of national level programs.

PROGRAM PLANNING, REVIEW, AND

BUDGETING

A program planning and reporting system

was conceived and instituted which will

provide data for allocation of resources

within NBS and the justification of budget

submissions. The system was initiated with

the Director's assignment of responsibility

for each major program area to the

appropriate Institute or Center of the

Bureau, and their subsequent assignment of

program managers or representatives. The

Program Office then developed guidelines

for the program managers and

representatives.

With the extraordinarily high leyel of

cooperation and assistance from the NBS

Budget Division, the Office was able to

introduce an improved level of quality and

effectiveness into the budget process, i.e., the preparation and presentation of NBS

proposals and their justification.

To facilitate the use of the Evaluation

Panels provided each NBS division and

Dr. Howard E. Sorrows

Associate Director for Programs

(X2446)
Procedures were developed at NBS, in cooperation u itli Lihhy-Ow ens-Ford, for the preservation of tl\e orii^inal parchment documents of the Declaration of Independence and

the Constitution.

62

institute by the NAS/NRC, the Program

Office prepared charters for each of the

Panels as a guide to the issues on which

their assistance was required; and the Office

provided the necessary interface for

coordination and communications with the

Panels.

PROGRAM ANALYSIS

Scientists from the Bureau staff were

assigned the responsibility for coupling

between the Bureau's major technical

programs and the line organizations. They

provide a critical communications interface

between the Director's Office and line

organizations, allowing more adequate

consideration of program alternatives and

assuring feedback on program evaluations

and agency level guidance for program

development. Their contributions, based

primarily on their ability to understand and

articulate the programs, in representing the

new budget initiatives to the Department of

Commerce and Office of Management and

Budget were a major factor in the Bureau's

unprecedented success in achieving its

fiscal year 1973 budget objectives. For

information about the Bureau's operating

goals: Measurement Services for Science

and Technology, and Technical Information

Services, contact Dr. David T. Goldman

(X3134); Science and Technology for

Industry and Government, contact Dr.

Joseph A. Coleman (X3133); Technical

Services for Equity in Trade, and Technical

Services for Public Safety, contact Dr.

Sanford B. Newman (X3130).

During the year, the Bureau completed a number of in-depth studies of fundamental

problems or opportunities. The Office

developed guidelines for systematic conduct

and presentation of the studies, coordinated

the efforts, and actively participated in the

studies where appropriate. The studies were

particularly effective in supporting

successful new program and institutional

initiatives, e.g., a long-range plan for the

modernization of the Bureau's laboratory

equipment was developed under the

direction of a member of the Program

Office, forming the essential support for

acceptance by the Department of Commerce

and 0MB of a major NBS initiative.

PROGRAM PROMOTION

An experienced scientist. Dr. Thomas

Flynn (X3191), was given responsibility for

agency-level coordination of program

promotion activities. The primary

responsibility of this office is to represent

the programs of NBS as a whole to any

audience in keeping with their need and

understanding, to convey the nature of the

scientific worth and public worthiness of our

programs, and to assure up-to-date policy

content, appropriate program emphasis, and

inter-program coordination. For example,

this office managed the NBS Oversight

Hearings; managed regional workshops on

NBS for business and State and local

government officials in Hawaii and

Colorado; conducted workshop seminars on

NBS services and on advanced technology
planning methods for top-level planners and

research directors in 15 major cities (in

cooperation with the Commerce Department

Office of Business Services); prepared a fact

book, "NBS at a Glance" for wide

distribution; established or renewed 11

Research Associateships (Peter de Bruyn,

X3541); designed and gave briefings on the

goals and services of NBS for our

Department of Commerce management,

Evaluation Panels, and distinguished visitors

such as the President's Science Advisor and

members of the House and Senate

committees having concern with NBS.

MAJOR THRUSTS OF THE OFFICE IN

THE NEXT YEAR

1. The major challenge will be to fully

implement and thereby realize the potential

of the 1971 initiatives; the newly inaugurated

program planning and reporting system will

be refined and more clearly documented.

Policies and procedures will be evolved to

define the management relationship of

program and organizational elements of the

Bureau, and the process by which planning,

reporting and budgeting is accomplished.

Project and program reports and reviews will

receive increased attention. All NBS Project

Resumes will be published in an indexed

book for internal use, and an automatic

storage and retrieval system for project

information will be established.

2. The definition of major objectives and

programs will be improved. Program

elements of the Program Structure will be

aggregated into a smaller number of more

easily describable entities for external

communications.

3. To obtain improved efficiency in

program evaluation activities and

preparation of budget materials, the

distribution of tasks between the Program

Office and the Budget Division will be

modified; the program analysis staff will be

realigned to provide more assistance to the

senior analysts.

4. Additional regional workshops will be

held to improve communications with

Bureau clientele and to obtain better

understanding and broader use of NBS

services.

5. The Bureau's National Academy of

Sciences Evaluation Panels will be better

integrated into the Bureau's planning and

budgeting cycle to insure efficiency in

Bureau planning and effectiveness in the

involvement of the Evaluation Panel in

Bureau decision-making.

6. Means will be conceived for better

assessment of the mesh of NBS services

with national need in the private and

governmental sectors. The Office will

attempt to enlist the assistance of

economists and other experts, both in the

Government and private sector, to more

clearly define and document the NBS role in

stimulating the Nation's research,

technology and economic development.

A magnetic Compton

spectrometer was developed by

Drs. H. WyckoffJ. Motz

(X220I) and W. Miller for accurate analysis ofx rays with

energies between 0.2 and 12 MeV. The detection efficiency

of this device was 100,000

times that previously possible.

63

4

TECHNICAL information is one of

the most important products of all the

activities at the National Bureau of

Standards. Our communication of

information is a two-way process; it includes

the outward transmission to the public of

information produced at NBS and the inward

transmission to NBS of information about

new developments in industry and in

universities, newly appearing needs of

society, and new opportunities for NBS.

The members of the NBS staff give formal

talks, write papers, consult on the telephone

with callers, write letters, and discuss

technical problems with visitors. They

publish papers in technical journals and in the public press. Approximately 50 major

conferences and a few hundred seminars

are held at NBS each year. We operate more

than 30 specialized information centers,

many of them as part of the National

Standard Reference Data System. In selected areas we organize precision measurement

seminars and training courses. The three basic principles guiding the

NBS information program are: (1) Quality of

information—that is, its reliability and

credibility—is more important than access to

great masses of unevaluated information; (2)

Information must be appropriately packaged

and interpreted for each community of users; (3) A variety of information from many

The NBS Library Is an Important element In the flow of Information. It Is one of the most complete physical science

libraries In the country, with a collection of 100,000 volumes

and 2,500 periodicals.

sources is needed for decision makers at all levels throughout society. NBS also has a

responsibility to help the user apply the

information to his problems. In the fire

research program, for example, good

information properly interpreted by NBS will

not reduce losses of life and property due to

fires. The information must be actually

applied to real conditions in order to have

an impact. Making sure that it has that

impact is part of NBS responsibility too. We

work with professional associations, State

and local officials, and industry

representatives to assure that potentially

useful information is put to work.

In many NBS "information" activities,

information is collected from a variety of

sources, processed in a variety of ways,

interpreted and analyzed and disseminated

for the outside community of scientists and

engineers to use. Our largest program of

this type is the National Standard Reference

Data System. It comprises a network of more

than 2-dozen information analysis centers,

plus other related activities, all producing

critical reviews and compilations of critically

evaluated data. The scope is not just one

specialized area of technical information but

the entire broad field of physical and

chemical properties of substances.

The NSRDS helps to answer thousands of

questions that arise every day in the work of

scientists and engineers. It is a good

example of application of the basic

principles mentioned earlier—it is oriented

to the needs of specific groups of users, and 65
Dr. Allen V. Astin was Director

ofNBSfrom 1952 until 1969. Dr. Astin had been at NBS since

1 932, and had made substantial

contributions in such areas as

electronic instrumentation and

ordnance development.

66

it focuses exclusively on high-quality,

reliable data.

Broad as the present scope of the NSRDS

is, it does not encompass all the types of

property data needed by engineers and

scientists. It is focused upon well-defined

properties of well-defined materials. But

there are other sets of properties and

materials that are not well defined, though

they are very important indeed. Examples

are the tensile strength of steel, or the

melting point of a plastic, or the reflectivity

of a paint. As resources grow in the future

and as some present activities come to

fruition, plans will be made to undertake a major effort in this vital, but extremely

difficult, field.

Sometimes NBS work reveals a potential

hazard that should immediately be brought

to public attention. A recent example was

that of picnic coolers, a rather innocent

household device, but a potential death trap

for children. Several children suffocated

when a tightly fitting or self-latching lid closed, imprisoning them. The solution is not difficult; put partitions in the coolers so

children won't fit, put pop-out sections in

the cover or walls, easily removable from the

inside by the struggles of a child, and

eliminate self-latching lids. The industry,

NBS, and other interested parties worked

out a new design standard for picnic coolers

which has already been issued as a Department of Commerce Voluntary Product

Standard.

In the meantime, however, the need for

parents to be aware of this danger had to be

brought to the attention of the public. Press

releases were issued, and were used by

newspapers all over the country. A 30-

second TV-spot announcement was

prepared and sent to stations with a request

to let NBS know if they used it. One hundred

and sixty stations reported they would use

the spot one to 10 times each week during

the summer. An estimated additional 50

stations used it without telling us. CONSUMER INFORMATION

In the research programs of NBS,

information is often produced or collected

that may be of direct interest to the public.

On instruction from the Secretary of

Commerce, NBS has embarked upon a systematic effort to make this information

more readily accessible. We have initiated

publication of the Consumer Information

Series, a series of pamphlets written in a

style to make them most valuable to the

individual, nontechnical citizen. Four

pamphlets have been issued so far: Fibers

and Fabrics; Tires, Their Selection and Use;

Adhesives for Everyday Use;and Facts

About Hearing and Hearing Aids;andi Care

of Books and Documents ls in press.

Another is planned on metric tools and

measures used around the house, and

several other titles have been suggested.

Closely similar to these pamphlets are two

that were prepared in close collaboration

with the Office of President Nixon's Special
Assistant for Consumer Affairs, Mrs. Virginia

Knauer. They are entitled: 7 Ways to Reduce

Fuel Consumption in Household Heating an6

1 1 Ways to Reduce Energy Consumption

and Increase Comfort in Household Cooling.

These two pamphlets were written primarily

by members of the Building Research

Division of NBS. They are distributed

Data taken in many NBS programs are candidates for analysis

by the National Standard Reference Data System. An example

Is the spectral measurements made on various species

generated In this arc plasma source. (W. WIese, X2071)

through the Superintendent of Documents

and the White House Office for Consumer

Affairs. The "7 Ways" pamphlet, which had

an initial print run of only 10,000 copies, is now being reprinted for sale by the

Superintendent of Documents. Its major

distribution has been made by

nongovernmental agencies—by the National

Home Improvement Council, which reprinted

200,000 copies, and by Owens Corning

which reprinted 45,000 copies for free

distribution. For the "11 Ways" pamphlet,

distribution by NBS, the White House, and

the Superintendent of Documents has

totaled 20,000 copies; Owens Corning has

distributed 55,000.

COMMUNICATION WITH

TECHNICAL AUDIENCES

In communicating with technical user groups NBS reaches a much higher fraction

of the community. We use a variety of

techniques—publication in technical

journals, publication of technical material

through the Government Printing Office,

conferences and seminars, training courses,

talks, letters, and personal consultation.

NBS organizes "Precision Measurement

Seminars" in several areas of metrology. The

purpose is to share with those specialists in industry, government, and academic

laboratories what we know about how to

measure certain quantities accurately and

reproducibly. For effective training only 30

Under the direction ofDr. Horace Isbel. a technique was

developedfor the economical

synthesis ofsugars labeled with radioactive carbon.

D-glucose- 1

- ^*C, for example, was urgently neededfor studies

of intermediary metabolism.

67
The high-speed turbine drill now

so familiar in every dentist's office is a direct descendent of

the first hydraulic-turbine

handpiece developed at NBS

(top; center), shown here with a conventional handpiece.

68

to 50 persons can be accommodated in a seminar, and usually more applications are received than can be accepted. A typical

example of a seminar of this type is that

held at Boulder each year on Laser

Power and Energy Measurements. This

seminar lasts 2 days, and the fee is $100.

Conferences constitute another important

way in which NBS communicates with

technical specialists. Each year at Gaithersburg 40 to 50 major conferences are

held with from 100 to 1,000 participants

each. In fiscal year 1971, for example, 41

conferences were held with a total of 8,400

participants. Literally hundreds of smaller

seminars are conducted at NBS or are

participated in by NBS speakers at other

institutions.

These conferences and seminars are a

very important mechanism for maintaining a two-way flow of informal technical

information between NBS and the outside

communities '.hat we serve. Without these, it would be much harder to remain responsive

to the needs of American science and

technology, and to maintain the current

awareness of new developments throughout

the world that is essential to the effective

performance of our responsibilities.

NBS also communicates with the technical

community through the traditional medium

of the printed page. Over the past several

years 800 to 1,000 separate publications

each year have appeared. The number of

pages published fluctuates considerably but

totals approximately 20,000 pages per year.

We also publish a journal to help

communicate with managers and technical

people who may not be specialists in NBS

fields but want to be kept informed—the

National Bureau of Standards Technical

News Bulletin.

When people throughout the country have

a problem or want some information from

the Government, they sometimes come

directly to NBS. We do not have a complete

record of all the inquiries coming to NBS

because letters and telephone calls are received by almost everyone. However, if the

inquiry is not directed to a specific person, it

is referred to the Office of Technical

Information and Publications (X2318). In

fiscal year 1971 this office handled 8,100

inquiry letters and 15,400 telephone calls.

Sometimes a reply can be given to an

inquiry immediately; sometimes, however,

information may require hours to track

down.

Research staff members are often

consulted by colleagues in industry,

universities, and other government

laboratories. These interactions are an

important part of our communication

process and the NBS staff is strongly

encouraged to develop close relationships

with colleagues in many laboratories. Such

consultation is by no means a diversion from

our primary tasks; it is an essential element

of our continuing responsiveness to the

needs of society.
The types of information activities

undertaken by NBS have just been described

but some of the more important specific

developments of our largest network of

information analysis centers—the National

Standard Reference Data System—should be

given in more detail. Perhaps the most

significant new development was the

establishment of a new publication and

distribution mechanism. After exploration of

various alternatives, the Office of Standard

Reference Data concluded that a serial

publication would be most desirable. In June

1971, an agreement was concluded with the

American Institute of Physics and the

American Chemical Society, under which

these organizations, together with the

National Bureau of Standards, will publish a Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference

Data. Initially this journal will be a quarterly

containing about 1,200 pages per year. The

first issue is scheduled for February 1972.

The establishment of this journal represents

a new departure in the dissemination of

government-produced information, which is expected to produce major benefits for the

Standard Reference Data Program. In addition to the royalties returned to the

program, which will offset some of the costs,

the output of reference data should become

more visible and more readily acceptable to

all potential users. Furthermore, since the

journal will be open to contributions from

the scientific public, data evaluation efforts

from individual scientists will be

encouraged.

Other new program developments which

have taken place during 1971 have been

concerned with the subject orientation of

the Standard Reference Data Program.

Planning has been initiated for data

compilation efforts covering subjects of

particular use for applied technology. If program expansion proves possible, this

planning will permit activation of data efforts

directly keyed to the solution of technical

problems and to the improvement of the

nations' technological efficiency. Examples

of such problem areas include new and

improved sources of electrical energy,

reduction of air and water pollution, fire

research, and failure avoidance.

Continued emphasis has been placed on

data evaluation which, via its fundamental

nature, proves useful to the solution of a wide variety of problems. An example is a project undertaken at the request of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers,

whose objective was to compile data on

heats of combustion which could be

incorporated into a handbook for designers

and operators of waste incinerators. The

resources of the NBS Thermochemical Data

Center, which has been actively compiling

thermochemical and thermodynamic data for

more than 20 years, permitted the NBS to

turn to this special field and assemble the

needed data in a rapid and efficient manner.

President Eisenhower dedicated

the Boulder laboratories on September 14. 1954.

THE Bureau's principal facilities are located at Gaithersburg, Md., and Boulder,

Colo. On the 576-acre Gaithersburg site are 23 buildings containing 1 ,200,000 square

feet of working area and representing a total

investment of $145 million for land,

buildings, and equipment. We chose a large

site because many of our measurements

require maximum isolation from such

interference as noise, vibration, and

electromagnetic radiation; and one of the

best means of ensuring isolation is to

provide distance between the experiment

and interference sources. We are very proud

of these facilities and have been told by

many that we have one of the finest

laboratories in existence. But getting here

was hard work. The site was acquired in

1956, and planning and construction took

place over a number of years. The move

from our Washington site, involving

approximately 3,000 people and a vast

amount of equipment and supplies, was in

itself a massive operation.

Our second major facility at Boulder,

Colo., carries on such work as cryogenics,

electromagnetic measurements, time and

frequency, and quantum electronics. The

Boulder site consists of 205 acres, 14

buildings, and 302,000 assignable square

feet of floor space. The land was donated by

the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce in

1950, and the major building was dedicated

in 1954. At Boulder we also occupy and staff

NBS has many unique facilities. Shown here is the reactor vessel of the 10-megawatt, heavy-water research reactor.

jointly with the University of Colorado a laboratory and office building which is built

on the grounds of and owned by the

University. This venture, the Joint Institute

for Laboratory Astrophysics, was established

in 1962 to solve the measurement problems

of astrophysics, atmospheric physics,

plasma physics, aerodynamics, chemical

physics, and other similar fields.

In addition, we have a 385-acre field

station at Fort Collins, Colo., for our

Standard Frequency and Time Interval

Broadcast Stations WWV, WWVB, and our

experimental station WWVL. A similar facility

for station WWVH was recently completed

on the Island of Kauai in the Hawaiian

Islands on land occupied by permit from the

U.S. Navy.

We also have a Master Railway Scale

Facility in a small building of 3,400 square

feet at Clearing, III., and another small

building on land occupied by permit from

the U.S. Army at Fort Belvoir, Va., in which

we perform work on a classified project for

the U.S. Air Force.

The work of the Bureau is carried out by a

total staff as of June 30, 1971, of 3,749

employees of which 3,176 are full-time

permanent. Eighty-two percent of the staff is

at Gaithersburg, 1 percent is still in the

District of Columbia, and the remaining 17

percent is at Boulder, Colo. The relatively

few persons who are in the field stations are included in these totals.

The staff comprises some 44 percent

scientists and engineers, 14 percent

Robert 8. Walieign

Associate Director for Administration

(X2477)
In cooperation with the U.S. Air Force, NBS developed a panoramic x-ray machine that produces a single picture of the

entire dental arch in 22 seconds,

and cuts absorbed dose by a

factor of 10 over multiple film

techniques. The machine is widely used by the armed

services, the Veterans

Administration, and wherever mass screenings are conducted.

Here an x ray is about to be taken

ofRebecca Morehouse.

72

technicians, and 42 percent administrative

and support personnel. Our scientific and

engineering staff consists of 34 percent

physicists, 20 percent chemists, 23 percent

engineers, 5 percent mathematicians, and 18

percent others. Thirty-six percent of our

scientists and engineers have Ph.D. degrees

and by any standards—indeed, by our own

high standards—we have an exceptionally

well-qualified staff which includes many of

the world experts in their specific fields of

science. Our staff, of course, is the country's

most valuable asset in NBS.

In addition to our own staff, we had

working at the Bureau as of June 30, 1971,

120 Research Associates and Guest Workers

engaged in projects of direct interest to the

Bureau.

Funding for the work of the Bureau is provided by congressional appropriations

and by reimbursements from other Federal

agencies and private organizations. In fiscal

year 1971 about 57 percent ($42.7 million) of

the operating program was financed by

congressional appropriations, and 43

percent ($31.7 million) was from

reimbursements.

The reimbursement program covers two

kinds of work. One part, research and

development services which we perform for

other Federal agencies, comprises about 35

percent of our operating program. The other

part, consisting of the sale of standard

reference materials and calibrations, testing,

and computer services, covers 8 percent of our operating program. About half of this

latter program is reimbursed by other

Federal agencies and half by private

organizations.

The other-agency research and

development type program is financed by

many Government agencies. During 1971 the

Department of Defense provided about 34

percent of the total. Department of

Transportation 14 percent, NASA 8 percent,

other parts of Commerce 6 percent, HEW 8

percent, AEG 5 percent. Housing and Urban

Development 13 percent, and others 12

percent.

In years past, some of our work for other

agencies reached such a level that an entire

activity became self-sustaining and was

transferred out of the Bureau. The largest

example was the transfer of 1,500 employees

to the Army Ordnance Corps to create the

Harry Diamond Laboratories in 1953,

followed closely by the transfer of 400

employees in 1954 to the Navy to create the

Naval Ordnance Laboratory at Corona, Calif.

An organizational change within the

Department of Commerce in 1965

transferred more than 500 employees of our

Central Radio Propagation Laboratory at

Boulder to the then newly formed

Environmental Science Services

Administration. In 1968 a small group of 20

employees were transferred to the General

Services Administration to create the

Materials Evaluation Laboratory. The most

recent example was the transfer in fiscal

year 1972 of the 50-man Office of Vehicle

Systems Research to the Department of

Transportation. Spin-offs such as these have
caused fluctuations in our total staffing level over the years and, indeed, our staffing level

is less today than it was many years ago

when we had much larger programs for the

Defense agencies.

In addition to the operating program, we

receive each year a congressional

appropriation called Plant and Facilities.

This appropriation, which finances

construction and improvement costs and

major items of equipment, has amounted to

about $1 million a year for the past several

years. The major item in 1971 was about

$420,000 for completion of our new

Frequency and Time Broadcast Station

(WWVH) on the island of Kauai in the

Hawaiian Islands. The total cost of this

facility, including equipment, was $1 ,400,000.

While major items of equipment (over

about $100,000) are purchased from a

special congressional appropriation, other

items are acquired as an investment of the

Working Capital Fund and recovered by

depreciation charges to projects. For the

past 4 years our investment in equipment

has been about $2 million per year with the

exception of 1969 when about $1 million

was invested.

Many Federal agencies, operating under

the typical appropriation accounting and

budgeting procedures, have a separate

appropriation for costs of general

administration, program direction, staff

services, etc. This is not the case in NBS.

Such costs are distributed to all research or other productive projects as an overhead

FY 1971 OPERATING PROGRAM BY PROGRAM CATEGORY

Millions of Dollars 0 10

I

Basis for Nations Pfiysical

Measuring System

Services for Industry

and Government

Technical Basis for Equity in Trade

Technical Services to Promote Public Safety

Technical Information

Services

Central Technical Support

40

Funds transferred from other agencies for R&D

type work.

Testing, calibrations, computer services, and standard

reference material sales and investments.

FUNDS TRANSFERRED FROM OTHER AGENCIES BY SPONSOR

FISCAL YEAR 1968 1969 1970 1971

Department of Defense 7.6 7.7 8.4 8.8

Department of Transportation 2.7 2.6 2.5 3.0

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration 2.7 2.0 1.8 2.2

Department of Commerce 1.6 1.7 1.9 1.7

Health, Education and

Welfare 0.9 1.3 1.4 1.9

Atomic Energy Commission 1.2 1.5 1.5 1.4

Housing and Urban

Development .2 .1 .7 2.9

Other 2.5 3.5 3.5 4.1

TOTAL 19.4 20.4 21.7 26.0

Millions of Dollars 30

TOTAL

1968 69 70 71

FISCAL YEAR 73
Edith Corliss (X3607) and

Walter Koidan {X3607) made

pioneering studies of the complex

mechanical impedance of the human head, lending to the design ofan artificial mastoid

usedfor calibrating audiometric

bone vibrators. Here H. S. Bowman prepares to make a bone conduction measurement

on Ernest L. Smith, with a method

they developed as an extension of

the earlier work.

74

TOTAL OPERATING BUDGET

Millions of Dollars 100

90 —

80

1968 1969 1970

FISCAL YEAR

1971

Direct appropriations.

Funds transferred from other agencies for R&D type work.

Testing, calibrations, computer services, and standard reference material sales and investments.

FY 1971 OPERATING PROGRAM BY

ORGANIZATION AND SOURCE

Millions of Dollars

30

Direct appropriations

Funds transferred from other

agencies for R&D type worl<.

Testing, calibrations, computer

services, and standard reference

material sales and investments.

CCST ADIP Ottier

IBS—Institute for Basic Standards

IMR—Institute for Materials Research

lAT—Institute for Applied Technology

CCST—Center for Computer Sciences and Technology

ADIP—Associate Director for Information Programs
charge. Furthermore, our overhead program

includes services that are not normally

considered as part of the administrative and

executive direction common to most

Government agencies. These include: (1)

technical services, such as editorial

preparation and publication of technical

reports and periodicals, statistical services,

and research instrumentation assistance;

and (2) housekeeping services which are provided to most agencies by the Public

Buildings Service without cost to the

agency. These include janitorial services,

provision for heat and power, and

maintenance of buildings and grounds. At

NBS these GSA-type services are provided

by the Bureau and are included in our

overhead.

Overhead programs are reviewed and

agreed to by the technical staff since the

costs come out of their technical program

allocations. In fact, since every dollar spent

on administration is money that could have

been spent on research, NBS management

has a powerful incentive to cut overhead to

the bone. I am confident that we have an

unusually efficient overhead operation as a

result.

We are experiencing, at the present time, a problem with respect to our equipment

needs. Even with the flexibility inherent in our funds, we have not been able to keep up

with the needs of our programs for

additional working capital to purchase

equipment. A part of the reason for this is that there has been a steady inflation in

FULL TIME PERMANENT

PROFESSIONAL STAFF

1600 r 1400 - NBS

1200 -

1000 -

800 -

600 -

40C -

200 -

0

CCST

1965 66 67 68 69

FISCAL YEAR

70 71

costs of equipment over the past several

years and, in addition, experimental

procedures are requiring more sophisticated

equipment. A study by our Office of

Programs shows that a selected sample of

industrial laboratories spend, on the

average, about 10 percent of their operating

costs on new equipment purchases. By

contrast, NBS, from 1954 to the present, has

spent an amount for equipment which has

ranged between 2 and 8 percent of its operating costs. It appears necessary that

the Bureau seek additional appropriations

for transfer to the Working Capital Fund for

the next several years to make up the

difference between what is available from

the Working Capital Fund and our current

equipment needs.

The first experiment

demonstrating non-conservation

ofparity in weak interactions was conducted by {left to right)

Ralph Hudson (X2034),

Ernest Ambler (X3301), Dale

Hoppes (X265I) and

Raymond Hayward {X2651j.

They determined that the beta

emission distributions for

cobalt-60 polarized in opposite

directions was not thf same,

proving parity was not conserved.

75

AMetric America, the report of the

U.S. Metric Study, was presented to

Congress on July 30, 1971. In his letter of

transmittal. Secretary of Commerce Maurice

H. Stans agreed with the report's conclusion

that the United States should change to the

metric system through a coordinated

national program, and recommended:

• That the United States change to the

International Metric System deliberately and

carefully;

• That this be done through a coordinated

national program;

• That the Congress assign the

responsibility for guiding the change, and

anticipating the kinds of special problems

described in the report, to a central

coordinating body responsive to all sectors

of our society;

• That within this guiding framework,

detailed plans and timetables be worked out

by these sectors themselves;

• That early priority be given to educating

every American schoolchild and the public

at large to think in metric terms;

• That immediate steps be taken by the

Congress to foster U.S. participation in

international standards activities;

• That in order to encourage efficiency and

minimize the overall costs to society, the

general rule should be that any changeover

costs shall "lie where they fall";

• That the Congress, after deciding on a

plan for the Nation, establish a target date

10 years ahead, by which time the United

States will have become predominantly,

though not exclusively, metric;

• That there be a firm Government

commitment to this goal.

The report, prepared by the NBS Office of

Metric Study in response to the Metric Study

Act of 1968, was the culmination of 3 years

of intensive effort. Our goal in planning the

Study was to give every sector of society an

opportunity to express its views. Literally

thousands of individuals and organized

professional, educational, business, labor,

and consumer groups answered

questionnaires, were interviewed, and

participated in a series of conferences that

were widely publicized in advance. Our

conclusions and recommendations are based on the outcome of these efforts.

It is perhaps surprising that any general

pattern of agreement should have emerged

from this effort. Nevertheless, on three

fundamental questions there was a clear

consensus:

1. Increased use of the metric system is in

the best interests of the United States;

2. The Nation should change to the metric

system through a coordinated national

program;

3. The transition period should be 10

years, at the end of which the Nation would

be predominantly metric.

mmmm

Daniel v. DeSlmone

Director, U.S. Metric Study

(X3611)

77

J
This device was developed by

Martin Greenspan (X3607) and

Carl Tschiegg (X3607) to measure

the underwater speed of

sound. Widely used in oceanographic research, it is the standard instrument ofits type.

Of a representative sample of

manufacturing firms, 70 percent (80%, if weighted in terms of employment) believe

that increasing use of the metric system

would be good for the country as a whole.

A majority of the rest of business and

industry surveyed—nonmanufacturing

businesses ranging from agriculture to

utilities—also believe that increased use of

the metric system is in the best interests of

the United States. Educators are nearly

unanimous in their endorsement of the

metric system.

A survey of representative American

households shows that people who know

what the metric system is about tend to

favor it, and people who know little or nothing about the metric system tend not to

favor it. This dramatizes the fact that a program of public education would be

essential to the success of a national

conversion program.

The Metric Study Act asked many

questions, which may be paraphrased as:

• What is the effect on the United States of

the worldwide swing to metric?

• What does it mean to our international

relations and balance of trade?

• How does it affect Americans in every walk

of life?

• Would it be desirable for the United States

to use the metric system more widely than

it does?

• Should this be done deliberately in some

coordinated way?

• Or should the Nation take no action to

promote the use of metric weights and

measures?

• Or, as another possibility, should the

United States try to persuade the rest of the

world to make use of the Customary system ?

• What can be said about the benefits and costs

of deliberately changing to metric in

comparison with doing nothing at all?

These questions, at first, seemed fairly

straightforward. Actually the quest for

answers proved extremely complex and

challenging. Technology, economics,

sociology, international relations, and many

other factors are involved.

The choice of a measurement system

affects people in so many different ways that

the questions posed by the Act cannot be

reduced to a simple issue and settled to

everybody's satisfaction. As with most major

assessments, the answers depend largely on

subjective thinking and personal preference,

on balancing possible future gain against

current inconvenience. There is yet no way

for drawing up a reliable national balance

sheet, in dollars and cents, for deciding

complex social issues. Going metric is one

of these.

Many courses of action are conceivable,

including an abrupt and mandatory

conversion to metric or a program to

promote more use of the Customary system

in the world. But an abrupt conversion

would be so difficult to achieve and so

disruptive as to not merit serious

consideration, and it would be fanciful to

expect that metric countries could be
persuaded to convert to inches, yards, pints,

and pounds.

The metric system is slowly but steadily

increasing in use in the United States. Let

me give you some examples.

• The pharmaceutical industry changed to

the metric system more than a decade ago.

• By and large, the language and tools of

U.S. science are entirely metric.

• The National Aeronautics and Space

Administration now uses International Metric

in its documents and reports.

• Automobile mechanics have added metric

tools to their toolboxes, because foreign

vehicles have metric parts and even some

automobiles made in the United States are being assembled with parts built to metric

specifications.

• Statutory standards for automobile

emissions of pollutants are stated in "grams

per mile."

• Swimming pools for outdoor competition

are being built to metric dimensions so that our swimmers can practice for international

metric-distance events.

• The width of photographic film is expressed in millimetres.

Thus, the feasible courses of action for

our Nation are really narrowed to two main

alternatives:

The United States goes metric according

to plan or it drifts to a metric status over an

indefinite period without cooperation among

industries, educational institutions, labor, and

government.

SOME GROUPS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE

METRIC STUDY
Dr. Brii;i;.\, loiii; interested in aerodynamics, coniinued his research after retiriiii; <is Director. A special fascination nas the amount of curve that could he put on a hasehull by a

skilled pitcher. To determine the spin on a hall, flat tapes were

attached and the mtniher of

completed turns counted after a

pitcher's delivery. Here Dr.

Briiii^s is seen with Ossie Bhiei;e. comptroller of the Washin,uton

Senators.

80

Suppose the Congress decided to foster

the changeover. If schools were to give

greater attention to metric than to

Customary, if a large number of industries

were to convert to metric, if our traffic signs

were to read in kilometres instead of miles,

if milk were sold by the litre and meat by the

kilogram—then the metric system would, in a few years, become as widely used by the

public as the Customary system.

That is really what is meant by changing

to the metric system: becoming

predominantly metric. It is neither necessary

nor desirable that the goal be to become a

purely metric country—100 percent. For

industrial engineers, factory workers,

carpenters, people in almost every walk of

life, going metric would thus mean

acceptance of the metric system as the

preferred system of measurement and,

ultimately, thinking primarily in metric terms

instead of primarily in customary terms, as we do now.

An adequate understanding of what a change to metric entails depends on some

appreciation of what engineering standards

are. Engineering standards are agreements

that specify characteristics of things or ways

to do things. Taken together, engineering

standards serve as both a dictionary and a

recipe book for a technical society. Without

them we would have chaos, inconvenience,

and higher costs for almost everything.

Engineering standards are developed by

many organizations or groups at different

levels: a single firm, a national group such

as a trade association, or an international

group. The leading international groups are

the International Organization for

Standardization (ISO) and the International

Electrotechnical Commission (lEC), in which

all major nations participate.

U.S. participants in international standards

negotiations need to be adept in the use of

metric units, for the International Metric

System is the official primary measurement

language of both lEC and ISO. It would be

economically beneficial for the United States

to play a more vigorous role in the making

of international standards. Our opportunity

to exert further influence to promote

international acceptance of U.S. technology

is great. To date, relatively few international

standards have been adopted. But in the

next decade the number on the books is expected to multiply roughly tenfold.

In summary, the U.S. Metric Study

concludes that eventually the United States

will join the rest of the world in the use of

the metric system as the predominant

common language of measurement. Rather

than drifting to metric with no national plan

to help the sectors of our society and guide

our relationships abroad, a carefully planned

transition in which all sectors participate

voluntarily is preferable. The change will not

come quickly, nor will it be without

difficulty; but Americans working

cooperatively can resolve this question once

and for all. The basis for the conclusion that the

United States will eventually be metric lies in
MANUFACTURERS

INCREASING USE OF METRIC

GOOD FOR COUNTRY

the findings of the study that America is already metric in some respects; that we are becoming more so; and that the great

majority of businessmen, educators, and

other informed participants in the study

reported that increased use of the metric

system is in the best interests of America.

They also believe that it is better for the

Nation to move to metric by plan rather than

by no plan at all. There will be real costs and difficulties in

the change, whether or not it is done by

plan. The study indicates that such

difficulties will in any event have to be faced

as metric usage reaches substantial

proportions in America. Thus, without a plan

the United States would experience all the

difficulties of dual inventories, dual

education, dual thinking, dual sets of tools,

and dual production—perhaps not so soon

but over a much longer period of time.

Developing a national program for change

would require a great deal of forethought

and discussion. But the study finds that two

major activities should be begun

Immediately, because they would be pivotal

in preparing the Nation for increased use of

the metric system.

The first is education. Every schoolchild

should have the opportunity to become as conversant with the metric system as he is with our present measurement system.

The second concerns international

standards. High-quality American industrial

practices should be much more vigorously

promoted in international negotiations that are beginning to establish engineering

standards on a worldwide basis and will

increasingly affect world trade.

While the majority of the American people

are not well versed in the metric system, the

study shows that those who are informed

about it tend to favor it. This demonstrates a need for public education to help all citizens

to cope with the trend to metric and poses a challenge to the Congress to point the way

for all Americans.

A Metric America, 192-page report of

the Metric Study, is available from GPO for

$2.25. Use SD Catalog Number C13. 10:345

when ordering.

Raymond Driscoll (left. X2007}

and Peter Bender ( Boidder,

X3846) redetermined the gyromagnetic ratio of the proton

with increased accuracy. The

known magnetic field of the solenoid (center) causes the protons in water to precess. The

larger outer coils counterbalance

the earth's magnetic field.

81

THE existence of a satisfactory set of

engineering standards and a satisfactory

mechanism of generating them can do a

great deal to assure that a country's use of

technology in its commercial products and

industrial processes lives up to its full potential yet does not do violence to the

public interest.

Engineering standards are documents

which reflect agreements, most commonly

between producers and purchasers, on the

dimensions, design, performance, physical

characteristics, descriptive terminology, and

the test methods which describe and specify

the things we manufacture and sell. Sometimes such standards concern the

manufacturing process, itself. The term

engineering (or industrial) standards

includes some more specific kinds of

standards which you have no doubt heard

of, such as product standards, commercial

standards, and safety standards. The vast

majority of such standards are ordinarily not

matters of law or regulation, except in areas

of public health and safety; and, therefore,

they are developed in the private sector, and

most Government agencies participate in

their development only from the standpoint

of their being consumers of the items in

question. The use of such standards is voluntary. Their widespread acceptance,

however, can give them considerable

commercial force.

The complexity of modern technology, whether it be

electronics, manufacturing, or building construction, is made

manageable through the formulation and use of engineering standards.

NBS does support the development of

some of the mandatory standards which the

Government issues, such as for fabric

flammability and for the safety of toys and

other products, and we have research

programs to assist the Environmental

Protection Agency in the development of

antipollution standards. In the computer

field, we assist the Government to develop

its own standards for the compatibility,

interchangeability, and performance of

automatic data processing hardware,

software, and total systems. Our efforts to

support the development of performancebased building standards could permit a more rapid rate of innovation in the building

industry. However, let me repeat, except

where the development of an engineering

standard is required as the basis for the

Issuance of a regulation or a mandatory

standard by the Federal Government, or the

Government develops its own standards for

its internal use or in its procurement, the

initiative and the mechanisms for the

development of these many thousands of

engineering standards reside in the private

sector. They are developed voluntarily, and

their use is voluntary.

It is a fact, however, that some standards,

while voluntary in principle, become so

widely adopted that they, in effect, become

mandatory. For instance, military

procurement specifications (the so-called

MILSPECS) virtually control the U.S.

production of many electronic components.

And building standards, which are voluntary,

Dr. Lawrence M. Kushner

Deputy Director
During his halfcentury at NBS,

Dr. William F. Mei;i;ers made

substantial contributions in the

fields ofspectroscopy and atomic

structure. Notable achievements were the interferometric

measurement ofabsorption lines

in the solar spectrum,

development of the mercury- 1 98

lamp for precise length

measurements, use ofdyes to record spectra in the near

infrared, and development of

spectrochemical analysis as a

useful technique. Here he is shown examining an early

microscope ( courtesy Dennis

Mallon).

84

have the effect of law when embodied in

building codes.

In the United States, voluntary engineering

standards are written by a large number of

organizations. The Directory of the U.S.

Standardization Activities (NBS

Miscellaneous Publication 288, 1967) lists over 400 of these organizations that either

write or sponsor voluntary standards. Those

organizations whose primary role is writing

and promulgating engineering standards

have produced about one-third of the nearly

20,000 voluntary engineering standards that are currently in use and are writing over a thousand standards annually in a great

variety of technical areas. The American

Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

and the American National Standards

Institute (ANSI) are the most important of

these organizations. Professional societies,

such as the Society of Automotive Engineers

(SAE) and the Institute of Electrical and

Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE), have

produced about one-third of the voluntary

standards that are currently in use. They are

writing over 500 new standards annually.

Many members of the NBS staff are involved

in these activities of the standardization

bodies and of the scientific and professional

organizations. Trade associations, such as

the Electronics Industries Association (EIA)

and the Business Equipment Manufacturers

Association (BEMA), have produced about

one-third of the voluntary standards that are

currently in use; they write over 300 new

standards annually. Relatively few members

of the NBS staff participate in the

standardization activities of these trade

organizations.

Let me digress for a moment to say a few

words about the consensus principle in

standardization. The consensus principle

refers to giving all parties who have a

legitimate interest and concern with a proposed standard the opportunity to either

participate in developing the standard or to

comment on it before it is issued and have

their views taken into account. Some form of

consensus principle is embodied in the

procedures of many, but by no means all, of

the organizations which develop standards.

This has become particularly important

today since our private sector

standardization activities have been under

attack for not adequately reflecting the

interests of all concerned parties. A

spokesman for the individual consumer or the general public is omitted most often, in

addition, the use of the consensus principle

has been held by both the Federal Trade

Commission and the Department of Justice

to be an important factor in determining

whether a particular standardization activity

is in restraint of trade.

Organizations which do not, themselves,

use consensus-type procedures in

developing their standards have the option

of submitting their proposed standards to

the American National Standards Institute

(ANSI) which will submit the standard to a broad public review. If the proposed
These are the symbols of but a few of the many organizations

that develop national and international standards.

Standard passes this review, it is then

eligible for listing as a national consensus

standard by ANSI.

The development of engineering standards

is done in committees on which

representatives of manufacturers, producers,

distributors, and users are normally

represented. By and large, the people on

these committees are technical people.

Approximately 350 members of the technical

staff of the National Bureau of Standards

serve on some 950 standardization

committees sponsored by private standardswriting organizations. This is not to imply

that these NBS people are full-time

committee participants. Most of them are

scientists and engineers fully engaged in

their own research and technical activities at the National Bureau of Standards. Their

service on these committees is part time and

only rarely, if ever, becomes a large fraction

of their total activity. Notwithstanding this,

the estimate of the total cost of NBS

participation in the development of voluntary

engineering standards in the private sector

was approximately $2 million in fiscal year

1970. Although this number is, in itself, a small fraction of the total number of people

engaged in standardization activities on a national basis, the impact of NBS

participation is important. Bureau people

hold 129 committee officerships; that is, as chairman or secretary—clearly, the

leadership positions in these committees.

Such participation is an important and

desirable way for the technical expertise of

the NBS to be reflected in industrial

practice.

Our participation, however, is not

restricted to technical considerations. We

also have substantial representation in the

major standardization bodies at the policymaking level. For instance, the Director

of the National Bureau of Standards, is,

by virtue of his office, on the Board of

An acoustical thermometer was

developed by Dr. Harmon Plumb

(X2801 ), George Cataland

{shown here, X2017) and others

that has been usedfor some years

to establish a provisional

temperature scale in the 4-20 K

range.

85

A
Douglas R. Tate (X2621)

determined the acceleration of

gravity at both the NBS

Washington and Gaithersburg

sites to high accuracy by a timed

free-fall technique.

86

Directors of the American National Standards

Institute. We also have membership on

the Board of Directors of the American

Society for Testing and Materials and hold

a variety of important committee assignments

at the policy-making level in both these

and other standards-making organizations.

NBS also operates an Engineering

Standards Information Center (X2587) which

provides an information service on

standards. Each year, it handles upwards of

5,000 inquiries from the public and from

other Government agencies on the

availability and source of national,

international, foreign national, industry.

State and Federal Government standards.

The Center maintains a library of more than

85,000 standards and publishes general and

specialized indexes of standards. These

indexes allow one to quickly identify the

title, identification number, publishing

organization, and the year of publication of

each standard. The standards, themselves,

are usually copyrighted by the issuing

organization which offers them for sale.

Having stressed that the vast majority of

voluntary engineering standards are developed in private-sector organizations, let me now state that the Department of

Commerce, through the National Bureau of

Standards, does operate a program called

the Voluntary Product Standards Program,

through which private groups can develop

voluntary engineering standards if the

private-sector standardization organizations

are unwilling or unable to develop the

required standards. We administer a set of

consensus procedures (Part 10 of Title 15,

Code of Federal Regulations) providing for

input from all of the important groups

concerned with the proposed standard. I should say at this point that our definition of

and procedures for obtaining consensus are

the most rigorous that we know. The

proposed standard is announced publicly

and sent for comment to a list of

representative producers, distributors, and

users. "Consensus" is obtained if there are no substantive objections which are held to

be valid and if there is acceptance by at least

70 percent of each of the three groups with

the average of the three being 75 percent or

higher. When these procedures have been

satisfactorily completed, we issue a Department of Commerce Voluntary Product

Standard. Once again, let me emphasize that

this is a voluntary standard. Legally, it has

no more status than any voluntary standard

developed in the private sector through

comparable procedures. The Government

accepts no responsibility to use the

standard, but we do maintain procedures to

continually review it and keep it current.

This is a modest program as measured by

the number of standards produced per

year—only about 20. Measured by the

difficulty of getting consensus for a standard

over which major private interests have been

deadlocked for years, as in softwood lumber,

it calls for substantial effort. We are now

reorienting the program so as to supplement

the ability of the private-sector organizations
to generate voluntary standards in areas of

particular concern to the Government—most

immediately in the field of product safety.

Because of the many facets of the

Bureau's involvement in voluntary

engineering standards activities, and

because of the rapidly increasing

appreciation of the importance of these

activities, we have recently created the

position at NBS of Program Manager for

Engineering and Information Processing

Standards. We are fortunate to have serving

in this newly created position Mr. William

Andrus (X3662) who has had an outstanding

career with IBM and is highly respected in

the U.S. standardization community. In addition to helping the Bureau manage its internal activities which relate to voluntary

standardization in the private sector, Mr.

Andrus serves as the focal point for the

Bureau's relationships with the rest of the

standardization community.

From the earliest days of NBS at the turn

of the century, we have been an important

factor and participant in this country's

voluntary standardization activities. We were

original members of the American

Engineering Standards Committee, which

has evolved over the years into ANSI. But

our active participation and influence has

never been more necessary than today.

The issues of consumer safety, pollution

control, and standards as barriers to

international trade have focused attention on

the shortcomings of the U.S. standardization

system. Most other industrialized nations

have a more highly unified system than

we—most often with a single organization

through which the private sector meets its standardization requirements and to which

the government also turns to meet its needs.

Direct financial support from the

government to these organizations runs from as low as 5 percent in Germany to as

high as 100 percent in Japan. I've mentioned

that in the United States we have more than

400 bodies which produce standards; and

although ANSI is intended to be the overall

coordinating body for all of these, it has yet

to achieve the degree of private or Government support and recognition in this

role that would be desirable. The

Government provides no direct financial

support to ANSI.

The advantages to the Government of

having close cooperation with the private

sector in developing standards for consumer

safety, occupational health and safety, and

for foreign trade considerations, are

manifold. Benefits would accrue to the

public in terms of lower costs for the

development of the standards, a broader

participation of technical experts in the

development of the standards, and less

likelihood of disturbing the free, competitive

interplay of the marketplace through the

imposition of a patchwork of mandatory

standards in response to emergencies.

The present situation has much of the

character of the chicken and egg paradox.

The Government does not turn to ANSI for

assistance because ANSI does not represent

Since early 1963, Drs. Dolphus

E. Milligan (X2754) and Marilyn

E. Jacox (X2754) have obtained

infrared spectra of manyfree

radicals through isolation in cold

inert gas matrices. Such

spectra are important in air and

water pollution analyses.

87
A long-range program is being

conducted in gas thermometry

to aid in more accurately

determining the relationship

between the thermodynamic and

International Practical

Temperature Scales. The NBS

gas thermometer was developed

under the direction ofDrs.

Harold F. Stimson and Leslie A. Guildner (shown here with the thermometer. X2076}.

88

the totality of standardization bodies in the

private sector; and on the other hand, one of

the principal reasons ANSI does not enjoy

such full support from the private sector is that the Government has been slow to use it. Nevertheless, there are encouraging signs of

change. Under the threat of proliferation of

Government mandatory standards, which are frequently developed with little or no

industry participation, industry groups do

appear to be becoming more inclined to

support ANSI. The trend in discussions of

proposed legislation is to give the private

sector the opportunity to develop standards

which may subsequently be made mandatory

by the Government. This is a particularly

strong stimulus to the private sector to put

its standardization house in order and is strongly supported by NBS.

The initiative taken by the Department of

Commerce several years ago to organize the

Interagency Committee on Standards Policy

has provided a forum within which the

various Government agencies can arrive at

consistent policies with respect to

standardization issues. There appears to be

a growing interest in the Department of

Defense and in the General Services

Administration to use privately developed

standards for their procurement where these

standards would do the job. And finally,

ANSI is considering a restructuring of its Board of Directors which would result in

greater Government representation on the

Board. All of these are constructive steps

toward a more effective system through

greater industry-government cooperation.

Now let me turn to the international

development of engineering standards. This

subject has been discussed in hearings held

in connection with the Administration's

proposed International Voluntary Standards

Cooperation Act of 1971 (S. 1798 and H.R.

8111). This bill would enhance U.S.

participation in international standardization

through increased Government involvement,

administered by the Secretary of Commerce.

The principal international standardization

bodies are the International Standards

Organization (ISO) and the International

Electrotechnical Commission (lEC) in which

the United States is represented by ANSI and

the U.S. National Committee for lEC,

respectively. NBS staff serve on U.S.

delegations to international standardization

meetings by invitation of the latter groups.

Some 55 members of our staff are presently so involved. On behalf of these

organizations, NBS administers four

committee or subcommittee secretariats.

I would like to close now by discussing

briefly a new need that has emerged and to

which NBS is making a response. As the

number of standards which deal with

consumer products increases, both

manufacturers and consumer groups

express increasing need for greater

consumer confidence in statements that the

products that are manufactured and sold do, as claimed, conform to the relevant

standards. One approach is through a system of certification to this effect. Such
certification rests on independent testing

laboratories whose ability to make the

appropriate tests satisfactorily can, itself, be

attested to. Recently issued standards under

the Occupational Health and Safety Act

(Federal Register, May 29, 1971) make many

references to approval, certification or inspection by "nationally recognized"

laboratories; yet, there is no system for the

approval or accreditation of testing

laboratories. As we move toward building

codes which are increasingly performance

oriented, rather than design oriented,

manufacturers of building materials,

components, or entire systems must be able

to go to qualified laboratories with their new

products to determine that they meet the

requirements of applicable performance

standards. If so, they can be appropriately

certified and, thereby, made acceptable to

local building regulatory officials. Such

laboratories need to be highly qualified in

order that their findings have credibility.

International product certification schemes,

such as one being developed in Western

Europe for electronic components, have

requirements for quality assurance programs

built into them. These quality assurance

programs involve the use of accredited

laboratories.

In September 1970, NBS called a conference which was attended by

representatives of some 46 organizations we

felt would be concerned with this problem.

As a result of that meeting, agreement was

reached on the need for, and desirability of,

establishing a National Testing Laboratory

Accreditation Program. A committee

representing both government and private

bodies has been established to design and

propose steps to implement the needed

program. It would build on NBS experience

in the evaluation of testing laboratories for

cement, concrete, and asphaltic road

building materials. It would also incorporate

the proposed program for laboratory

evaluation under the National Conference of

States on Building Codes and Standards.

I opened this statement by saying, in

effect, that a country's engineering

standards reflect a continuous process of

technology assessment. They determine in a

very substantial sense to what extent

available technological potential is put to use In the country's products and processes,

and they establish limits for the impact of

technology on its citizens. I have tried to

stress the desirability of a strong privatesector standardization system bolstered by

close cooperation with the Government. We

believe that the public interest aspects of

voluntary engineering standards—in health

and safety, in equity for all in the

marketplace, and in environmental

considerations—demand a substantial, yet

not overbearing, presence by the

Government. It is in this spirit that NBS

proposes to go forward.

Convection patterns of air in an

enclosure are simulated by

injecting ainininnni particles

into water that has been heated

until its dynamics closely match

that of air. This technique

has been used by Everett Barber

{X352n, D. Bett,ue, and

Frank Powell (X350I) to study convection and ventilation.

89

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1972 O - 469-763
OFFICE OF ACAOEMIC

LIAISON

S Silverman (ext 2461)

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A J Farrar (ext 2425)

OFFICE OF ASSOCIATE OIRECTOR

FOR ADMINISTRATION

R S Walleigh ext 2477)

DIRECTOR

L. M Branscomb (ext 241 11

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

L M Kushner (ext 2451)

OFFICE OF ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR PROGRAMS

H E Sorrows (ext 2446)

OFFICE OF ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR INFORMATION PROGRAMS

E. L Brady (ext 3641)

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D, R, Lide (ext 2467) H, S, Reiser (ext 2463)

OFFICE OF TECHNICAL LIBRARY INFORMATION AND E. L. Tate (ext 3405) PUBLICATIONS

W, R Tilley (ext 2493)

CENTER FOR COMPUTER SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

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OFFICE OF INFORMATION COMPUTER SERVICES PROCESSING STANDARDS W. B, Ramsay (ext 3424)

J, 0- Harrison (ext 3551) SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

OFFICE OF COMPUTER S. Jeffrey (ext 3531) INFORMATION INFORMATION PROCESSING

M. R. Fox (ext 3517) TECHNOLOGY

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E Ambler, Director (ext 3301)

OFFICE OF MEASUREMENT CENTER FOR RADIATION SERVICES RESEARCH

J M. Cameron (ext 2805) J E Leiss (ext 2551)

APPLIED MATHEMATICS LINAC RADIATION

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S Penner (ext 2654)

ELECTRICITY NUCLEAR RADIATION

R S, Caswell (ext 2234) C H Page (ext 2701) APPLIED RADIATION HEAT J W Motz (ext 2201)

R P- Hudson lext 2034) •CRYOGENICS MECHANICS D B Chelton (ext 3297)

L K, Irwin (ext 2101) •ELECTROMAGNETICS

OPTICAL PHYSICS R C Sangster (ext 3131)

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•At Boulder, Colorado •TIME AND FREQUENCY

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REFERENCE MATERIALS

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Jl