Evening star., 1934-10-28

The National Bureau of Standards
Is q house Of wonders. Its hundred
laboratories abound In proof that truth
is stranger than fiction. The marvel
OF it is not merely that its experts
weigh to one part In billion, or talk
and work to q millionth Of an inch,
one ten-millionth Of second, or a
billionth of an ampere. but that such
precision is Of practical use.
In the National Standards vault is
the national standard which governs
all weighings in the United States. 1t
Is kept with religious care. So sensi-
tive is the scale used that the crossing
of penciled letter 1T" can be weighed.
The change in weight of a piece of
metal raised one inch can be meas
ured. One expert weighed a series Of
crystals correct to part in a bill
lion. The same expert is weighing the
earth.
The bureau is called the house of
accuracy, but DR.. Lyman j. Briggs
and his staff must know the point
where waste begins, and give each case
its deserved accuracy. 1t is needlessly
exact to certify a clinical thermometer
to within tenth of a degree, but q
basic standard for great industry
deserves weeks of scientific study.
Fifteen years were well spent in pre-
pairing the bureaus fundamental
standards of length and mass. The
Government has always been custo-
dian of the standards. It's function is
to keep ahead of the demands of
science and industry for standards Of
ever-increasing variety, range, num-
Der and accuracy.
Respect for the infinitesimal Is
cardinal virtue at the bureau. No
factor Is too slight, no labor too ex-
acting when national standards are
involved. Science blossoms into dis
covery with each new advance in pre-
clSlon. The bureaus creed holds that
progress rests on that refined scrutiny
OF things which expresses itself in
precise measurement.
In one room were devised means to
rule 25,O00 or more lines within one
inch. straight and parallel. exact to
mlIllonth OF an inch. Such a ruled
surface has the power to analyze a
ray Of light from a star or atom. to
tel lts composition, and to disclose its
structure.
Experts here make master pauues
SNAPPED like thick coins, true to size
within one two-hundred-t -thousandth
OF an inch. These are verified bv
bureau methods using single-hued
light Uncanny Quivering streaks of
hight and dark reveal within a mil
lionth Of an inch how true thev are
70 stated size. Such test methods are
almost automatic. Another expert
graduates linear measuring scales &C
curate to millionth of an inch. using
light waves as his standard of length
To measure o length is simple, but
If no error as much as a part in two
million Is admissible. the simplicity
yaniShes.
A layman scarcely appreciates how
vtally the bureau serves him. His
groceries are sold by measures based
on the bureaus standards; his elec-
trio light conforms to its specidca-
tons for the unit candlepower; his
doctors thermometer is tested and
certified here: from the druggists
prescription to the ton of coal, house
hold measurements rest upon stand
ards maintained in our national
laboratory. Test cars on their pill.
grimage of service visit all States of
the Union TO test track and master
scales upon which $4,000, ,000,00 Of
freight rates are collected.
The bureau has visitors from all
over the world and has inspired great
industries and foreign governments
to found similar research laboratories.
A new appreciation Of science seemed
to begin with the new century when
the world realized the part measure
ment plays in human progress
France, Germany and England