National Bureau of Standards Replica Meter Standard
date: label: date made
content: 1961
name: label: Maker
content: National Bureau of Standards
notes: label: Description
content: This aluminum bar, with an X-shaped cross-section, is a replica of the platinum international meter prototype housed in Paris and used as a standard for the metric system from 1889 to 1960. On one side, the lower left corner is marked: A.27. The upper right corner is marked: B.27. Like an actual meter standard, the bar is 102 centimeters long and there are marks 1 centimeter from each end on this side to show the precise length of a meter. Compare to 2000.0126.25.
label: Description
content: A rectangular walnut case is lined with black felt. A brass plate on the top of the case is marked: REPLICA METER BAR (/) Presented to (/) BENJAMIN L. PAGE (/) Metrologist (/) National Bureau of Standards (/) On the occasion of his retirement (/) December 29, 1961.
label: Description
content: Benjamin Lorenzo Page (1894–1977) began working with length standards at the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) around 1920. He was presented with this replica when he retired. His widow, Helen (Bell) Page, then gave it to one of his colleagues, Rolland Ackermann (1905–1985).
label: Description
content: References: <i>Catalog of Artifacts on Display in the NBS Museum</i>, edited by H. L. Mason, NBSIR 76-1125 (Washington, D.C., 1977), 17; Robert P. Crease, <i>World in the Balance: The Historic Quest for an Absolute System of Measurement</i> (New York: W. W. Norton, 2011), 223; Herbert Arthur Klein, <i>The Science of Measurement: A Historical Survey</i> (reprint, New York: Dover, 1988), 185; "Benjamin Lorenzo 'Ben' Page," http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=35098794; <i>Calibrations of the Line Standards of Length of the National Bureau of Standards</i>, by Lewis V. Judson and Benjamin L. Page, RP743, <i>Bureau of Standards Journal of Research</i> 11 (July-December 1933).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: District of Columbia, Washington
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Rule, Measuring
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Metric System
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Scale Rules
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Helen L. Ackermann
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1985.0819.01
label: accession number
content: 1985.0819
label: catalog number
content: 1985.0819.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: rule
label: Object Name
content: scale rule
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: walnut (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: aluminum (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: felt (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5.8 cm x 109 cm x 5.8 cm; 2 9/32 in x 42 29/32 in x 2 9/32 in