National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, Maryland December 5, 2001
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY SCIENCE
THAT
MATTERS
Setting the
Celebrating chemistry
i d a r d s 0/ excellence
THE EVENING
S T A R , M O N D A Y , M A R C H 11, 1901
CORRECT MEASURES Function of the Saw Bureau of Standards.
Prof. Stratton, the Director, Details Need of Establishment
A
H A N D I C A P
R E M O V E D
•tandards and totobci th» T n u o r r Department In* far • laboratory, to ctaand at a coat of tr. ;>< Mr. B u n d W. Stratton or ChtcaaM 1 bees appointed bj the President to be eta
A century of progress The year was 1901. The Victorian era had ended and the age o f technology had dawned. Jacobus Henricus Van't H o f f of the Prussian Academy of Sciences i n Berlin became the first Nobel Laureate i n Chemistry for his discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure i n solutions. America was poised for progress and competition but there were few national standards for measuring, comparing and evaluating its products. A foot i n Illinois was longer than a foot i n Virginia. Eight different values defined a gallon. Time-keeping was local. Electric power lacked defined electrical units. 1
LABOSATQBT TO BE ERECTED
lataata. t« be aapoli t ttke Tmmrj: on phyirtetet. at . oat aalary of 5.'..'.' one rb>
