THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS The National Bureau of Standards is a principal focal point in the Federal Government for assuring maximum application of the physical and engineering sciences to the advancement of technology in industry and commerce. Its responsibilities include development and maintenance of the national standards of measurement, and the provisions of means for making measurements consistent with those standards; determination of physical constants and properties of materials; development of methods for testing materials, mechanisms, and structures, and making such tests as may be necessary, particularly for government agencies; cooperation in the establishment of standard practices for incorporation in codes and specifications; advisory service to government agencies on scientific and technical problems; invention and development of devices to serve special needs of the Government; assistance to industry, business, and consumers in the development and acceptance of commercial standards and simplified trade practice recommendations; administration of programs in cooperation with United States business groups and standards organizations for the development of international standards of practice; and maintenance of a clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of scientific, technical, and engineering information. The scope of the Bureau's activities is suggested in the following listing of its four Institutes and their organizational units. # Institute for Basic Standards. Applied Mathematics. Electricity. Metrology. Mechanics. Heat. Atomic Physics. Physical Chemistry. Laboratory Astrophysics. Radiation Physics. Radio Standards Laboratory*: Radio Standards Physics & Radio Standards Engineering. Office of Standard Reference Data. Institute for Materials Research. Analytical Chemistry. Polymers. Metallurgy. Inorganic Materials. Reactor Radiations. Cryogenics. Materials Evaluation Laboratory. Office of Standard Reference Materials. Institute for Applied Technology. Building Research. Information Technology. Performance Test Development. Electronic Instrumentation. Textile and Apparel Technology Center. Technical Analysis. Office of Weights and Measures. Office of Engineering Standards. Office of Invention and Innovation. Office of Technical Resources. Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information.** Central Radio Propagation Laboratory.* Ionospheric Telecommunications. Tropospheric Telecommunications. Space Environment Forecasting. Aeronomy, *Located at Boulder, Colo. 80301. **Located at 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Va. 22171. |