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. Electricity. Metrology. Heat. Radiation Physics. Mechanics. Applied Mathematics. Atomic Physics. Physical Chemistry. Laboratory Astrophysics.* 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.** Office of Standard Reference Materials. Central Radio Propagation Laboratory.** Ionosphere Research and Propagation. Troposphere and Space Telecommunications. Radio Systems. Upper Atmosphere and Space Physics. Institute for Applied Technology. Textiles and Apparel Technology Center. Building Research. Industrial Equipment. Information Technology. Performance Test Development. Instrumentation. Transport Systems. Office of Technical Services. Office Weights and Measures. Office of Engineering Standards. Office of Industrial Services. *NBS Group, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics at the University of Colorado. **Located at Boulder, Colorado. of |