A short history of measurement standards at the National Physical Laboratory

Summary

Measurement science has been one of the major interests of the NPL since the creation of the Laboratory in 1900. This article gives a historical review of NPL work on the establishment, maintenance and improvement of the basic standards of measurement for mechanics, electro-magnetics, thermometry, photometry and radiology. Many early NPL standards and essential components of classioal measuring equipment have now been assembled into a permanent collection for preservation at the Laboratory and illustrations of some items in this collection are reproduced in the article.