Abstract
THE general plan of the American "Annual Tables of Physical Constants", started in 1941 under the National Research Council, called for publication of tables on loose sheets, by sections according to properties, and also of a card file of numerical data of physical magnitudes, by substances. The card file represents a departure from the customary method of recording and filing data dispersed in the literature. They are to be assembled in the card file for each substance in a permanent predetermined order of physical properties, instead of being tabulated for each property, for a list of substances. Thus all physical properties for a given substance are brought together, adding up to a complete numerical description of the substance; and the non-availability of certain data for the given substance becomes immediately noticeable by the absence of the section number of the corresponding property on the substance chart. The actual numerical values are inserted whenever they are expressible by a figure or a few figures; extensive tables of data are not as a rule reproduced. It is expected that microfilm distribution facilities and reading devices will be available in the near future, so that one may obtain microfilm copies of any scientific publication desired. This will render extensive reproduction of voluminous tables superfluous and further justify the present scheme.
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Card File of Physical Constants of Substances. Nature 156, 775 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/156775a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/156775a0