Abstract
THE Bureau of Standards publishes an interesting “Visitor's Manual” (Misc. Publ., M153), giving a brief synopsis of its history, functions and facilities. An afternoon visit to certain of the laboratory rooms is arranged every day. It is mentioned that the discovery of deuterium (heavy hydrogen) was the result of co-operative work of the laboratory with Columbia University. The use of the lowest temperature so far attained in the United States?the melting point of liquid helium (? 456° F.)?has made possible the study of the properties of materials at very low temperatures, in particular the supra-conductivity of metals. The Bureau constructed the first ‘altitude’ laboratory for studying aeroplane engine performance under flight conditions. In it the low air pressures and temperatures encountered at altitudes up to 30,000 feet can be duplicated. The Bureau workers were the first to discover that a thin coating of pure aluminium greatly decreases the atmospheric corrosion of duralumin, an alloy largely used in aircraft construction. They worked out the very successful process of plating steel and other metals with chromium, the hardest metal known; this more than trebles the life of gauges, printing plates and similar devices. The Bureau developed the paper now used for printing U.S. paper currency, which has extended the total service life of such notes at least three times. It discovered that certain waste water from paper mills makes satisfactory material for tanning leather, and it established the dextrose (corn sugar) industry. It keeps the public well informed of its work, and its staff has increased by fifty times since it began in 1903.
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Bureau of Standards, Washington. Nature 137, 60–61 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137060d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137060d0