National BureauofStandards Fiftieth
President Coggeshall · 1951
RogerBacon, medieval herald ofscience, correctly said: 'There aretwomethods inwhichweacquire knowledge-argument andexperiment.' Sevenhundred yearslater wehaveCongress arguing andtheWhiteHouseexperimenting. Thiswryjest isbasedupontheincongruity ofexperiment without meansofprecise measurement. Forfifty yearstheNational BureauofStandards hasputcelestial calipers onthecentimeter, the gram,andthesecond. Inreturn, scientists andengineers oftheuniversities andindustrial laboratories, bandedtogether insocieties like TheInstitute ofRadioEngineers, haveshownhowtoproduce allmannerofdevices tolockspace, mass,andtimeintothemostextraordinary relationships, involving the measured behavior ofelements oftheatomandthespeedoflight amongthestars. Thecrystals, tubes, othercircuit components, andmeasuring devices soproduced havegoneback intotheBureauofStandards, there tobeusedfurther torefine thestandards ofmeasurement. Today, therotation oftheearthandthefixofthestars-once standard aboveallstandards-yield uptheir vagaries, bymethods ofmicrowave spectroscopy derived fromradartechniques, totheconstant frequencywithwhichelectrons spinabouttheir nuclei. Itistragic thattheeffects ofsocial experiment, thephilosophies, andthejisms' havesolongresisted similar exactmeasurement. Whilephilosophers canprovethatMVarxism smells, noteventhe BureauofStandards onitsfiftieth birthday cantell howbad. Theworldwill befurther indebttotheBureauif, perhaps intheearly partofitssecond half-century, itbrings forth ananalog computer uponwhichmaybesetupphilosophical problems, andanswers obtained whichmaybeduplicated atwill atanypoint intimeandgeography. Itsusemightbelimited by lawtointernational problems, thusnotinterfering withthetwo-party system intheUnited States. IhopeImaybepardoned forhaving spoken inalighter vein, asbefitting thewell-founded happiness ofthis luncheon celebration. Inallseriousness, however, Inowturntothepresentation ofthescroll whichwill constitute thepermanent record oftheoccasion, andacceptance ofwhichbyyou,Doctor Condon, will dohonortotheInstitute anditsPresident. Thetextofthescroll wasasfollows: