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Displaying 26 - 33 of 33

More Power to You, Wonder Woman!

June 16, 2017

Ms. Ampere

First, let me say that I’m totally energized by the good press my dear acquaintance Wonder Woman has been receiving lately. It’s absolutely electrifying to see a strong woman get good publicity! And she has done some wonderful things, what with defending the world from evil-doers and all. Maybe with

Doug Olson with an engraved meter in Paris

Measuring Up to the Task

March 3, 2017

Doug Olson

Even though I have spent my entire professional career at NIST, until a year ago it would never have entered my mind that I would become the chief of the NIST Office of Weights and Measures. I started out on the scientific side of metrology, improving our nation’s standards for calibrating devices

Elizabeth Gentry holding a kilogram test weight in the weights and measures training lab

Busting Myths about the Metric System

December 23, 2016

Elizabeth Benham

This year will be the 45th anniversary of the Metric Conversion Act, which was signed on December 23, 1975, by President Gerald R. Ford. Normally, we celebrate by sharing metric education resources, but this year I want to use the occasion to dispel some common misconceptions about the U.S

Diagram with blue background and man standing behind rope line

Ideas Whose Time Has Come (and Gone), v. 2017

December 20, 2016

Robin Materese

A catchphrase from a popular reality show goes: “One day you're in. And the next day, you're out.” For the purposes of the show, the host is referencing fashion. But the same could be said about science. With each new discovery or advance, an old theory or idea often becomes obsolete … or at least

photo of black odometer encircled in red with pink numbers and yellow odometer at bottom

Happy Metric Week! Celebrating 100 Years of the U.S. Metric Association

October 13, 2016

Don Hillger

Guest blog post by Don Hillger, President, U.S. Metric Association This year, 2016, marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Metric Association (USMA). Our mission is to help the U.S. complete its transition to the metric system. Although we’ve always expected that the adoption of the

The NIST Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers: An Educator's Journey

August 9, 2016

Laura Karns

I was always fascinated with science. However, I steered away from pursuing science beyond high school because there was too much math involved (and “MATH,” a four-letter word if ever I saw one, and I never really got along). As a result, much of my teaching experience has centered around things

Going the Distance on National Tape Measure Day

July 14, 2016

Dan Sawyer

Whether they’re made of leather or metal, people have been using tape measures for a long time. The first spring-loaded metal tape measure was invented and patented in England in 1829. Alvin Fellows of New Haven, Conn., made improvements to that design, including the locking mechanism that stops the

World Metrology Day: Kilogram in the Balance

May 20, 2016

Jon Pratt

It was Monday, April 25, 2016, and I was going to meet mass experts Pat Abbott and Eddie Mulhern of NIST’s Mass and Force group as part of my frantic preparations for a 5:21 p.m. flight to Paris. Pat and Eddie were the appointed custodians of the four 1 kilogram masses that I was to transport to the

Metric

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