NIST: Responding to basic needs, responding to special needs

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was established by an Act of Congress in 1901 as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). It was charged with serving the Nation's science and industry by establishing and maintaining the fundamental standards of science and related instrumentation and measurement methods and by providing calibration services and determinations of the properties and physical constants of materials. Work done by NBS in radio, aircraft, optical glass manufacture, and to facilitate industrial standardization established a pattern for NBS/NIST of mobilizing its scientific talent in response to national needs in times of crisis or challenge.