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Measures for Progress: A History of the National Bureau of Standards

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RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 513<br />

The spin-<strong>of</strong>f <strong>of</strong> CRPL, <strong>the</strong> new realinement <strong>of</strong> functions and purposes,<br />

are endemic in <strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong>. Its history over more than half a<br />

century discloses a highly viable <strong>for</strong>m, a living organism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Federal Gov-<br />

ernment, responsive to national needs as <strong>the</strong>y arose. Established to do no<br />

more than provide <strong>the</strong> Nation with its necessary yardsticks <strong>of</strong> measurement<br />

and per<strong>for</strong>mance, a seemingly mechanical destiny, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong> from <strong>the</strong> be-<br />

ginning reached out to <strong>the</strong> whole life, <strong>the</strong> whole welfare <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nation.<br />

The present history has tried to show this life <strong>for</strong>ce that is <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong>,<br />

acting as individuals and as agency, and <strong>the</strong> part it has played in <strong>the</strong><br />

scientific, industrial, and business life <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nation. As crusader and<br />

arbiter, creator and counselor <strong>of</strong> standards, it works <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> future, as it has<br />

in <strong>the</strong> past, <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> good society, and by its learning and good will makes<br />

itself felt throughout <strong>the</strong> Nation and <strong>the</strong> world.

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