Abstract
THE report for 1939 of the National Physical Laboratory covers 100 pages (London: H.M. Stationery Office. 2s. 6d. net). During the year there has been no great falling off in the experimental work done for, and the advice given to, industry both for immediate purposes and for long-range projects for opening up new possibilities, or in the testing of instruments or the maintenance of exact standards of measurement. But the War has raised new problems for solution which have come from the Services and the civil defence departments. Changes of staff to and from industry, to the Admiralty, the Air Ministry and the Forces have been more numerous than usual. Among the investigations of the year may be mentioned those on the physical properties of carbon steels, light aluminium and magnesium alloys, ship propellers, new aircraft, the reduction of sound transmission in buildings, electrical insulating materials and the propagation of ultra-short radio waves. Members of the staff have continued to give lectures on the work of the Laboratory at provincial centres, to serve on technical committees at home, and to attend international conferences on scientific and technical questions abroad.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
The National Physical Laboratory. Nature 145, 967 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/145967c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/145967c0