Milestone-Proposal:First Atomic Clock: Difference between revisions

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Site 1 - International Drive NW, Washington, DC (across the street from Embassy of Kingdom of Bahrain)
Site 1 - International Drive NW, Washington, DC (across the street from Embassy of Kingdom of Bahrain)


There is a park owned by the U. S. State Department that is surrounded by various embassies.  There is a retaining wall with a staircase into the park that would be a good location for the plaque.  A photograph (from Google Maps) is shown below.  The coordinates are 38.941789, -77.067132.
There is a park owned by the U. S. State Department that is surrounded by various embassies.  There is a retaining wall with a staircase into the park that would be a suitable location for the plaque.  This is the nearest possible location to where the atomic clock was developed.  A photograph (from Google Maps) is shown below.  The coordinates are 38.941789, -77.067132.


[[File:Site_1_Retaining_Wall.jpg|700 px|]]
[[File:Site_1_Retaining_Wall.jpg|700 px|]]
Site 2 - 4000 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC
One remaining piece of the old NBS campus remains, a pair of stone columns that once served as an entrance to the NBS campus (see photograph below from Google Maps).  This site is slightly further away from where the work was accomplished than Site 1, but is on a major road where a steady stream of people would walk by and see the plaque.  The columns make up the border of another little park, also owned by the U. S. State Department. 
[[File:Site_2_Connecticut_Avenue.jpg|700 px|]]
|a7=See descriptions and photographs of Site 1 and Site 2 above.
|a7=See descriptions and photographs of Site 1 and Site 2 above.


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[[File:Newton Tree DC Site Sign 2010.jpg|700 px|]]
[[File:Newton Tree DC Site Sign 2010.jpg|700 px|]]
|a8=No.  The Bureau of Standards relocated from Washington, DC to Gaithersburg, Maryland beginning in 1962 and ending in 1968.  Lyons and his group worked in the Radio Building on the old DC campus and all of the buildings on that campus have been torn down.  Based on comparisons of aerial photos of the DC campus with current images from Google maps, the approximate location of the Radio Building was where the embassies of Bahrain and the Kuwait cultural office are now located.  The Bahrain embassy is located at 3502 International Drive NW in Washington, DC, and the Jordan embassy is located at 3500 International Drive NW.
|a8=No.  The Bureau of Standards relocated from Washington, DC to Gaithersburg, Maryland beginning in 1962 and ending in 1968.  Lyons and his group worked in the Radio Building on the old DC campus and all of the buildings on that campus have been torn down.  Based on comparisons of aerial photos of the DC campus with current images from Google maps, the approximate location of the Radio Building was where the embassies of Bahrain and the Kuwait cultural office are now located.  The Bahrain embassy is located at 3502 International Drive NW in Washington, DC, and the Jordan embassy is located at 3500 International Drive NW.


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[[File:1928_map_showing_radio_building_location.jpg|700 px|]]
[[File:1928_map_showing_radio_building_location.jpg|700 px|]]
|mounting details=The plaque will be mounted outdoors, either on a stone retaining wall or a stone column (see description and photographs of Site 1 and Site 2 above).
|mounting details=The plaque will be mounted outdoors, either on a stone retaining wall or a stone column (see description and photographs of Site 1 and Site 2 above).
|a9=Both of the proposed sites are publicly accessible in an outdoor location.
|a9=Both of the proposed sites are publicly accessible in an outdoor location.
|a10=The United States State Department
|a10=The United States State Department
|references=Patents:
|references=Patents:

Revision as of 19:27, 4 March 2016


To see comments, or add a comment to this discussion, click here.

Docket #:

This Proposal has been approved, and is now a Milestone


To the proposer’s knowledge, is this achievement subject to litigation? No

Is the achievement you are proposing more than 25 years old? Yes

Is the achievement you are proposing within IEEE’s designated fields as defined by IEEE Bylaw I-104.11, namely: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy. Yes

Did the achievement provide a meaningful benefit for humanity? Yes

Was it of at least regional importance? Yes

Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to pay for the milestone plaque(s)? Yes

Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to arrange the dedication ceremony? Yes

Has the IEEE Section in which the milestone is located agreed to take responsibility for the plaque after it is dedicated? Yes

Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an IEEE Milestone? Yes


Year or range of years in which the achievement occurred:

1947-1949

Title of the proposed milestone:

First Atomic Clock, 1948

Plaque citation summarizing the achievement and its significance:

The original atomic clock, developed by Harold Lyons at the National Bureau of Standards, utilized transitions of the ammonia molecule as its source of frequency and launched a technological revolution. Within two decades of Lyon’s invention, the “atomic second” had replaced the Earth’s rotational rate as the reference for world timekeeping. Many technologies, including the Global Positioning System (GPS), now rely on the accuracy of atomic clocks.

200-250 word abstract describing the significance of the technical achievement being proposed, the person(s) involved, historical context, humanitarian and social impact, as well as any possible controversies the advocate might need to review.


IEEE technical societies and technical councils within whose fields of interest the Milestone proposal resides.


In what IEEE section(s) does it reside?

Washington Section

IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone:

IEEE Organizational Unit(s) paying for milestone plaque(s):


IEEE Organizational Unit(s) arranging the dedication ceremony:


IEEE section(s) monitoring the plaque(s):


Milestone proposer(s):

Proposer name: Michael Lombardi
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public

Proposer name: Tom O'Brian
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public

Please note: your email address and contact information will be masked on the website for privacy reasons. Only IEEE History Center Staff will be able to view the email address.

Street address(es) and GPS coordinates in decimal form of the intended milestone plaque site(s):

There are two possible sites where the plaque can be located. Site 1 is located the closest to where the original Radio Building was located (see text below regarding original building site) , Site 2 would be seen more by the public and is also very near the site of the original work. The sites are described below:

Site 1 - International Drive NW, Washington, DC (across the street from Embassy of Kingdom of Bahrain)

There is a park owned by the U. S. State Department that is surrounded by various embassies. There is a retaining wall with a staircase into the park that would be a suitable location for the plaque. This is the nearest possible location to where the atomic clock was developed. A photograph (from Google Maps) is shown below. The coordinates are 38.941789, -77.067132.

Site 1 Retaining Wall.jpg

Site 2 - 4000 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC

One remaining piece of the old NBS campus remains, a pair of stone columns that once served as an entrance to the NBS campus (see photograph below from Google Maps). This site is slightly further away from where the work was accomplished than Site 1, but is on a major road where a steady stream of people would walk by and see the plaque. The columns make up the border of another little park, also owned by the U. S. State Department.

Site 2 Connecticut Avenue.jpg

Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.

Please give the address(es) of the plaque site(s) (GPS coordinates if you have them). Also please give the details of the mounting, i.e. on the outside of the building, in the ground floor entrance hall, on a plinth on the grounds, etc. If visitors to the plaque site will need to go through security, or make an appointment, please give the contact information visitors will need. See descriptions and photographs of Site 1 and Site 2 above.

There is a historical marker located inside the retaining wall of Site 1 denoting the "Newton Apple Tree" that was planted in the park by NIST in 2000. A photograph of this plaque is shown below.

Newton Tree DC Site Sign 2010.jpg

Are the original buildings extant?

No. The Bureau of Standards relocated from Washington, DC to Gaithersburg, Maryland beginning in 1962 and ending in 1968. Lyons and his group worked in the Radio Building on the old DC campus and all of the buildings on that campus have been torn down. Based on comparisons of aerial photos of the DC campus with current images from Google maps, the approximate location of the Radio Building was where the embassies of Bahrain and the Kuwait cultural office are now located. The Bahrain embassy is located at 3502 International Drive NW in Washington, DC, and the Jordan embassy is located at 3500 International Drive NW.

Here is a photograph of the Radio Building (probably taken in the 1920s):

NBS radio building where clock was built.jpg

Here is a 1928 map of the NBS campus showing where the radio building was located with respect to Connecticut Avenue and Tilden Street:

1928 map showing radio building location.jpg

Details of the plaque mounting:

The plaque will be mounted outdoors, either on a stone retaining wall or a stone column (see description and photographs of Site 1 and Site 2 above).

How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?

Both of the proposed sites are publicly accessible in an outdoor location.

Who is the present owner of the site(s)?

The United States State Department

What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)? If personal names are included in citation, include justification here. (see section 6 of Milestone Guidelines)


What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?


What features set this work apart from similar achievements?


Supporting texts and citations to establish the dates, location, and importance of the achievement: Minimum of five (5), but as many as needed to support the milestone, such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or chapters in scholarly books. 'Scholarly' is defined as peer-reviewed, with references, and published. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. At least one of the references must be from a scholarly book or journal article. All supporting materials must be in English, or accompanied by an English translation.

Patents:

[P1] H. Lyons and B. F. Huston, "Atomic Clock," United States Patent 2,699,503 (Applied for April 30, 1949, granted January 11, 1955).

Media:US_Patent_2699503.pdf

Journal Articles:

[J1] H. Lyons, "The Atomic Clock," Instruments, vol. 22, pp. 133-135, 174, December 1949.

Media:Lyons_Instruments_Dec_1949.pdf

[J2] H. Lyons, “The Atomic Clock: A Universal Standard of Frequency and Time,” American Scholar, vol. 19, pp. 159-168, April 1950.

Media:Lyons_American_Scholar_1950.pdf

[J3] H. Lyons, “Spectral lines as frequency standards,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 55, pp. 831-871, November 1952.

Media:Lyons_New_York_Academy_1952.pdf

[J4] H. Lyons, "Atomic Clocks," Scientific American, vol. 197, pp. 71-82, February 1957.

Media:Lyons_Scientific_American_1957.pdf

[J5] R. Beehler, “A Historical Review of Atomic Frequency Standards,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 55, pp. 792-805, June 1967.

Media:Beehler_Proc_IEEE_1967.pdf

[J6] P. Forman, “Atomichron: The Atomic Clock from Concept to Commercial Product,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 73, pp. 1181-1204, July 1985.

Media:Forman_Proc_IEEE_1985.pdf

[J7] M. A. Lombardi, T. P. Heavner, and S. R. Jefferts, "NIST Primary Frequency Standards and the Realization of the SI Second," NCSLI Measure: The Journal of Measurement Science, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 74-89, December 2007.

Media:Lombardi_Measure_2007.pdf

Conference Papers:

[C1] H. Lyons, "Microwave spectroscopic frequency and time standards," Proceedings of the IXth General Assembly of URSI, paper no. 91, pp. 47-57, 1950.

Media:Lyons_URSI_1950.pdf

[C2] P. Forman, “The first atomic clock program: NBS, 1947-1954,” Proceedings of the 1985 Precise Time and Time Interval Meeting (PTTI), pp. 1-17, 1985.

Media:Forman_PTTI_1985.pdf

[C3] D. B. Sullivan, "Time and Frequency Measurement at NIST: The First 100 Years," Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE Frequency Control Symposium, pp. 4-17, 2001.

Media:Sullivan_IEEE_FCS_2001.pdf

Books:

[B1] W. Snyder and C. Bragaw, “Achievement in Radio: Seventy Years of Radio Science, Technology, Standards, and Measurement at the National Bureau of Standards,” National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 555, October 1986.

Media:Snyder_NBS_SP_555_1986.pdf

[B2] T. Jones, "Splitting the Second: The Story of Atomic Time," Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol and Philadelphia, 2000.

News Articles:

[N1] “The Atomic Clock: An Atomic Standard of Frequency and Time,” National Bureau of Standards Technical News Bulletin, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 17-24, February 1949.

Media:NBS_Bulletin_February_1949.pdf

[N2] "Atomic Clock," Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 141-142, February 1949.

Media:RSI_News_Release_Feb_49.pdf

Miscellaneous:

Cartoon, "Ripley's Believe it or Not!," King Features Syndicate, 1953.

Figure 06 Ripleys 1953.jpg

Supporting materials (supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC): All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. For documents that are copyright-encumbered, or which you do not have rights to post, email the documents themselves to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please see the Milestone Program Guidelines for more information.

First Atomic Clock on Display at Smithsonian Condon (left) and Lyons (right) with Atomic Clock Ammonia Clock 01061949.jpg 1948 Ammonia Molecule Clock Backside.jpg

Please email a jpeg or PDF a letter in English, or with English translation, from the site owner(s) giving permission to place IEEE milestone plaque on the property, and a letter (or forwarded email) from the appropriate Section Chair supporting the Milestone application to ieee-history@ieee.org with the subject line "Attention: Milestone Administrator." Note that there are multiple texts of the letter depending on whether an IEEE organizational unit other than the section will be paying for the plaque(s).

Please recommend reviewers by emailing their names and email addresses to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please include the docket number and brief title of your proposal in the subject line of all emails.