A day at the National Physical Laboratory
This year, 5 SCOPE members visited the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington, London. For over a century, NPL has been a synonym of excellence, contributing to the UK technological and economic development. More recently, NPL has started expanding to several locations in the UK, including Scotland. The latest is in close partnership with the University of Strathclyde, which prompted our interest and facilitated the logistics involved in our visit. We were welcomed to NPL by Richard Burguete, Postgraduate Institute (PGI) director, and met several NPL PGI students over tea and biscuits.
NPL named birthplace of atomic timekeeping
The National Physical Laboratory [NPL] has been officially declared by the European Physical Society [EPS] Historic Site as the birthplace of atomic timekeeping. The announcement was made during a dedicated event at NPL in Teddington, United-Kingdom, on 31 January 2014 and a plaque commemorating the historic occasion was unveiled.
The EPS Historic Sites Award recognises places in Europe that have made an exceptional contribution to physics. The award recognises NPL as the place where the first practical atomic clock was built, a landmark which has changed global timekeeping and made modern communications and location services possible…
