National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)

National measurement institution of the UK

National Physical Laboratory

NPL's main entrance on Hampton Road

Established| 1900; 125 years ago (1900)
Research type| Applied Physics

Field of research

| Metrology

Chief Executive Officer

| Peter Thompson
Staff| c. 1,000[1]
Address| Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, England, UK
Location| 51°25′35″N 0°20′37″W﻿ / ﻿51.42639°N 0.34361°W﻿ / 51.42639; -0.34361

Operating agency

| NPL Management Ltd for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Website| www.npl.co.uk

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the national measurement standards laboratory of the United Kingdom. It sets and maintains physical standards for British industry.

Founded in 1900, the NPL is one of the oldest metrology institutes in the world. Research and development work at the laboratory has contributed to the advancement of many disciplines of science, including the development of early computers in the late 1940s and 1950s, construction of the first accurate atomic clock in 1955, and the invention and first implementation of packet switching in the 1960s, which is today one of the fundamental technologies of the Internet. The former heads of NPL include many individuals who were pillars of the British scientific establishment.[2][3]

NPL is based at Bushy Park in Teddington, south-western Greater London. It is operated by NPL Management Ltd, a company owned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and is one of the most extensive government laboratories in the United Kingdom.

## History

[edit]

### Precursors

[edit]

In the 19th century, the Kew Observatory was run by self-funded devotees of science. In the early 1850s, the observatory began charging fees for testing meteorological instruments and other scientific equipment. As universities in the United Kingdom created and expanded physics departments, the governing committee of the observatory became increasingly dominated by paid university physicists in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. By this time, instrument-testing was the observatory's main role. Physicists sought the establishment of a state-funded scientific institution for testing electrical standards.[4]

The Electricity Division of the National Physical Laboratory in 1944

### Founding

[edit]

The National Physical Laboratory was established in 1900 at Bushy House in Teddington. Its purpose was "for standardising and verifying instruments, for testing materials, and for the determination of physical constants".[5] The laboratory was run by the UK government, with members of staff being part of the civil service. It grew to fill a large selection of buildings on the Teddington site.[6]

### Late 20th century

[edit]

Administration of NPL was contracted out in 1995 under a Government Owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) model, via a new operating company, NPL Management Ltd. Serco won the bid and all staff transferred to their employment. Under this regime, overhead costs halved, third-party revenues grew by 16% per annum, and the number of peer-reviewed research papers published doubled.[7][8]

NPL procured a large state-of-the-art laboratory under a Private Finance Initiative contract in 1998. The construction was undertaken by John Laing.[9]

### 21st century

[edit]

The new laboratory building, which had been maintained by Serco, was transferred back to the DTI in 2004 after the private sector companies involved made losses of over £100M.[9]

It was decided in 2012 to change the operating model for NPL from 2014 onwards to include academic partners and to establish a postgraduate teaching institute on site.[10] The date of the changeover was later postponed for a year.[11] The candidates for lead academic partner were the Universities of Edinburgh, Southampton, Strathclyde and Surrey[12] with an alliance of the Universities of Strathclyde and Surrey chosen as preferred partners.[13]

Funding was announced in January 2013 for a new £25M Advanced Metrology Laboratory that will be built on the footprint of an existing unused building.[14][15]

NPL Management Ltd and the operation of the laboratory transferred back to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (now the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) on 1 January 2015.[16]

## Notable researchers

[edit]

Robert Watson-Watt

Researchers who have worked at NPL include:[17] D. W. Dye who did important work in developing the technology of quartz clocks; the inventor Sir Barnes Wallis who did early development work on the "Bouncing Bomb" used in the "Dam Busters" wartime raids;[18] H. J. Gough, one of the pioneers of research into metal fatigue, who worked at NPL for 19 years from 1914 to 1938; and Sydney Goldstein and Sir James Lighthill who worked in NPL's aerodynamics division during World War II researching boundary layer theory and supersonic aerodynamics respectively.[19]

Alan Turing, known for his work at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park during the Second World War to decipher German encrypted messages, worked at the National Physical Laboratory from 1945 to 1947.[20] He designed there the ACE (Automatic Computing Engine), which was one of the first designs for a stored-program computer. Clifford Hodge also worked there and was engaged in research on semiconductors. Others who have spent time at NPL include Robert Watson-Watt, generally considered the inventor of radar, Oswald Kubaschewski, the father of computational materials thermodynamics and the numerical analyst James Wilkinson.[21]

Metallurgist Walter Rosenhain appointed the NPL's first female scientific staff members in 1915, Marie Laura Violet Gayler and Isabel Hadfield.[22]

## Research

[edit]

NPL research has contributed to physical science, materials science, computing, and bioscience. Applications have been found in ship design, aircraft development, radar, computer networking, and global positioning.[23]

### Atomic clocks

[edit]

Louis Essen at right, with Jack Perry

The first accurate atomic clock, a caesium standard based on a certain transition of the caesium-133 atom, was built by Louis Essen and Jack Parry in 1955 at NPL.[24][25] Calibration of the caesium standard atomic clock was carried out by the use of the astronomical time scale ephemeris time (ET).[26] This led to the internationally agreed definition of the latest SI second being based on atomic time.[27]

### Computing

[edit]

#### Early computers

[edit]

NPL has undertaken computer research since the mid-1940s.[28] From 1945, Alan Turing led the design of the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) computer. The ACE project was overambitious and floundered, leading to Turing's departure.[29] Donald Davies took the project over and concentrated on delivering the less ambitious Pilot ACE computer, which first worked in May 1950. Among those who worked on the project was American computer pioneer Harry Huskey. A commercial spin-off, DEUCE was manufactured by English Electric Computers and became one of the best-selling machines of the 1950s.[29]

#### Packet switching

[edit]

Main articles: Packet switching and NPL network

See also: History of the Internet and Internet in the United Kingdom § History

Beginning in the mid-1960s, Donald Davies invented and pioneered the implementation of packet switching, now the dominant basis for data communications in computer networks worldwide.[30] Davies designed and proposed a national commercial data network in his 1965 Proposal for the Development of a National Communications Service for On-line Data Processing.[31] Subsequently, the NPL team, led by Roger Scantlebury, were the first to implement packet switching in the local-area NPL network in early 1969,[32][33][34][35] which operated until 1986. They carried out work to analyse and simulate the performance of a wide-area packet-switched network capable of providing data communications facilities to most of the U.K.[36] Their research and practice influenced the ARPANET in the United States, the forerunner of the Internet, and other researchers in the UK and Europe, including Louis Pouzin.[37][38][39]

NPL sponsors a gallery, opened in 2009, about the development of packet switching and "Technology of the Internet" at The National Museum of Computing.[40][41][42][43]

#### Internetworking

[edit]

NPL internetworking research was led by Davies, Barber and Scantlebury, who were members of the International Network Working Group (INWG).[44][45][46][47][48] They observed that connecting heterogeneous computer networks creates a "basic dilemma" since a common host protocol would require restructuring the existing networks. To study this, NPL connected with the European Informatics Network (Barber directed the project and Scantlebury led the UK technical contribution)[49][50][51] by translating between two different host protocols; that is, using a gateway. Concurrently, the NPL connection to the Post Office Experimental Packet Switched Service used a common host protocol in both networks. NPL research confirmed establishing a common host protocol would be more reliable and efficient.[52] The EIN protocol helped to launch the proposed INWG standard.[53] Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf acknowledged Davies and Scantlebury in their 1974 paper "A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication".[54]

#### Scrapbook

[edit]

Scrapbook was an information storage and retrieval system that went live in mid-1971. It included what would now be called word processing, e-mail and hypertext, anticipating many elements of the World Wide Web.[55] The project was managed by David Yates who said of it "We had a community of bright people that were interested in new things, they were good fodder for a system like Scrapbook" and "When we had more than one Scrapbook system, hyperlinks could go across the network without the user knowing what was happening".[55][56] It was decided that any commercial development of Scrapbook should be left to industry and it was licensed to Triad and then to BT who marketed it as Milepost and developed a transaction processor as an additional feature. Various implementations were marketed on DEC, IBM and ITL machines. All NPL implementations of Scrapbook were closed down in 1984.[57]

#### Email

[edit]

Derek Barber proposed a network mail protocol and implemented it on the EIN in 1979, the first European implementation of electronic mail.[58][59] Jon Postel referenced Barber's work in his first paper on Internet email, published in the Internet Experiment Note series.[60]

#### Secure communication

[edit]

In the early 1990s, the NPL developed three formal specifications of the MAA: one in Z,[61] one in LOTOS,[62] and one in VDM.[63][64] The VDM specification became part of the 1992 revision of the International Standard 8731–2, and three implementations in C, Miranda, and Modula-2.[65]

### Electromagnetics

[edit]

A 2020 study by researchers from Queen Mary University of London and NPL successfully used microwaves to measure blood-based molecules known to be influenced by dehydration.[66]

### Metrology

[edit]

The National Physical Laboratory is involved with new developments in metrology, such as researching metrology for, and standardising, nanotechnology.[67] It is mainly based at the Teddington site, but also has a site in Huddersfield for dimensional metrology[68] and an underwater acoustics facility at Wraysbury Reservoir near Heathrow Airport.[69]

## Directors of NPL

[edit]

Directors of NPL

* E. V. Appleton

* W. L. Bragg

* C. G. Darwin

* Peter Clapham

Directors of NPL include a number of notable individuals:[70]

* Sir Richard Tetley Glazebrook, 1900–1919
* Sir Joseph Ernest Petavel, 1919–1936
* Sir Frank Edward Smith, 1936–1937 (acting)
* Sir William Lawrence Bragg, 1937–1938
* Sir Charles Galton Darwin, 1938–1949
* Sir Edward Victor Appleton, 1941 (acting)
* Sir Edward Crisp Bullard, 1948–1955
* Reginald Leslie Smith-Rose, 1955–1956 (acting)
* Sir Gordon Brims Black McIvor Sutherland, 1956–1964
* John Vernon Dunworth, 1964–1977
* Paul Dean, 1977–1990
* Peter Clapham, 1990–1995

Managing Directors

* John Rae, 1995–2000
* Bob McGuiness, 2000–2005
* Steve McQuillan, 2005–2008
* Martyn Sené, 2008–2009, 2015 (acting)
* Brian Bowsher, 2009–2015

Chief Executive Officers

* Peter Thompson, 2015–present[71]

## NPL buildings

[edit]

* NPL buildings
* Bushy House

* The Darwin building

* New building with preserved gates from the original entrance on Queen's Road

* Part of the new building

* Painting of the laboratory by Lee Campbell, resident artist there in 2009

* Ground floor plan of Bushy House in 1901/1902

* Basement plan of Bushy House in 1901/1902

## See also

[edit]

* Outline of metrology and measurement
* List of UK government scientific research institutes
* National Institute of Standards and Technology in the United States
* National Physical Laboratory of India
* VAMAS

## References

[edit]

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34. ^ Haughney Dare-Bryan, Christine (22 June 2023). Computer Freaks (Podcast). Chapter Two: In the Air. Inc. Magazine. 35:55 minutes in. "Leonard Kleinrock: Donald Davies ... did make a single node packet switch before ARPA did"
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55. ^ a b Ward, Mark (5 February 2010), Alan Turing and the Ace computer, BBC News, archived from the original on 10 October 2021, retrieved 17 February 2021 "it is certainly the first system I know of to combine screen-based word processing, hypertext and e-mail as a service over a general-purpose computer network."
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## Further reading

[edit]

* Campbell-Kelly, Martin (1987). "Data Communications at the National Physical Laboratory (1965-1975)". Annals of the History of Computing. 9 (3/4): 221–247\. doi:10.1109/MAHC.1987.10023. ISSN 0164-1239. S2CID 8172150.
* Claxton, J K (1983). "The National Physical Laboratory – A History". Physics Bulletin. 34 (9): 395. doi:10.1088/0031-9112/34/9/029. ISSN 0031-9112.
* Macdonald, Lee T. (2018). "University physicists and the origins of the National Physical Laboratory, 1830–1900". History of Science. 59 (1): 73–92\. doi:10.1177/0073275318811445. ISSN 0073-2753. PMID 30474405. S2CID 53792127.
* Moseley, Russell (1978). "The Origins and Early Years of the National Physical Laboratory: A Chapter in the Pre-history of British Science Policy". Minerva. 16 (2): 222–250\. doi:10.1007/BF01096015. ISSN 0026-4695. JSTOR 41820329. S2CID 144283941.
* Yates, David M. (1997). Turing's Legacy: A History of Computing at the National Physical Laboratory 1945-1995. National Museum of Science and Industry. ISBN 978-0-901805-94-2.
* Vigoureux, P. (1988). "Electric units at the National Physical Laboratory, 1900-50". Papers Presented at the Sixteenth I.E.E. Week-End Meeting on the History of Electrical Engineering: 9–12.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom).

* Official website
* The birth of the Internet in the UK Google video featuring Roger Scantlebury, Peter Wilkinson, Peter Kirstein and Vint Cerf, 2013
* NPL Video Podcast
* Second Health in Second Life[usurped]
* NMS Home Page
* NPL YouTube channel
* NPL Sports and Social Club
* [1]
* The National Physical Laboratory apprentices[permanent dead link]
* Benjamin Stone MP & the NPL – UK Parliament Living Heritage

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* Natural Environment Research Council
* Research England
* Science and Technology Facilities Council

|

Tribunal|

* Copyright Tribunal

Public corporations|

* National Physical Laboratory
* Ordnance Survey

Other|

* British Technology Investments
* Government Digital Service
* Government Office for Science
* Ofcom
* Regulatory Horizons Council
* UK Shared Business Services

* v
* t
* e

Science and technology in the United Kingdom

Economy of the United Kingdom

Official
bodies and
personnel|

* Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence
* Council for Science and Technology
* Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
* Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
* Building Digital UK
* Intellectual Property Office
* Government Office for Science
* Chief Scientific Adviser
* National Technology Advisor
* UK Research and Innovation
* Arts and Humanities Research Council
* Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
* Economic and Social Research Council
* Innovate UK
* Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
* Medical Research Council
* Natural Environment Research Council
* Research England
* Science and Technology Facilities Council
* UK Space Agency
* Food and Environment Research Agency
* List of UK government scientific research institutes
* Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
* Science and Technology Select Committee
* Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies

Industry
sectors|

* Aerospace
* British space programme
* Automotive
* Computers
* Nuclear technology
* Pharmaceutical
* Renewable energy
* Telecommunications

Non-
governmental
bodies|

| Education
and museums|

* Science museums
* National Museum of Science and Industry
* National Space Centre
* Universities
* List
* Golden triangle
* Russell Group

|

Societies and
professional
bodies|

* British Computer Society
* British Mass Spectrometry Society
* British Science Association
* British Society for the Philosophy of Science
* Engineering Council
* Geological Society of London
* Institute of Physics
* Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine
* Royal Academy of Engineering
* Royal Aeronautical Society
* Royal Astronomical Society
* Royal Entomological Society
* Royal Geographical Society
* Royal Institution
* Christmas Lectures
* Royal Society
* The Association for Science Education
* Royal Society of Chemistry
* Science Council
* Royal Society of Biology
* North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers

Other|

* Campaign for Science and Engineering
* EngineeringUK
* Science Media Centre
* Wellcome Trust

People|

* Engineers
* Inventors
* Nobel laureates
* Science writers
* Scientists
* Technology writers

Places|

* Burlington House
* East London Tech City
* M4 corridor
* Science parks
* Silicon Fen
* Silicon Glen
* Silicon Gorge
* Sites of Special Scientific Interest

Other|

* Innovations and discoveries
* Science and technology awards
* Science and technology magazines
* JANET
* National Science Week

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Districts|

* Barnes
* East Sheen
* Fulwell
* Ham
* Hampton
* Hampton Hill
* Hampton Wick
* Kew
* Mortlake
* Petersham
* Richmond
* St Margarets
* Strawberry Hill
* Teddington
* Twickenham
* Whitton

Railway stations|

* Barnes
* Barnes Bridge
* Fulwell
* Hampton
* Hampton Wick
* Kew Gardens
* Mortlake
* North Sheen
* Richmond
* St Margarets
* Strawberry Hill
* Teddington
* Twickenham
* Whitton

Streets and roads|

* A205 (South Circular)
* A307
* A308
* A309
* A316
* Barnes High Street
* Castelnau
* Church Road, Barnes
* George Street
* Kew Green
* Mill Hill
* Mortlake High Street
* Old Palace Lane
* Old Palace Yard
* Queen's Road
* Richmond Green
* The Terrace, Barnes
* Vineyard
* proposed Ringway 2

Walking and cycling routes|

* Barnes Trail
* Beverley Brook Walk
* Capital Ring
* National Cycle Route 4
* Tamsin Trail
* Thames Path

Thames bridges, islands
and river services|

* Bridges
* Ash Island
* Benn's Island
* Brentford Ait
* Corporation Island
* Eel Pie Island
* Glover's Island
* Platt's Eyot
* Swan Island
* Tagg's Island
* Trowlock Island
* Hammerton's Ferry
* Hampton Ferry
* Kew Pier
* Richmond Lock
* Teddington Lifeboat Station
* Teddington Lock
* former Twickenham Ferry

Other rivers and streams|

* Beverley Brook
* River Crane
* Duke of Northumberland's River
* Longford River
* Sudbrook and Latchmere stream
* River Thames

Sports venues|

* Athletic Ground, Richmond
* Barn Elms
* Championship Course
* Cricket
* Golf
* Hampton Pool
* Lensbury
* Pools on the Park
* Royal Tennis Court
* Teddington Pools and Fitness Centre
* Thames Young Mariners
* Twickenham Stadium
* Twickenham Stoop
* former Ranelagh Club
* former Richmond Ice Rink

Events|

* Annual sports events
* Hampton Court Garden Festival
* Hampton Court Palace Festival

Breweries and pubs|

* Britannia
* Bull's Head
* Crown
* Dysart
* Fox
* George
* Hare and Hounds
* Jolly Coopers
* Old Ship
* Park Hotel
* Richmond Brewery Stores
* Sun Inn
* Twickenham Fine Ales
* Watney Combe & Reid
* White Cross
* White Swan

Theatres, cinemas
and music venues|

* The Bull's Head
* Crawdaddy Club
* The Exchange
* Odeon Cinema, Richmond
* Olympic Studios
* Orange Tree Theatre
* OSO Arts Centre
* Puppet Theatre Barge
* Richmond Theatre
* TwickFolk
* Wathen Hall
* former Eel Pie Island Hotel
* former Richmond Theatre (1765–1884)

Film and recording studios|

* Astoria
* Boathouse, Twickenham
* Eel Pie Studios
* Olympic Studios
* Twickenham Studios
* former Teddington Studios

Media and publishing|

* Richmond and Twickenham Times
* former Gaydar Radio
* former Hogarth Press

Public art|

* Public art
* Diana Fountain, Bushy Park
* King's Beasts, Hampton Court Palace
* The Naked Ladies
* Pope's Urn
* The Queen's Beasts

Historical royal palaces|

* Hampton Court Palace
* Hampton Court astronomical clock
* Hampton Court Maze
* Kew Palace
* Richmond Palace

Historic houses|

* 123 Mortlake High Street
* 14 The Terrace, Barnes
* 18 Station Road, Barnes
* 70 Barnes High Street
* Asgill House
* Brinsworth House
* Bushy House
* Cambridge Cottage
* Chapel House
* Clarence House
* Doughty House
* Douglas House
* Downe House
* Garrick's Villa
* Grove House
* Halford House
* Ham House
* Hogarth House
* Homestead
* Hotham House
* Kneller Hall
* Langham House
* Latchmere House
* Lichfield Court
* Marble Hill House
* Montrose House
* Old Court House
* Ormeley Lodge
* Pavilion
* Pembroke Lodge
* Strawberry Hill House
* Stud House
* Sudbrook House and Park
* Thatched House Lodge
* Trumpeters' House
* West Hall
* White Lodge
* The Wick
* Wick House
* Yelverton Lodge
* York House
* former Alcott House
* former Cardigan House
* former Cross Deep House
* former Mount Ararat
* former Pope's villa
* former Radnor House
* former Richmond House
* former Richmond Lodge
* former Twickenham Park

Other places
of interest|

* Barnes power station
* Chapel in the Wood
* East Sheen Filling Station
* Fulwell bus garage
* Garrick's Temple
* Great Pagoda
* Grove Gardens Chapel
* Hampton Water Treatment Works
* Hampton Youth Project
* Harrods Furniture Depository
* Kew Gardens
* Kew Mortuary
* King's Observatory
* Langham House Close
* National Physical Laboratory
* Normansfield Theatre
* Old Town Hall
* Parkleys
* Park Lane Stables
* Pope's Grotto
* Poppy Factory
* Royal Military School of Music
* Royal Star and Garter Home
* St Leonard's Court
* University Boat Race Stones
* Victoria Working Men's Club
* former Admiralty Research Laboratory
* former Camp Griffiss
* former Karsino
* former Mortlake Tapestry Works
* former Richmond Theological College
* former Sheen Priory
* former Star and Garter Hotel

Tragedy and disaster|

* Barnes rail crash
* Murders:
* Barnes child
* Ham bank
* Amélie Delagrange
* Julia Martha Thomas
* Richmond child
* Towpath murders

Other history topics|

* Adana Printing Machines
* GHQ Liaison Regiment
* Hampton Court Conference
* Kew Letters
* Petersham Hole
* Richmond Flyers
* Richmond, Petersham and Ham Open Spaces Act
* Treaty of Hampton Court
* Warren-Lambert
* Baronets:
* Ashe
* Cook
* Darell
* Pocock
* Vandeput
* Wigan

Parliamentary constituencies|

* Richmond Park
* Twickenham
* former Richmond and Barnes
* former Richmond (Surrey)

Other topics|

* Almshouses
* Archives, museums and art galleries
* Cemeteries, crematoria and memorials
* Churches
* Synagogue
* Grade I listed buildings
* Grade II* listed buildings
* Hospitals
* Local government
* Local council elections
* People
* Schools and colleges
* Sports clubs

Parks, open spaces and nature reserves in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

* v
* t
* e

Time signal authorities

|  ANFR|  KRISS|  MIKES|  NICT|  NIST|  NPL|  NRC|  NTSC|  PTB|  ROA|  SHN|  VNIIFTRI| Other

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|
|
|
|
|
|
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* ALS162

* HLA

* MIKES

* JJY

* WWVB
* WWV
* WWVH

* MSF
* BBC (198 kHz)

* CHU

* BPC
* BPL
* BPM

* DCF77
* DCF (EFR)

* EBC

* LOL

* RBU
* RJH (Beta)
* RNS (CHAYKA)
* RTZ
* RWM

* BSF
* HD2IOA
* JN53DV
* PPE
* YVTO

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* United States
* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX

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