National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)

National Physical Laboratory
NPL's main entrance on Hampton Road
Established1900 (1900)
Research typeApplied Physics
Field of research
Metrology
Chief Executive Officer
Peter Thompson
Staffc. 1,000[1]
AddressHampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, England, UK
Location51°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
Websitewww.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.

  1. ^ "About us". NPLWebsite. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  2. ^ Naughton, John (24 September 2015). A Brief History of the Future. Orion. ISBN 978-1-4746-0277-8. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  3. ^ Russell, Andrew L. (28 April 2014). Open Standards and the Digital Age: History, Ideology, and Networks. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-91661-5. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2020.

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