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NIST Museum & Archives

The NIST Museum & Archives, as part of the NIST Research Library and Museum, aims to increase awareness of the achievements and history of NIST through research, collection, and exhibition of scientific instruments, archival materials, and other historical artifacts.

Welcome to the NIST Museum and Archives!

The Museum was established in 1965 to preserve NIST’s history. Through the collection and preservation of measurement standards, scientific instruments, and other artifacts the Museum captures the work and research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and its predecessor agency, the National Bureau of Standards.  Explore the collection on the NIST Digital Archives. 

The NIST Archives is a valuable resource for researchers, historians, and anyone interested in learning more about the history of the National Bureau of Standards / National Institute of Standards and Technology, and metrology, standardization, and science and technology in the United States.

Photographs of Argon, Helium, Hydrogen, and Neon luminous script signs designed by Perley G. Nutting and fabricated by Edward O. Sperling of NBS in 1904.
Argon, Helium, Hydrogen, and Neon luminous script signs designed by Perley G. Nutting and fabricated by Edward O. Sperling of NBS in 1904.
Credit: NIST Museum Collection
Museum Collection
NIST Archives

For inquiries about the Museum, Archives or the history of the National Bureau of Standards/National Institute of Standards and Technology, please email:  museum [at] nist.gov (museum[at]nist[dot]gov)

Featured Online Exhibits

Science as Art Banner
Exhibit title A Barred Experiment: The NBS designed prison bar tester thumbnail
LoTIS: A Lab to Market story exhibit title banner with the LoTIS device and simulation image.
Under Pressure Wind Tunnel Studies for Structural Design exhibit thumbnail
Lost in the Cornerstone: The 1916 NBS Time Capsule Re-Discovery exhibit thumbnail
The Cone Calorimeter: The Most Important Tool in Fire Safety Science exhibit title with image of fire and the cone calorimeter device.
Tuning into Weather Forecasting Exhibit Title Thumbnail depicting two modern radiosondes and six images of various weather conditions.
Standardizing an Empire
Defining the International System of Units (SI)

Visit the full gallery of the Online Exhibits. 

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