All Topics  
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
 
 
  Topics Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Topic Home

The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is based in Braunschweig and Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
. It is the national institute for natural and engineering sciences and the highest technical authority for metrology
Metrology

Metrology is the science of measurement. Metrology includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement....
 and physical safety engineering in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
.

Part of its brief is the accurate measurement of time. It is responsible for the German atomic clock
Atomic clock

An atomic clock is a type of clock that uses an atomic resonance frequency standard as its timekeeping element. They are the most accurate time and frequency standards known, and are used as primary standards for international Time dissemination, and to control the frequency of television broadcasts and GPS satellite signals....
 DCF77
DCF77

DCF77 is a Mainflingen longwave transmitter time signal and standard-frequency radio station. Its primary and backup transmitter are located in Mainflingen, about 25 km south-east of Frankfurt, Germany....
.

They are also responsible for the certification of voting machines
Certification of voting machines

Various governments require a product certification of voting machines.In the United States there is only a voluntary federal certification for voting machines and each state has ultimate jurisdiction over certification, though most states currently require national certification for the voting systems....
 for the German federal and European elections.

History
The PTB was originally founded in 1887 as the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR) – 'the Reich Physical and Technical Institute'.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt'
Start a new discussion about 'Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is based in Braunschweig and Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
. It is the national institute for natural and engineering sciences and the highest technical authority for metrology
Metrology

Metrology is the science of measurement. Metrology includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement....
 and physical safety engineering in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
.

Part of its brief is the accurate measurement of time. It is responsible for the German atomic clock
Atomic clock

An atomic clock is a type of clock that uses an atomic resonance frequency standard as its timekeeping element. They are the most accurate time and frequency standards known, and are used as primary standards for international Time dissemination, and to control the frequency of television broadcasts and GPS satellite signals....
 DCF77
DCF77

DCF77 is a Mainflingen longwave transmitter time signal and standard-frequency radio station. Its primary and backup transmitter are located in Mainflingen, about 25 km south-east of Frankfurt, Germany....
.

They are also responsible for the certification of voting machines
Certification of voting machines

Various governments require a product certification of voting machines.In the United States there is only a voluntary federal certification for voting machines and each state has ultimate jurisdiction over certification, though most states currently require national certification for the voting systems....
 for the German federal and European elections.

History


The PTB was originally founded in 1887 as the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR) – 'the Reich Physical and Technical Institute'. The goal of the organization was supervising and directing calibration and establishing metrological standards. Research areas included spectroscopy
Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy was originally the study of the interaction between radiation and matter as a function of wavelength . In fact, historically, spectroscopy referred to the use of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g....
, photometry
Photometry

Photometry can refer to:*Photometry , the science of measurement of visible light in terms of its perceived brightness to human vision*Photometry , the measurement of the flux or intensity of an astronomical object's electromagnetic radiation...
, electrical engineering
Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism....
, and cryogenics
Cryogenics

In physics, cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. Rather than the familiar temperature scales of Fahrenheit and Celsius, cryogenicists use the Kelvin scales....
. Werner von Siemens was instrumental in its establishment. Until 1934, the PTR was under the Reichsinnenministerium – the Reich Interior Ministry - and then under Reichserziehungsministerium
Reichserziehungsministerium

The Reichserziehungsministerium was officially known as the Reichsministerium f?r Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung ....
 – the Reich Education Ministry.

The Institute’s board of directors included Heinrich Konen
Heinrich Konen

Heinrich Matthias Konen was a Germany physicist who specialized in spectroscopy. He was a founder and organizer of the Emergency Association of German Science, and he was on the boards of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, the Reich Physical and Technical Institute, and the Reich Chemical and Technical Institute....
 and Walther Nernst
Walther Nernst

Walther Hermann Nernst was a Germany physical chemist who is known for his theories behind the calculation of chemical affinity as embodied in the third law of thermodynamics, for which he won the 1920 Nobel Prize in chemistry....
 circa 1930, Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a Germany-born theoretical physics. He is best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass?energy equivalence, expressed by the equation E = mc2....
 (1917 – 1933), Ludwig Prandtl
Ludwig Prandtl

Ludwig Prandtl was a Germany scientist. He was a pioneer of aerodynamics, and developed the mathematical basis for the fundamental principles of subsonic aerodynamics in the 1920s....
, and Max Planck
Max Planck

Karl Ernst Ludwig Marx Planck, better known as Max Planck was a Germany physicist. He is considered to be the founder of the Quantum mechanics, and one of the most important physicists of the twentieth century....
, as well as representative from Siemens AG
Siemens AG

Siemens Aktiengesellschaft is Europe's largest engineering Conglomerate . Siemens' international headquarters are located in Berlin and Munich, Germany....
, Krupp
Krupp

The Krupp family, a prominent 400-year-old Germany dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments....
, and Zeiss
Zeiss

The Carl Zeiss company is a Germany manufacturer of optics, industrial measurements and medical devices originally founded in Jena in 1846 by Carl Zeiss, Ernst Abbe, and Otto Schott....
. Its presidents were:
  • Hermann von Helmholtz
    Hermann von Helmholtz

    Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz was a Germany physician and physicist who made significant contributions to several widely varied areas of modern science....
     (1887 – 1892)
  • Friedrich Kohlrausch
    Friedrich Kohlrausch

    Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Kohlrausch was a Germany physicist who investigated the conductive properties of electrolytes and contributed to the understanding of their behaviour....
     (1892 – 1905)
  • Walther Nernst
    Walther Nernst

    Walther Hermann Nernst was a Germany physical chemist who is known for his theories behind the calculation of chemical affinity as embodied in the third law of thermodynamics, for which he won the 1920 Nobel Prize in chemistry....
     (1922 – 1924)
  • Friedrich Paschen
    Friedrich Paschen

    Louis Karl Heinrich Friedrich Paschen , was a Germany physicist, known for his work on electrical discharges. He is also known for the Paschen series, a series of hydrogen spectral lines in the infrared region that he first observed in 1908....
     (1924 – 1933)
  • Johannes Stark
    Johannes Stark

    Johannes Stark was a German physics, and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate who was closely involved with the Deutsche Physik movement under the Nazi regime....
     (1933 – 1939)
  • Abraham Esau
    Abraham Esau

    Robert Abraham Esau was a Germany physicist.After receipt of his doctorate from the University of Berlin, Esau worked at Telefunken, where he pioneered very high frequency waves used in radar, radio, and television, and he was president of the Deutscher Telefunken Verband....
     (1939 – 1945).


Max von Laue
Max von Laue

Max Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals....
 was the physics advisor 1925 – December 1933.

The Institute had 292 employees 1932 and 443 in 1937. By 1942 there were over 500. After 1945, the Institute was renamed to the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt – the Federal Physical and Technical Institute.

Bibliography

  • Klaus Hentschel, editor and Ann M. Hentschel, editorial assistant and Translator Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources (Birkhäuser, 1996)


External links