The practice of making broadly inclusive surveys, from time to time, of the status of our knowledge of the fundamental constants of physics and chemistry may be said to have started with a famous paper by Raymond T. Birge, of Berkeley, published in Reviews of Modem Physics in 1929. To Professor Birge, also, is due the credit for being the first, as far as I know, to apply the method of least squares in order to determine most probable values of three of the constants; e, the electronic charge m, the electron rest mass; and h, Planck's constant, using a highly overdetermined set of experimental data on functions of these three quantities.
REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
Dissertation, Uppsala (1934).
4.
Dissertation, Uppsala (1940).
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
J. W. M. DuMond and E. R. Cohen, report to the National Research Council Committee on Constants and Conversion Factors of Physics: “A Least‐Squares Adjustment of the Atomic Constants as of December 1950” (unpublished).
10.
E. R.
Cohen
, J. W. M.
DuMond
, T. W.
Layton
and J. S.
Rollett
, Revs. Modern Phys.
27
, 363
(1955
).11.
12.
A discussion of error statistical‐correlation is given in Chapter 7 of E. R. Cohen, K. M. Crowe, and J. W. M. DuMond, Fundamental Constants of Physics (Interscience Publishers, Inc. New York, 1957). For the generalized formula of error propagation see Section 7.4.
13.
14.
15.
J. A. Bearden, “X‐Ray Wavelengths”, Technical Report No. NYO‐10586. AEC Division of Technical Information, Oak Ridge, Tenn., 1964 (unpublished).
16.
Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Nuclidic Masses, Vienna, July 1963 (Springer‐Verlag, Vienna, 1964).
17.
S. Hagström, Dissertation, Uppsala (1964):
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
These tests are explained in both references 24 and 25 under the heading “Measures of Incompatibility of an Input Datum”.
24.
E. R. Cohen and J. W. M. DuMond, report to National Research Council Committee on the Fundamental Constants of Physics and Chemistry: “An Analysis of Variance of the Data Available in 1962” Feb. 28, 1963 (unpublished). Copies available from A. G. McNish, Committee Chairman, National Bureau of Standards, or from authors.
25.
E. R. Cohen and J. W. M. DuMond, “Present Status of our Knowledge of the Numerical Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants,” Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Nuclidic Masses, Vienna, July 1963 (Springer‐Verlag, Vienna 1964). Copies obtainable from authors.
26.
S.
Triebwasser
, E. S.
Dayoff
, and W. E.
Lamb
, Jr., Phys. Rev.
89
, 98
(1953
).27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
H.
Sommer
, H. A.
Thomas
and J. A.
Hipple
, Phys. Rev.
82
, 697
(1951
).32.
33.
34.
35.
D. N.
Craig
, J. I.
Hoffman
, C. A.
Law
and W. J.
Hamer
, Nat. Bur. Std. J. Res.
64A
, 381
(1960
).36.
R. T. Robiscoe, PhD thesis in Physics, University of Chicago, 1964; present address of author, Physics Department, Yale University.
This content is only available via PDF.
© 1965 American Institute of Physics.
1965
American Institute of Physics
You do not currently have access to this content.
