A ‘Forever’ Stamp and a Discovery That Changed Physics Forever

The new stamp honors "First Lady of Physics" Chien-Shiung Wu.

View as a Web Page Taking Measure Blog A 'Forever' Stamp and a Discovery That Changed Physics Forever By Katie Rapp, a writer and editor for NIST's Manufacturing Extension Partnership With a new "forever" stamp honoring "First Lady of Physics" Chien-Shiung Wu, we have come very close to seeing a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researcher on a U.S. postage stamp. Over the course of six months in 1956, Wu worked with researchers Ernest Ambler (who went on to become NIST director in the 1970s and '80s), Raymond W. Hayward, Dale D. Hoppes and Ralph P. Hudson to carry out one of the most famous experiments in NIST's history. Of course, NIST researchers have been up to many good things since then, but the Fall of Parity experiment carried out in collaboration with Wu still ranks high. The team's findings, made in the quiet week after Christmas 1956, shattered a concept of nuclear physics that had been universally accepted for 30 years. Read More IN CASE YOU MISSED IT From 1901 to 2021: Measurements Then and Now March 3, 2021 A lot has changed at NIST in the past 120 years. But as much as things change, they also stay the same. While much of our early work has been baked into the American economy, NIST continues to be a world leader in advancing measurement science. We still provide many of our original services, though the techniques and technologies have evolved. Read More

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