Committee on Data for Science and Technology
Encyclopedia
The Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) was established in 1966 as an interdisciplinary committee of the International Council for Science
. It seeks to improve the compilation, critical evaluation, storage, and retrieval of data of importance to science
and technology
.
The CODATA Task Group on Fundamental Constants was established in 1969. Its purpose is to periodically provide the international scientific and technological communities with an internationally accepted set of values of the fundamental physical constant
s and closely related conversion factor
s for use worldwide. The first such CODATA set was published in 1973, later in 1986, 1998, 2002 and the fifth in 2006. The latest version is Ver.6.0 called "2010CODATA" published on 2011-06-02.
The CODATA recommended values of fundamental physical constants are published at the NIST Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty.
CODATA sponsors the CODATA international conference every two years.
International Council for Science
The International Council for Science , formerly the International Council of Scientific Unions, was founded in 1931 as an international non-governmental organization devoted to international co-operation in the advancement of science...
. It seeks to improve the compilation, critical evaluation, storage, and retrieval of data of importance to science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
.
The CODATA Task Group on Fundamental Constants was established in 1969. Its purpose is to periodically provide the international scientific and technological communities with an internationally accepted set of values of the fundamental physical constant
Physical constant
A physical constant is a physical quantity that is generally believed to be both universal in nature and constant in time. It can be contrasted with a mathematical constant, which is a fixed numerical value but does not directly involve any physical measurement.There are many physical constants in...
s and closely related conversion factor
Conversion factor
A conversion factor changes something to a different version or form. A factor is something that brings results or a cause, while conversion is an action of changing the "version" of a thing....
s for use worldwide. The first such CODATA set was published in 1973, later in 1986, 1998, 2002 and the fifth in 2006. The latest version is Ver.6.0 called "2010CODATA" published on 2011-06-02.
The CODATA recommended values of fundamental physical constants are published at the NIST Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty.
CODATA sponsors the CODATA international conference every two years.
Further reading
An in-depth discussion of how the 2006 CODATA constants were selected and determined. An in-depth discussion of how the 2002 CODATA constants were selected and determined.- Cox J.D., Wagman D.D. and Medvedev V.A. (1989) CODATA Key values for thermodynamics Hemisphere Publishing Corp., New York. ISBN 0-89116-758-7