The Early Years of CODATA,
1966 to 1980
David R. Lide
drlide@post.harvard.edu
This talk will describe the creation of CODATA as a permanent committee of the International Council of Scientific Unions and summarize the work that CODATA undertook during its first 14 years. The contributions of the scientists who were most influential in founding CODATA and who became the first officers will be discussed. An overview will be given on the initial CODATA projects in the areas of directories to data sources; guides to presentation of data in the literature; training courses in data access; and preparation of recommended values of key data such as the fundamental physical constants. The role of CODATA in introducing computer technology into the retrieval and dissemination of scientific numerical data will be emphasized. Some highlights of CODATA Conferences and thoughts on the future course of CODATA will be presented.