International Council for Science : Committee on Data for Science and Technology

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C O D A T A

CODATA, the ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology, announces that the first recipient of the newly instituted CODATA Prize is Dr. Barry Taylor of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (United States). Dr. Taylor is cited for major contributions to the advancement of our understanding of the physical world through critically evaluated values of the fundamental physical constants. This first CODATA Prize was awarded at the 17^th International CODATA Conference held at Baveno/Stresa, Italy in October 2000.

For over 30 years, Dr. Taylor, working with colleagues throughout the world, has been at the forefront of measuring and evaluating data on the fundamental physical constants. This work has resulted in three decennial adjustments of the fundamental constants that provide a cohesive set of constants that are used by scientists and engineers in virtually every field of science and engineering. These recommended values have had a profound influence on precision metrology. Working with partners including E. Richard Cohen and Peter Mohr, Taylor has pioneered new approaches to evaluating these data. The 1999 CODATA Adjustment of the Fundamental Physical Constants has recently been published in the Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data and the Reviews of Modern Physics.

Barry Taylor served for six years as Chairman of the CODATA Task Group on Fundamental Constants and is still an active member of that group. Taylor is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Washington Academy of Science. He has been made an Honorary Foreign Member of the Academy of Metrology of the Russian Federation and has been elected Chair of the American Physical Society Topical Group on Precision Measurements and Fundamental Constants.
 

Dr. Taylor's early work on the ac Josephson effect first made it known to the world that measurements of quantum phenomena in condensed matter physics could provide information on the fundamental constants. Such measurements have been an important source of information since then. Taylor has also organized two international conferences on fundamental constants that have stimulated communication and interest in the field. For recent generations of workers in science and technology, any mention of the fundamental constants brings Barry Taylor's name to mind.
 

CODATA is an international scientific organization concerned with collection, management, manipulation, access to and exploitation of quantitative data in science and technology. For over 30 years, CODATA has been a center for international, multi-lateral, multi-disciplinary cooperation for data activities. Through its task groups, conferences, and publications, CODATA enriches the scientific world with the latest advances in data and data technology. The CODATA Secretariat is located in Paris, France, and serves a world-wide network of over 20 national committees, 14 scientific union members and many supporting organizations.
 

For further information about CODATA or the CODATA Prize, please contact the CODATA Secretariat.