ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the National Bureau of Standards' (NBS) Construction and Operation of a Simple Homemade Radio Receiving Outfit, relating the context in which the publication appeared, its impact on science, technology, and the general public, and brief details about the lives and work of the author. The publication is perhaps the best-known of a series of publications on radio intended for the general public at a time when the embryonic radio industry in the U. S. was undergoing exponential growth. The Radio Section of the Bureau of Standards provided measurement knowhow to the burgeoning radio industry as well as general information on the new technology to the public. Circular 120, published in April 1922, began: "Frequent inquiries are received at the Bureau of Standards for information regarding the construction of a simple receiving set which any person can construct in the home from materials which can be easily secured.
