Earl Ward Plummer was an American physicist. His main contributions were in surface physics of metals. Plummer was a professor of physics at Louisiana State University, University of Pennsylvania and the University of Tennessee - Knoxville.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical science laboratory programs that include nanoscale science and technology, engineering, information technology, neutron research, material measurement, and physical measurement. From 1901 to 1988, the agency was named the National Bureau of Standards.