The 1973 Least-Squares Adjustment of the Fundamental Constants

This paper is a summary of the 1973 least-squares adjustment of the fundamental physical constants carried out by the authors under the auspices of the CODATA Task Group on Fundamental Constants. The salient features of both the input data used and its detailed analysis by least-squares are given. Also included is the resulting set of best values of the constants which is to be recommended for international adoption by CODATA, a comparison of several of these values with those resulting from recent past adjustments, and a discussion of current problem areas in the fundamental constants field requiring additional research.