Appleton, Sir Edward Victor, 1892-1965 (physicist and principal of the University of Edinburgh)
Dates
- Existence: 1892 - 1965
Biography
Appleton was born in Bradford and educated at local schools and St John's College, Cambridge where he was awarded first class honours and several prizes in both parts of the Natural Sciences Tripos (1913, 1914). He began research at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge with W.L. Bragg, but during his service in the Army Signals in the First World War he developed the interest in valves and 'wireless' signals which informed his subsequent research career. He returned to the Cavendish Laboratory in 1919, continuing to work on valves and, with B. van der Pol, on non-linearity, and on atmospherics. In 1924, in collaboration with M.F. Barnett, he performed a crucial experiment which enabled a reflecting layer in the atmosphere to be identified and measured; subsequent research indicated the existence of more than one reflecting layer. From 1924 to 1936 Appleton was Wheatstone Professor of Physics at King's College, London, directing research teams and, in 1932, heading an expedition to Tromsö in northern Norway as part of the programme of observations scheduled for the Second International Polar Year
He was President of the International Union of Scientific Radio (URSI), 1934-1952. In 1936 he succeeded C.T.R. Wilson in the Jacksonian Chair of Natural Philosophy at Cambridge, where he continued collaborative research on many ionospheric problems, including solar and lunar tides in the E-layer. From September 1936 he served on the re-constituted Committee for the Scientific Survey of Air Defence (the 'Tizard Committee'), and in October 1938 was appointed successor to Sir Frank Smith as Secretary to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). He remained at the DSIR throughout the Second World War and until 1948 when he was appointed Principal of Edinburgh University. He took up the appointment in May 1949 and remained in office until his death in 1965. Appleton was elected FRS in 1927 (Bakerian Lecture 1937, Hughes Medal 1933, Royal Medal 1950) and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1947 for his investigations into the ionosphere. He was knighted in 1941.
Found in 196 Collections and/or Records:
'Atomic energy and its applications', c. 1949-1951
The material consists ofdDrafts for Edward Appleton’s chapter to the book ‘Aspects of Modern Science', published in 1951, with some editorial correspondence. It is contained in its original folder, inscribed ‘Atomic Energy'.
Correspondence and data and notes on seasonal variations, 1936-1937 and no date
The material consists of correspondence and data on seasonal variations, enclosing graphs of Slough observations for 1936, from R. Naismith, dated 1937; and 1 page of notes by L.J. Ingram, annotated by Appleton, no date.
Correspondence and papers from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, November 1947-December 1947
Correspondence and papers from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, dated November-December 1947. The material includes Japanese and German ionospheric research.
Correspondence between D.R. Hartree, H.R. Hulme, L.B. Loeb, K. A. Macfadyen with Edward Appleton, 1937
Correspondence with Edward Appleton, dated 1937. The material consists of correspondence from D.R. Hartree; H.R. Hulme, consisting of two letters, (originally sent to Hartree and J. A. Ratcliffe and passed on by them, and annotated by Edward Appleton); L.B. Loeb; and K. A. Macfadyen.
Correspondence between F.J.M. Stratton, L.H. Thomas, J.S. Townsend with Edward Appleton, 1934-1938 and no date
Correspondence with Edward Appleton. The material consists of correspondence from F.J.M. Stratton, dated 1938; L.H. Thomas, dated 1934; J.S. Townsend, no date; and 1 page from an unidentified correspondent at Trinity College, Cambridge, dated 1936.
Correspondence between J. Sayers and Edward Appleton, 1937
The material consists of correspondence between J. Sayers and Edward Appleton, dated 1937. It includes calculations, graphs, drafts of papers on recombination by F.L. Mohler.
Correspondence between K.G. Emeleus to Edward Appleton, 1934-1936
Correspondence between K.G. Emeleus to Edward Appleton, dated 1934-1936. The material consists of extensive correspondence on negative ions and other research problems. It includes a letter from O.S. Duffendack, 1935, and an offprint of a paper on glow discharges in helium by Emeleus et al.
Correspondence between R. Naismith and Edward Appleton, 1944-1949
Correspondence between R. Naismith and Edward Appleton, dated 1944-1949. The material relates to publications and research in to the E Layer and includes data, diagrams, etc.
Correspondence between W.G. Greenwood and Edward Appleton, 1936-1937
Correspondence between W.G. Greenwood and Edward Appleton, dated 1936-1937. The material includes research reports on recombination and comments by Appleton.
Correspondence between W.J.G. Beynon and Edward Appleton, 1949-1950
Correspondence between W.J.G. Beynon and Edward Appleton, dated 1949-1950. The material relates to U.R.S.I [Union Radio-Scientifique Internationale] and M.C.I. [Mixed Commission on the Ionosphere] affairs, publications, meetings, etc.
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