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 24 Collections and/or Records:
4 draft notes of papers by Edward Appleton, c. 1925-1943
The material consists of 4 draft notes by Edward Appleton: ‘The effect of the earth's magnetic field in the case of long-wave reflection', 1 page; 'Resume of results', 1 page; ‘Notes on the Reflection Coefficient’, 2 pages; and ‘Discussion of Results’, 3 pages for section 6 of a paper, on downcoming waves, no date, c. 1925-1943.
5 draft notes of papers by Edward Appleton, c. 1925-1943
The material consists of 5 draft notes of papers by Edward Appleton: Note on Magneto-ionic Theory', 2 pages; 'Note on Splitting of Echos', 1 page; ‘Special case’, 1 page; ‘Field equations’, 3 pages; and ‘Calculation of Magneto-ionic Parameters', 1 page, no date, c. 1925-1943.
Army notebook, inscribed on cover 'E. V. Appleton ii Lieut [Lieutenant] R. E. Electricity Notes' , c 1914-1921
'Changes made in magneto-ionic theory by the introduction of the ⅓', c. 1925-1943
'Changes made in magneto-ionic theory by the introduction of the ⅓'. The material consists of notes for a paper by Edward Appleton, no date, c. 1925-1943.
Correspondence and reports from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, 1946-1947
Correspondence and reports from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, dated 1946-1947. The material is mainly on the Giacobinid Shower [a meteor shower, now known as the October Draconids], and including photographs, and O.R.G. Report 342 [Army Operational Research Group].
Correspondence between Hendrik A. Lorentz and Edward Appleton, 1925
Correspondence between Hendrik A. Lorentz and Edward Appleton, dated 1925. The material consists of a 12 letter including calculations and a 10 page manuscript draft on 'Propagation of electromagnetic waves in ionized gas under the influence of a constant magnetic field H'.
Correspondence from A.C.B. Lovell to Edward Appleton, 1947-1948
Correspondence from A.C.B. Lovell to Edward Appleton, dated 1947-1948. The material includes reports on research by Lovell's team at Manchester, and a note by Lovell on the importance of studying meteor trails in the southern hemisphere.
Correspondence from C. Hoffmeister and H. Spencer Jones to Edward Appleton, 1948 and 1945
The material consists of correspondence from C. Hoffmeister to Edward Appleton, dated 1948 and from H. Spencer Jones to Edward Appleton, dated 1945. The correspondence from Spencer Jones is possibly the 'the Astronomer Royal's letter' mentioned in Coll-37/C.226.
Correspondence from E. Eastwood, T.L. Eckersley, and K.G. Emeléus to Edward Appleton, 1946-1948
The material consists of correspondence from E. Eastwood to Edward Appleton, dated 1946; correspondence from T. L. Eckersley to Edward Appleton, dated 1948 including a draft letter for publication in Nature; and correspondence from K.G. Emeléus to Edward Appleton, dated 1947.
Correspondence from J.M. Stagg to Edward Appleton, 1935
Correspondence from J.M. Stagg to Edward Appleton, dated 1935. The material includes a draft of a paper by Stagg on magnetic disturbance.
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- Astronomy 6
- Meteors 6
- Electricity 2
- Science 2
- Norway 1