Appleton, Sir Edward Victor, 1892-1965 (physicist and principal of the University of Edinburgh)

Person

Staff Only

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 15 Collections and/or Records:

Correspondence regarding general Epigenetics Research Group matters, 1962-1972

Item

Identifier: Coll-41/8/7/8

Scope and Contents

Contains a letter from Edward Appleton to the MRC accepting the Council's offer of financial support for the Research Group (30 May 1962); correspondence concerning Charlotte Auerbach and the Mutagenesis Unit; and correspondence concerning the building of and alterations to the Epigenetics Building (1967-1972).

Dates: 1962-1972

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Conrad Hal Waddington / Material relating to the University of Edinburgh / Material relating to the Epigenetics Research Group

Drafts and notes relating to the Agricultural Research Council enquiry and surrounding issues, c.1951

File

Identifier: Coll-1391/3

Scope and Contents

Contains Sang's handwritten notes on meetings, conversations and lines of thought regarding possible responses or actions to the preparation of the Agricultural Research Council enquiry and its aftermath. There are also annotated drafts of letters to individuals such as Edward Appleton, William K. Slater and W.G Alexander of the Agricultural Research Council, as well as Sang's 'Memorandum on the affairs of the Genetics Laboratory'.

Much material is undated.

Dates: c.1951

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of James Henderson Sang

Edinburgh University Diary, 1953-1954

Item

Identifier: Coll-37/A.85

Scope and Contents

The diary includes scientific notes and ideas.

Dates: 1953-1954

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Biographical and personal / Diaries and notebooks

Edinburgh University Diary, 1954-1955

Item

Identifier: Coll-37/A.86

Scope and Contents

The diary contains a few scientific notes.

Dates: 1954-1955

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Biographical and personal / Diaries and notebooks

Edinburgh University Diary, 1955-1956

Item

Identifier: Coll-37/A.87

Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series:

Note that there are no diaries for 1937, 1961-1962, 1962-1963 and 1963-1964 in the collection. Where university diaries are used, they cover the academic year, i.e. autumn of one year until the following summer.

Dates: 1955-1956