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 17 Collections and/or Records:
Correspondence and data , 1942
Correspondence and data, dated 1942. The material mainly relates to the influence of water vapour density.
Correspondence and material on history of radar, 1923, 1945
Correspondence and papers relating to hearings of the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors, 1951-1952
Correspondence and reports, c. 1945
Correspondence and reports, dated 1945. The material continues the research into ‘Angels’ or unidentified objects discussed in Coll-37/C.265. It consists of correspondence from W. S. Elliott (R.R.D.E. [Radar Research and Development Establishment]) also enclosing A.O.R.G. [Army Operational Research Group] Report 257 on 'Radar Echoes from Birds', by D.L. Lack; and 'Note on echoes of unidentified origin', by Edward Appleton, 2 page typescript, no date.
Correspondence from colleagues of Edward Appleton, c. 1923-1943
Correspondence from colleagues of Edward Appleton, 1931, 1944
Correspondence from colleagues of Edward Appleton, mostly dated 1944 but containing some earlier references. The material is mainly on the history and inventors of radar. It is filed in alphabetical order from:
W.A.S. Butement, enclosing a copy of his proposal for coastal defence radar, 1931.
R.G.Lloyd.
E.T. Paris, enclosing a request from F.E. Smith for an official record of early radar development to be kept.
Correspondence from colleagues of Edward Appleton, c. 1944
Correspondence from colleagues of Edward Appleton, mostly dated 1944 but containing some earlier references. The material is mainly on the history and inventors of radar. It is filed in alphabetical order from:
R.L. Smith-Rose, including copies of patents, photographs, and some research calculations.
R. Whiddington, enclosing a note by C.S. Prince on his early ‘squegger’ circuit.
Correspondence from L.S. Harley to Edward Appleton, 1945
Correspondence from L.S. Harley to Edward Appleton, dated 1945. The material includes comments on a draft broadcast script by Appleton, on radar.
Correspondence, papers and reports, 1943
Correspondence, papers and reports. The material relates to the supply and use of M.B.I. [what does MBI stand for?] equipment at Slough, mainly dated July 1943.
Drafts and notes, c. 1932-1946
The material consists of 5 files containing material relating to Edward Appleton's research into meteors.
Filtered By
- Subject: Radar X
Additional filters:
- Type
- Archival Object 16
- Collection 1
- Subject
- Meteors 3
- Astronomy 2
- Radio Broadcasting 2
- Appleton, Edward Victor, Sir, 1892-1965 -- Correspondence 1
- Atmosphere 1