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 827 Collections and/or Records:
Career, honours and awards, 1922-1949
The material, which is presented chronologically, is sparse for many periods of Appleton's life.
Certificate and citation for Appleton's award of the United States Medal for Merit, 1946
Certificate and citation for Sir Edward Appleton's award of the United States Medal for Merit, dated 1946.
Certificate entering Appleton into the Icelandic Order of the Falcon, 1963
Certificate entering Sir Edward Appleton into the Icelandic Order of the Falcon, dated 1963.
Certificate for honorary life membership of Appleton to the Institution of Radio Engineers, Australia, May 1947
Certificate for honorary life membership of Sir Edward Appleton to the Institution of Radio Engineers, Australia, dated May 1947.
Certificate for the Cross of Freedom, Norway awarded to Appleton, June 1947
Certificate for the Cross of Freedom, Norway awarded to Sir Edward Appleton, dated June 1947.
Certificate of award to Appleton of the Valdemar Poulsen Gold Medal, Copenhagen, 1948
Certificate of award to Appleton of the Valdemar Poulsen Gold Medal, Academy of Technical Sciences, Copenhagen, dated 1948.
'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.
Chart, correspondence and data relating to radio reception, 1930
Chart, correspondence and data relating to radio reception. The material consists of a chart of intensity curves, by Edward Appleton; and correspondence and data on short wave transatlantic reception, all dated 1930.
Charts and graphs by Edward Appleton of sunspot activity for F2 at Huancayo, 1938-1944
Charts and graphs by Edward Appleton of sunspot activity for F2 at Huancayo [Peru]. The dates range from 1938-1944. The material includes later similar data for fE in another hand.
Charts and graphs of geographical and geomagnetic latitude values, c. 1945-1951
The material consists of charts and graphs of geographical and geomagnetic latitude values for various stations. The date range is 1945-1951 but many of the charts are undated. Some of the sheets are headed '(fF2)A/(fF2)B' in Edward Appleton's hand.
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