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:
Correspondence and reports from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, 1937, 1940
The material consists of correspondence and reports from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, dated 1937 and 1940. The material includes Naismith’s report on ‘Great Magnetic Storm 1940’.
Correspondence and research notes from D. Boohariwalla to Edward Appleton, 1931
Correspondence and research notes from D. Boohariwalla to Edward Appleton, dated 1931. Appleton published collaborative papers with Boohariwalla in 1932 and 1935.
Correspondence between A.G. Pritchard and Edward Appleton, 1947-1951
Correspondence between A. G. Pritchard and Edward Appleton, dated September 1951. The material includes accompanying data and graphs compiled by Mrs Pritchard, chiefly of fF2 noon values for June 1947 and June 1948, referred to in the correspondence.
Correspondence between A.J. Lyon and Edward Appleton, November 1953-December 1953
Correspondence between A.J. Lyon and Edward Appleton, dated November 1953-December 1953. The material includes Lyon's ‘research notes' and Appleton's comments.
Correspondence between Douglas R. Hartree and Appleton, 1936
The material consists of correspondence between Douglas R. Hartree and Edward Appleton, dated 1936. It includes charts and graphs, a typescript draft, 'Penetration of a parabolic maximum of electron density', with a manuscript note ‘(Lecture notes)', and a draft of a paper ‘Notes on the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a stratified medium’ requesting Appleton's comments and suggestions for publication.
Correspondence between Douglas R. Hartree and Edward Appleton, 1933
The material consists of correspondence between D.R. Hartree and Edward Appleton, dated 1933.
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 E. Cunningham and Edward Appleton, c. 1927
Correspondence between E. Cunningham and Edward Appleton. The material consists of letters on mathematical aspects of Appleton's work, and especially on the positive and negative signs. Also included is the last page of a letter from Appleton on the problem and asking for assistance. Only some of the letters are dated May 1927.
Correspondence between Edward Appleton and W.R. Piggott, 1947
Correspondence between Edward Appleton and W.R. Piggott, dated 1947. The material includes an 11 page draft, ‘Note on the problem of the currents which flow during a sudden ionospheric disturbance’.
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.
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