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 between George M.B. Dobson and Appleton and N.H. Frank and Appleton , 1936, 1937
The material consists of correspondence between George Miller Bourne Dobson and Edward Appleton, dated 1936 and N.H. Frank and Edward Appleton, dated 1937.
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 between Henry G. Booker and Appleton, 1936, 1938
The material consists of correspondence between Henry G. Booker and Edward Appleton, dated 1936 and 1938.
Correspondence between H.H. Plaskett and Edward Appleton, 1936
The material consists of correspondence between H.H. Plaskett and Edward Appleton, dated 1936.
Correspondence between H.S.W. Massey and Edward Appleton, 1934-1935
Correspondence between H.S.W. Massey and Edward Appleton, dated 1934-1935. It includes a draft of Chapter V, and a copy of the completed book by Massey on 'Negative Ions'.
Correspondence between J. Sayers and Edward Appleton, 1937
The material consists of correspondence between J. Sayers and Edward Appleton, dated 1937. It includes calculations, graphs, drafts of papers on recombination by F.L. Mohler.
Correspondence between John A. Ratcliffe and Appleton and A.C. Stickland and Appleton, 1933, 1936
The material consists of correspondence between John A. Ratcliffe and Edward Appleton, including a typescript and manuscript 'Notes on the ionic structure of the E region', dated 1936 and correspondence between A.C. Stickland and Edward Appleton, dated 1933.
Correspondence between K.G. Emeleus to Edward Appleton, 1934-1936
Correspondence between K.G. Emeleus to Edward Appleton, dated 1934-1936. The material consists of extensive correspondence on negative ions and other research problems. It includes a letter from O.S. Duffendack, 1935, and an offprint of a paper on glow discharges in helium by Emeleus et al.
Correspondence between Mary L. Cartwright and Edward Appleton, c. 1943-1946
This sub-sub-subseries consists of 2 files containing correspondence between Mary L. Cartwright and Edward Appleton, with some additional correspondence by J.E. Littlewood, c. 1943-1946, though not all are dated.
Correspondence between Mary L. Cartwright and Edward Appleton, c. 1943
Correspondence between Mary L. Cartwright and Edward Appleton, c. 1943. The material consists of letters and calculations and it includes two letters from J.E. Littlewood (only one dated, 1943), and 1 page of calculations in another hand.
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