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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.

Topics

Found in 833 Collections and/or Records:

Correspondence from E. Rutherford to Edward Appleton, 1937, 1957

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.104
Scope and Contents

Correspondence from E. Rutherford to Edward Appleton. The material consist of one letter only, dated 22 August 1937. Rutherford died in October 1937 and there is included a copy of the order of service at Rutherford's funeral and a later typed note by Appleton dated 25 February 1957.

Dates: 1937, 1957
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence

Correspondence from E.C. Stoner to Edward Appleton, 1946

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.112
Scope and Contents

Correspondence from E.C. Stoner to Edward Appleton, dated 1946.

Dates: 1946
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence

Correspondence from Edward Appleton to A. Leach, 1910-1914

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.60
Scope and Contents

Correspondence from Edward Appleton to A. Leach, dated 1910-1914. The material consists of typed copies of letters and postcards sent by Appleton to Ada Leach (later Gill) describing his undergraduate life in Cambridge. The copies are accompanied by an undated letter to Lady Appleton from Miss Dorothy Appleton (sister) explaining the origin of the material. Clark, Sir Edward Appleton, quotes from them in his Chapter I.

Dates: 1910-1914
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence

Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, 26 September 1920-28 December 1920

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.117
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 26 September-28 December 1920 and numbered 1-7A.

Dates: 26 September 1920-28 December 1920
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence between B. van der Pol to Edward Appleton / Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol

Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, 8 January 1921-30 April 1921

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.118
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 8 January-30 April 1921 and numbered 7B-20.

Dates: 8 January 1921-30 April 1921
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence between B. van der Pol to Edward Appleton / Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol

Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, 23 June 1921-August 1921

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.119
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 23 June-August 1921 and numbered 21-33.

Dates: 23 June 1921-August 1921
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence between B. van der Pol to Edward Appleton / Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol

Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, c. September 1921-20 December 1921

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.120
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, from c. September-20 December 1921 and numbered 34-44.

Dates: c. September 1921-20 December 1921
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence between B. van der Pol to Edward Appleton / Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol

Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, 1 January 1922-28 February 1922

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.121
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 1 January-28 February 1922 and numbered 44-54. The numbering is unfortunately not very logical for this file: there are two documents for each number 44, 45 and 46, no .47 is out of date order, there is no number 52, and several unnumbered items are included

Dates: 1 January 1922-28 February 1922
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence between B. van der Pol to Edward Appleton / Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol

Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, 20 March 1922-25 June 1922

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.122
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 20 March-25 June 1922. These letters are unnumbered, except for the last three, June 10, 16, 25, which are numbered 42, 43 and 44 respectively.

Dates: 20 March 1922-25 June 1922
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence between B. van der Pol to Edward Appleton / Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol

Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, 31 July 1922-28 October 1922

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.123
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 31 July-28 October 1922 and numbered 45-58. Several of the letters are not numbered in chronlogical order and some are unnumbered.

Dates: 31 July 1922-28 October 1922
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence between B. van der Pol to Edward Appleton / Correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol

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