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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 Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, 1929

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.134
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 1929.

Dates: 1929
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, 1930-1932

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.135
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 1930, 1931 (1 letter only) and 1932 (also 1 letter only).

Dates: 1930-1932
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, 1945-1946

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.136
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 1945 (2 letters only) and 1946.

Dates: 1945-1946
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, 1947-1948

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.137
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 1947 (2 letters only) and 1948.

Dates: 1947-1948
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, 1950-1952, 1954

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.138
Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from Edward Appleton to B. van der Pol, dated 1950 (1 letter only), 1951 (1 letter only), 1952 (2 letters) and 1954 (1 letter only).

Dates: 1950-1952, 1954
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 Mrs A.G. Pritchard , 1950-1954

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/C.96
Scope and Contents

Correspondence by Edward Appleton to Mrs A.G. Pritchard. The material contains notes and instructions on research, dated 1950-1954.

Dates: 1950-1954
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / F layer / Data and correspondence / Contents of Appleton's original folder labelled 'F2 Paper II'

Correspondence from Edward Appleton's to Mrs Pritchard with notes and instructions on research, no date

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/C.98
Scope and Contents

Correspondence from Edward Appleton's to Mrs Pritchard with notes and instructions on research. The material is similar to Coll-37/C.97 and as with this file there is no date and it is even more fragmentary.

Dates: no date
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / F layer / Data and correspondence

Correspondence from E.G. Bowen and H.M. Bristow to Edward Appleton, 1946-1948

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/C.330
Scope and Contents

Correspondence from E.G. Bowen to Edward Appleton, dated 1947-1948, mainly on the U.R.S.I. [Union Radio-Scientifique International] report and H.M. Bristow to Appleton, dated 1946, containing data from the Admiralty Station in Nutbourne.

Dates: 1946-1948
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / Solar Noise / Correspondence

Correspondence from E.G. Bowen to Edward Appleton, 1934, 1938

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/E.19
Scope and Contents

Correspondence from E.G. Bowen to Edward Appleton, dated 1934 and 1938. The material includes a copy of Bowen's D.Phil. thesis for London University, on 'Penetrating Radiation'.

Dates: 1934, 1938
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence

Correspondence from E.H. Rayner of the National Physical Laboratory to Edward Appleton with data and reports, 1926-1928

 File
Identifier: Coll-37/C.195
Scope and Contents

Correspondence from E.H. Rayner of the National Physical Laboratory (N.P.L.) regarding forecasting magnetic storms, dated 1926. The material includes data and reports on occurrence and prediction of magnetic storms, sent to Appleton by the N.P.L., 1926-1928. Also included is a report on a magnetic storm in Japan, 1926.

Dates: 1926-1928
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / Magnetic Storms / Correspondence and data

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Physics 663
Correspondence 190
Radio Broadcasting 45
Diaries 33
Magnetism 24
Radar 17
Norway 14
Absorption 13
Astronomy 11
Meteors 11
Magnetic Storms 8
Oscillations 8
University of Edinburgh 8
University of Edinburgh -- Principals 8
Appleton, Edward Victor, Sir, 1892-1965 -- Correspondence 7
Science 7
Mathematics 6
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