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.
Topics
Found in 833 Collections and/or Records:
Correspondence from G.C. Simpson and M. Taylor to Edward Appleton, 1933 and 1931
Correspondence from G.C. Clarke to Edward Appleton, 1933 and from M. Taylor to Edward Appleton, 1931. The correspondence from Clarke contains critical comment on Appleton's and Naismith's paper, 'Weekly measurements of upper atmospheric ionization', Proceedings of the Physical Society of London, 45 (see correspondence from Watson-Watt in Coll-37/C.27).
Correspondence from G.G. Macfarlane to Edward Appleton, 1943
Correspondence from G.G. Macfarlane to Edward Appleton, dated 1943. The material relates to non-linearity.
Correspondence from G.M.B. Dobson, H. Dowden, A.S. Eddington and J. Edegal to Edward Appleton, 1935-1950
The material consists of:
Correspondence from G.M.B. Dobson to Edward Appleton dated 1935. 1 letter only, relating to temperatures at great heights.
Correspondence from H. Dowden to Edward Appleton, dated 1944. This relates to a German radio station.
Correspondence from A.S. Eddington to Edward Appleton, dated 1942. 1 letter only.
Correspondence from J. Edegal to Edward Appleton, dated 1950.
Correspondence from H.A. Thomas to Edward Appleton, 1943
Correspondence from H.A. Thomas to Edward Appleton, 1943. The correspondence is regarding the Working Committee on Radio Noise. It includes 'Comments on proposed noise investigation', and a copy of the draft report of the working committee.
Correspondence from H.D. Poole to Edward Appleton, 1939-1940
Correspondence from H.D. Poole to Edward Appleton, dated 1939-1940. The material includes correspondence on Poole's theories from W.J.G. Beynon, dated October 1939.
Correspondence from H.D. Poole to Edward Appleton, 1937-1938
Correspondence from H.D. Poole to Edward Appleton, dated 1937-1938. The material includes mathematical calculations and a draft report.
Correspondence from H.G. Booker to Edward Appleton, 1948
Correspondence from H.G. Booker to Edward Appleton, dated 1948. The material includes draft papers by Booker on scattering.
Correspondence from H.J. Groenwold to Edward Appleton, 1948
The material consists of correspondence from H.J Groenwold to Edward Appleton, dated 1948.
Correspondence from H.L. Kirke and K. Kreielsheimer to Edward Appleton, 1940, 1947
The material consists of correspondence from H.L. Kirke to Edward Appleton, dated 1940, relating to the propogation of short waves (for the B.B.C.); and from K. Kreielsheimer to Appleton, dated 1947.
Correspondence from H.S.W. Massey to Edward Appleton, 1939
The material consists of correspondence from H.S.W. Massey to Edward Appleton, dated 1939.
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