Appleton, Sir Edward Victor, 1892-1965 (physicist and principal of the University of Edinburgh)

Person

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

University of Edinburgh -- Principal

Found in 833 Collections and/or Records:

Correspondence from J.O. Thomas and L. Thomas to Edward Appleton, 1954-1962

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.114

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from J.O. Thomas to Edward Appleton, dated 1954-1962, including a graph and a draft paper, etc; and from L. Thomas to Appleton, dated 1962, relating to the equatorial anomaly.

Dates: 1954-1962

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

Correspondence from John Adam Fleming to A.E. Kennelly and Edward Appleton, 1932, 1934 and 1946

File

Identifier: Coll-37.E.39

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from John Adam Fleming to A.E. Kennelly, dated 1932 and to Edward Appleton dated 1934 and 1946. The material relates to research projects. The letter to Kennelly is a copy on the history of research in the ionised layers of the atmosphere, kindly made available by W.R. Piggott.

Dates: 1932, 1934 and 1946

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

Correspondence from J.P. Andrews to Edward Appleton, 1939-1940

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.2

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from J.P. Andrews to Edward Appleton, dated 1939-1940. The material relates to 'fading'. It includes a draft paper by Andrews 'low power apparatus for ionospheric investigation', data and graphs. Also included are 1 page notes by Appleton and an offprint by Pierre Lejay on fading at Shanghai.

Dates: 1939-1940

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

Correspondence from J.P.V. Madsen, G. Marconi, F. Mariani and D.C. Martin to Edward Appleton, no date and 1949-1958

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.66

Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence from J.P.V. Madsen to Edward Appleton, dated 1949; from G. Marconi to Appleton, no date, consist of a photocopy of a letter, offering to prepare receiving apparatus for a lecture demonstration; from F. Mariani to Appleton, dated 1958; and from D.C. Martin to Appleton, dated 1956.

Dates: no date and 1949-1958

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

Correspondence from J.S. Forrest to Edward Appleton, 1950

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.41

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from J.S. Forrest to Edward Appleton, dated 1950.

Dates: 1950

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

Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, 1942, 1945

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.338

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, dated 1945. It includes a copy of Hey's observations on solar radiation, dated February 1942 (A.O.R.G. report 275) [Army Operational Research Group].

Dates: 1942, 1945

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / Solar Noise / Correspondence / Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton

Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, February 1946-May 1946

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.339

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, dated February 1946-May 1946. It includes observational data for February 1946, drafts and suggestions for papers.

Dates: February 1946-May 1946

Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, August 1946-September 1946

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.340

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, dated August 1946-September 1946. The material mainly consists of drafts, data, and comments for various papers by Hey and others (not all on 'Solar Noise' - also meteor radar and galactic noise work by Hey). It includes photograph of equipment.

Dates: August 1946-September 1946

Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, 1947

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.341

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, dated 1947. The material consists of correspondence, comments on research, etc. It includes a survey of research and papers published on 'Galactic and Solar Noise' since 1931, prepared by Hey and others.

Dates: 1947

Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, 1948, 1951

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.342

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from J.S. Hey to Edward Appleton, dated 1948 and 1951. The material relates to on Appleton's proposed research project at Edinburgh.

Dates: 1948, 1951

Appleton, Sir Edward Victor, 1892-1965 (physicist and principal of the University of Edinburgh)

Dates

Biography

Topics

Found in 833 Collections and/or Records:

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