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 R. Clavel to Edward Appleton, 1930

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.28

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from R. Clavel to Edward Appleton, dated 1930.

Dates: 1930

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

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, 1940

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.76

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, dated 1940. The material includes data, graphs, comments on results, two short reports on magnetic storms (April), report on 'ionospheric discussion' (November), and also a letter and data on sunspots from H.W. Newton.

Dates: 1940

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

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, 1941

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.77

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, dated 1941. The material consists of correspondence and data up to July only.

Dates: 1941

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

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, 1943, 1980

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.78

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, dated 1943. The material includes a draft report on 'Radio Communication over high latitudes' (February), and a letter and graphs on noon values (August). This has a note appended by Dr. J. King (1980) 'This letter shows that Appleton was aware in mid-1943 that the foF₂ values around latitude 30°N were abnormally high. For more details see also letter from Naismith dated 11/X/1944’ (in Coll-37/E.79)

Dates: 1943, 1980

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

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, 1944

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.79

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, dated 1944. The material includes letter of 11 October referred to in Coll-37/E.78, which is appended with 1 page of manuscript notes by Appleton.

Dates: 1944

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

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, 1945-1946

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.80

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, dated 1945-1946. The material includes a letter from L.W. Hayes, dated 1945 and a note by Naismith on 'Proposed Scheme to transfer British Ionospheric Stations to D.S.I.R.’ [Department of Scientific and Industrial Research], dated 1946.

Dates: 1945-1946

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

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, 1947

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.81

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, dated 1947. The material includes a letter from M. Waldmeier.

Dates: 1947

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

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, 1950-1951, 1958

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.82

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, dated 1950-1951, and 1958. The material includes a paper by K. Rawer, dated 1951. There is one letter from 1958.

Dates: 1950-1951, 1958

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

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, 1934

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.71

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, dated 1934. The material includes a sequence of notes, dated 5 April and identified A-P, of points arising from results on critical frequency. Appleton‘s remarks appear at the head of each note, with Naismith's answer or comment below.

Dates: 1934

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

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, 1935-1937

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.72

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from R. Naismith to Edward Appleton, dated 1935-1937. The material includes data and drafts, some with additional notes by L.J. Ingram.

Dates: 1935-1937

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

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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