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 W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton, 1950-1952

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.13

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton, 1950-1952. The material includes correspondence relating to Beynon’s application for D.Sc. degree at the University of Wales, and a paper by him on P', f measurements, dated June 1951. There is only one letter from 1952.

Dates: 1950-1952

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton

Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton, 1953

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.14

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton, dated 1953. The material consists of general research correspondence and it includes letters and research notes from H. Bremmer, P.M. Davidson, a draft of a paper on ionospheric scattering by Beynon and Appleton, comments on paper by G. Mc Allcock, etc.

Dates: 1953

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton

Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton, 1954

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.15

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton, dated 1954. The material consists of general research correspondence, including letters and research notes from H. Bremmer, P.M. Davidson, work on scattering, etc.

Dates: 1954

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton

Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton, 1955-1959

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.16

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton, dated 1954. The material consists of correspondence and data on various research problems.

Dates: 1955-1959

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence from W.J.G. Beynon to Edward Appleton

Correspondence from W.J.G. Beyon, W.R.Piggott, and A.F. Wilkins with Edward Appleton, 1947-1949

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.409

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.J.G. Beyon, dated 1947 W.R.Piggott, dated 1948 and A.F. Wilkins, dated 1949 with Edward Appleton. The material is all contained in their original binder.

Dates: 1947-1949

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / Additional Material / 'E Layer: ‘E Layer Correlations f3/cos x versus f4/cos⁡ x ’'

Correspondence from W.L. Bragg, G. Breit and H. Bremner to Edward Appleton, 1935, 1952-1953 and no date

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.20

Scope and Contents

The material consists of:

Dates: 1935, 1952-1953 and no date

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

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, 1939-1940

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.87

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, dated 1939-1940.

Dates: 1939-1940

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence and notes from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, 1941-1944

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.88

Scope and Contents Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, dated 1941-1944. The material includes a letter from L.W. Hayes on the accuracy of Delhi ionosphere measurements, dated 1943, and 'Note on the organisation of ionosphere recording stations after the war', dated 1944 prepared by Piggott for the Royal Society. The Delhi measurements drew Appleton's attention to the geomagnetic anomaly which became a focus for his later research. See Clark, Sir Edward Appleton, page...

Dates: 1941-1944

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence and notes from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, May 1947-August1947

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.91

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, dated 1947. The material consists of letters from May-August during Piggott's visit to National Research Council, Ottawa, regarding projects and equipment in Canada.

Dates: May 1947-August1947

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence and notes from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, 1948

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.94

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, dated 1948. The material includes data and photographs.

Dates: 1948

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Correspondence / Correspondence and notes from W.R. Piggott 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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