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.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, 1939-1940

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.400

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, dated 1939-1940. Enclosed with the material is data and reports on research.

Dates: 1939-1940

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / Additional Material / Absorption / 'General Theory of Absorption' / 'Absorption R.R.B. [Radio Research Board] Report' / Correspondence

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, no date

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.191

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott to Edward Appleton, no date.

Dates: no date

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / Lunar tides / Correspondence in alphabetical order

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott with Edward Appleton, 1948-1949

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.419

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.R. Piggott with Edward Appleton, dated 1948-1949. The material relates to research and publications, and is enclosed with data, graphs, etc.

Dates: 1948-1949

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / Additional Material / Ionospheric Storms

Correspondence from W.S. Chalmers to Edward Appleton, 1947

File

Identifier: Coll-37/E.24

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from W.S. Chalmers to Edward Appleton. The material includes a paper on ionospheric characteristics in Chungking.

Dates: 1947

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

Correspondence, notes, data from E.C. Childs to Edward Appleton, 1931-1932

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.173

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, notes, data from E.C. Childs to Edward Appleton, the 1931-1932. The material relates to various research projects and it includes a 2 page note, 'Investigations of Collisional Friction. Some suggestions for future work' by Childs, dated July 1931.

Dates: 1931-1932

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / Ionisation / Contents of bulky folder, inscribed by Edward Appleton ‘Ionised Air’

Correspondence on E layer, 1933-1938

sub-subseries

Identifier: Coll-37/C.51-C.55

Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence mainly dating from the 1930s and originally kept in folder Coll-37/C.36. Presented in alphabetical order.

Dates: 1933-1938

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / E layer

Correspondence on F₂ from A.F. Wilkins to Edward Appleton, and unsigned letter, 1948

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.89

Scope and Contents

Correspondence on F₂ from A.F. Wilkins to Edward Appleton, and an unsigned letter commenting on Appleton's F₂ research, dated 1948.

Dates: 1948

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / F layer / Data and correspondence

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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