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 with Royal Society re establishing an Appleton Memorial Lecture to be given at the triennial assemblies of U.R.S.I. (Union Radio-Scientifique Internationale), 1966-1975

File

Identifier: Coll-37/A.58

Scope and Contents

The material consists of correspondence with Royal Society regarding establishing an Appleton Memorial Lecture to be given at the triennial assemblies of U.R.S.I. (Union Radio-Scientifique Internationale). Includes information about the lectures, and programme for the discussion meeting held at the Society on 5-6 December 1974, to mark the 50th anniversary of radio investigations of the ionosphere. Various dates, 1966-1975.

Dates: 1966-1975

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Biographical and personal

Critical Frequency, c. 1932-1946

Sub-Series

Identifier: Coll-37/C.29-C.35

Scope and Contents From the Series: Introduction Section C The material in this section is very diverse. It includes notes and ideas by Appleton, comments and suggestions exchanged with research assistants, collaborators and colleagues, drafts for discussion meetings or for papers and talks, data (charts, graphs, diagrams) and correspondence. The alphabetical sequence in which the material is presented is intended as no more than a guide. Some of the titles, such as ‘Absorption’1 , 'Atmospheric Spectrum', 'Ionized Air',...

Dates: c. 1932-1946

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

Critical Frequency, 13 April 1942-14 April 1942

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.405

Scope and Contents

The material consists of 2 manuscript notes by Edward Appleton, both marked ‘Please return. Only copy'. The titles are 'The influence of a deviating layer below the main reflecting layer', 2 pages, dated 13 April 1942; and 'Further note on maximum usable frequency (limiting case)', 2 pages, dated 14 April 1942.

Dates: 13 April 1942-14 April 1942

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

Curves for fF₂ in mc/s, 1946-1953

File

Identifier: Coll-37/F.27

Scope and Contents

The material consists of a file containing curves for fF₂ in mc/s, dated 1946-1953.

Dates: 1946-1953

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Charts, graphs, data / 'fF2'

Curves for (fF₂)² sunspot numbers, 1942-1952

File

Identifier: Coll-37/F.28

Scope and Contents

The material consists of a file containing curves for (fF₂)² sunspot numbers. Date range covers 1942-1952 but graphs will have been composed later.

Dates: 1942-1952

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Charts, graphs, data / 'fF2'

Curves for for foF₂ S.S. max. 1958/S.S. min. 1954, for June and December, 1958

File

Identifier: Coll-37/F.29

Scope and Contents

The materia consists of a file containing curves for for foF₂ S.S. max. 1958/S.S. min. 1954, for June and December.

Dates: 1958

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Charts, graphs, data / 'fF2'

D-E, 1965

File

Identifier: Coll-37/A.42

Scope and Contents

Letters of condolence received on Sir Edward Appleton's death, "D-E", 1965.

Dates: 1965

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Biographical and personal / Letters of condolence received on Sir Edward Appleton's death

Data and correspondence, c. 1936-1960

sub-subseries

Identifier: Coll-37/C.82-C.105

Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series:

Appleton's original labelled folders do not appear to have survived for the early research; those which are included here (Coll-37/C.94, C.97-C.99) are mainly from the Edinburgh period. Much of the material in this sequence has been assembled from loose papers. Appleton's own research ideas, discussion papers and drafts occupy Coll-37/C. 56-C.81 followed by an approximately chronological sequence of data and correspondence (Coll-37/C.82-C.105).

Dates: c. 1936-1960

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

Data and correspondence, 1947-1961 and no date

sub-subseries

Identifier: Coll-37/C.132-C.165

Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series: Under this heading are grouped all data, notes and correspondence which were not included in Appleton’s named folders, but were received as loose and disordered papers. Most of them relate to his period at Edinburgh University, when he conducted collaborative research on a number of ionospheric projects simultaneously. His consistent collaborator was A. G. Pritchard (later Turnbull) whose data comprise many different topics; for the period c.1949-54 he also worked closely with A.J. Lyon...

Dates: 1947-1961 and no date

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / General Ionospheric Topics

Data and graphs from Slough, 1931-1948

File

Identifier: Coll-37/F.64

Scope and Contents

The material consists of data and graphs from Slough, dated 1931-1948.

Dates: 1931-1948

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Charts, graphs, data / Miscellaneous documents relating to radio waves interference data

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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