Appleton, Sir Edward Victor, 1892-1965 (physicist and principal of the University of Edinburgh)
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
Found in 833 Collections and/or Records:
Data and graphs, including corrected proof of article as presented by L.M. Muggleton, c.1964-1971
The material consists of data and graphs, including corrected proof of article as presented by Muggleton and published in Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics in 1971. In original folder.
Data, graphs and curves on sunspots, 1935-1959
The material consists of data, graphs and curves relating to sunspots, dated 1935-1959.
Data, graphs and photographs, not all by Edward Appleton, c. 1925-1943
The material consistsa of data graphs, and photographs, not all by Edward Appleton. Some of the material is dated 1931.
Data, notes, charts, calculations, by Edward Appleton and other , 1935-1951
Data, notes, charts, calculations, by Edward Appleton and others. The material mainly relates to Flayer 'Jumps' and the data runs from 1935-1951.
Data on sunspot numbers, c. 1935-1962
The material consists of data on sunspot numbers, mainly of sunspot cycles at various stations. The data covers. 1935-1962 with some charts undated. It includes some work by C.P. Bell
Data, photographs, etc. sent by R. Naismith to Edward Appleton from Slough, c. 1944-1949
Data, photographs, etc. sent by R. Naismith to Edward Appleton from Slough. The material is similar to that with the correspondence in Coll-37/C.407.
Data, tabulating monthly medians of fF2, 1944-1958
The material consists of a large hardcover spiral-bound folder of data, tabulating monthly medians of fF2 from several observatories over several years. Composite tables for 1953 and 1954 appear on the front pages. Dates covered are 1944-1958.
'Declination Sq (γ) 1948-62', 1948-1962
The material consists of a folder created by Edward Appleton entitled, 'Declination Sq (γ) 1948-62', containing extensive data and curves for various sunspot periods, and including work on the elimination of seasonal anomaly. It includes a 1 page manuscript note by Appleton.
Dedication of Chaplaincy Centre, University of Edinburgh, 1957
The material consists of a photograph of Edward Appleton at the ceremony for the dedication of the Chaplaincy Centre, University of Edinburgh, dated 1957.
‘D(fF2)/Q(fF2)’, c. 1951-1952
The material consists of a folder created by Edward Appleton entitled ‘D(fF2)/Q(fF2)’, containing data and graphs by Mrs. Pritchard, mainly dated 1951-1952.
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