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:
Future ionospheric programme, 31 December 1941
Future ionospheric programme. The material consists of a 3 page. typescript, with a note to W.R. Piggott, dated 31 December 1941, ‘I think the attached will interest you, as showing our ideas about future work in October 1935'.
General: 1949, 1949
Correspondence and related items, including letters from his wife Florence Jewel Baillie, his brother Donald Macpherson Baillie, Sir Edward Victor Appleton, Henry Pitney Van Dusen, Hugh Martin and Thomas Forsyth Torrance. Includes material relating the University of Edinburgh, clothing ration books, a paper on eschatology and items relating to an insurance claim due to illness.
General Ionospheric Topics, c. 1935-1964
'General Theory of Absorption', c. 1937-1941
This sub-sub-subseries consists of 3 files which were inside a folder entitled 'General Theory of Absorption' by Edward Appleton.
G.R. Army Book, 129, inscribed 'Edward V. Appleton, Lieut. [Lieutenant] R.E.’, c. 1918
G.R. Army Book, 129, inscribed 'Edward V. Appleton, Lieut. [Lieutenant] R.E.’. vThe volume contains bibliographical notes, records of experiments, notes for investigation on valves, batteries, circuits, etc., during his service in the Royal Engineers Signals. Most of the work is in Edward Appleton's hand, and some is in another unidentified hand. Only one entry is dated 'From Biggin Hill 12/9/18' (not in Appleton's hand).
G.R. Army Book 130, inscribed 'E.V. Appleton [Edward Victor Appleton], St. John's Coll.' [St. John’s College], 1922-1923
The material consists of a hardback notebook with some graphs glued in, and some loose pages of notes. It includes notes on the literature, records of experiments on condensers, discharges, etc. The experiments run December 1922-June 1923 and are recorded in an unknown hand, with comments, additions, etc. by Edward Appleton.
'Grand Average h' F for 1900 and 2000 hrs. [hours] for all months of I.G.Y [International Geophysical Year]...', 1957-1958
The material consists of an original file headed, 'Grand Average h' F for 1900 and 2000 hrs. [hours] for all months of I.G.Y [International Geophysical Year, (i.e. 1957-1958)] with Magnetic and Geographic Latitude'.
Grant of Knight Commander, Order of the Bath to Sir Edward Appleton, 1941
Grant of Knight Commander, Order of the Bath to Sir Edward Appleton, dated 1941.
Graphs, c. 1939-1962
The material consists of graphs. The date range is 1939-1962, however some charts are undated.
Graphs and data, c. 1956-1958
The material consists of graphs and data, c.1956-1958, mainly by Mrs. Turnbull, with a few manuscript annotations by Edward Appleton.
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