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:

Ionospheric storm calculations, c. 1943-1958

File

Identifier: Coll-37/F.68

Scope and Contents

The material consists of ionospheric storm calculations, the date range is 1943-1958 though some charts are undated.

Dates: c. 1943-1958

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

'Ionospheric Work', December 1962

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.117

Scope and Contents

'Ionospheric Work'. 2 page typescript dated December 1962.

Dates: December 1962

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

J, 1965

File

Identifier: Coll-37/A.47

Scope and Contents

Letters of condolence received on Sir Edward Appleton's death, "J", 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

K-L, 1965

File

Identifier: Coll-37/A.48

Scope and Contents

Letters of condolence received on Sir Edward Appleton's death, "K-L", 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

Large Army 'Register of Requisition' book, 1916-1918

Item

Identifier: Coll-37/B.58

Scope and Contents

Large Army 'Register of Requisition' book. The book contains presscuttings from technical journals, chiefly The Electrician, on meetings, research papers, discoveries and research. 1916-18.

Dates: 1916-1918

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Scientific notebooks / Press-cuttings

Large green ledger-type book, 1927-1939

Item

Identifier: Coll-37/B.59

Scope and Contents

Large green ledger-type book. The book contains press-cuttings on developments in radio and television, approximately dated 1927-1939.

Dates: 1927-1939

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Scientific notebooks / Press-cuttings

Large ledger-type notebook, c. 1936

Item

Identifier: Coll-37/B.27

Scope and Contents

Large ledger-type notebook. The notebook contains notes on mathematics, some labelled 'Lecture II', etc., perhaps for lectures at Cambridge, c. 1936.

Dates: c. 1936

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

Large ledger-type notebook, no date

Item

Identifier: Coll-37/B.29

Scope and Contents

Large ledger-type notebook, no date. The notebook mainly contains notes on atomic and particle physics, perhaps for lectures at Cambridge.

Dates: no date

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

Large ledger-type notebook, inscribed on cover 'E. V. Appleton. Magneto-Ionic Theory', no date

Item

Identifier: Coll-37/B.24

Scope and Contents

Large ledger-type notebook, inscribed on cover 'E. V. Appleton. Magneto-Ionic Theory', no date. The notebook has been used for calculations and only a few pages are used. Includes a few loose pages.

Dates: no date

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

Large red 'Minute Book', c. 1942

Item

Identifier: Coll-37/B.33A

Scope and Contents

Large red 'Minute Book'. Only a few pages of this notebook have been used, widely scattered through the book. Contains notes, mainly on radar, very short waves, anomalous echoes and the influence of water vapour, etc. c. 1942.

Dates: c. 1942

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

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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