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:
Later papers on F2 Layer, 1959-1960
Letter from Appleton to his parents, October 1952
manuscript letter from Sir Edward Appleton to his parents, dated October 1952. The letter is regarding his return sea-voyage from Australia, his daughter's engagement, etc and it was mentioned in Sir Edward Appleton, p.199 by Clark.
Letter from Edward Appleton to 'Edward' and two letters from Ernest Rutherford to Edward Appleton, 1922, 1925, 1962
Letter from Appleton to 'Edward' dated 1962 describing his award of The Wiltshire Prize for Geology and Mineralogy in his Cambridge Tripos in 1913.
Two letters from Ernest Rutherford to Edward Appleton. The first is dated 1922, recommending Appleton for 'The King's Professorship (N.B. Appleton became Wheatstone Professor at King's College, London, only in 1924), and the second is dated 1925, accepting his resignation as Assistant Demonstrator of the Cavendish Laboratory.
Letter from W.E.J. Farvis to Edward Appleton and notes for Appleton's lectures and a paper, 1953 and no date
The material consists of letter from W. E. J. Farvis to Edward Appleton asking to repeat a course of lectures for the Diploma Course on the Ionosphere at University of Edinburgh, 1953; 2 sequences of manuscript notes by Appleton, both headed 'Lecture (1)’; ‘A note on some approximate ionospheric theorems’, a typescript and manuscript draft for a paper, however no paper of that title is listed amongst Appleton’s publications. The material is in its original folder.
Letter to Appleton and photograph relating to the 125th Anniversary of the Technical High School, Hanover, 1958
Letter to Sir Edward Appleton and photograph relating to the 125th Anniversary of the Technical High School, Hanover, dated 1958. The letter related to Appleton being unable to attend.
Letter to Lady Thomson from Sir Edward Appleton, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, 16 Feb 1955
Appleton offers his condolences on behalf of the whole University, stating how much Thomson meant to the University, and referring to his influence on the many students he taught.
Letters and congratulations from C. T. R. Wilson, Ernest Rutherford and H. G. Lyons, 1926-1934
Letter from C.T.R. Wilson offering to propose Appleton for election to The Royal Society, dated 1926.
Congratulations from Rutherford on award of prize by Radio Engineers of U.S.A., dated 1929.
Letter of thanks from H.G. Lyons on work at Tromso and contributions to the Polar Year, dated 1934.
Letters from institutions, societies, firms, organisations, etc. (not indexed), 1965
Letters of condolence received on Sir Edward Appleton's death from institutions, societies, firms, organisations, etc. (not indexed), 1965.
Letters of condolence received on Sir Edward Appleton's death, 1965
List of participants at Brussels meeting with papers and reports, 1954
List of participants, copies of papers read and reports presented on ionospheric research at the Brussels meeting, in 1954. The material includes W.J.G. Beynon's report, papers by Edward Appleton and A.J. Lyon, etc.
Additional filters:
- Subject
- Physics 663
- Correspondence 190
- Radio Broadcasting 45
- Diaries 33
- Magnetism 24
- Radar 17
- Norway 14
- Absorption 13
- Astronomy 11
- Meteors 11
- Magnetic Storms 8
- Oscillations 8
- University of Edinburgh 8
- University of Edinburgh -- Principals 8
- Appleton, Edward Victor, Sir, 1892-1965 -- Correspondence 7
- Science 7
- Mathematics 6
- Electricity 5
- Television broadcasting 5
- World War, 1914-1918 5
- Belgium -- Brussels 4
- History of Science 4
- Tides 4
- Atmosphere 3
- Nuclear Energy 3
- Aurora 2
- Edinburgh -- Scotland 2
- Electronics 2
- Guest books 2
- Industry 2
- Johannesburg (South Africa) 2
- Nuclear Physics 2
- Obituaries 2
- Peru 2
- Photographs 2
- Prizes 2
- Seasonal variations 2
- United States -- D.C. -- Washington 2
- United States -- Ohio -- Cincinnati 2
- Waddington, Conrad Hal, 1905-1975 -- Correspondence 2
- Weather 2
- Academic Writing 1
- Air Force 1
- America 1
- Architecture 1
- Architecture, Designs and Plans 1
- Army Personnel 1
- Atmospheric Pressure, Measurement 1
- Atomic bomb 1
- Auroras 1
- Australia 1
- Australia -- New South Wales -- Sydney 1
- Baking 1
- Bibliography 1
- Biography 1
- Body temperature--Regulation 1
- Calculus Integral 1
- Cambridge (England) 1
- Campus Planning 1
- Canada 1
- Chemistry 1
- City Planning 1
- Civil Servants 1
- Clydebank (Scotland) 1
- Coal 1
- College Buildings 1
- Collisions (Nuclear Physics) 1
- Communication 1
- Communication and Technology 1
- Copenhagen (Denmark) 1
- Copenhagen, Denmark 1
- Eclipses 1
- Electric Circuits 1
- Electrical engineering 1
- Electromagnetic Waves 1
- Encyclopedias and Dictionaries 1
- England -- Merseyside -- Liverpool 1
- England -- West Yorkshire -- Bradford 1
- Eschatology 1
- Falkland Islands 1
- Fuel Technology 1
- Funeral Rites and Ceremonies 1
- Germany -- Lower Saxony -- Hanover 1
- Glass 1
- Honorary Degrees 1
- Iceland 1
- Insurance 1
- Ionosphere 1
- Italy 1
- Madagascar 1
- Manchester (England) 1
- Massachusetts -- Harvard 1
- Medicine | History | 1
- Memorials 1
- Microscopes 1
- Netherlands -- The Hague 1
- New Zealand 1
- Nuclear Weapons 1
- Physical Sciences 1
- Postal Service 1