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:

Manuscript charts and graphs, mainly of critical frequencies, for various stations and dates, c. 1936, 1944-1946

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.35

Scope and Contents

Manuscript charts and graphs, mainly of critical frequencies, for various stations and dates. The material includes vertical incidence curves at Slough and Tromsö, c. 1936 and graphs for 1944, 1945-46, in Edward Appleton's hand, etc.

Dates: c. 1936, 1944-1946

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

Manuscript comments by F.W. Chapman , no date

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.171

Scope and Contents

Manuscript comments by F.W. Chapman with a note by Edward Appleton, 'The following notes were written by Mr. Chapman after reading my screed', no date.

Dates: no date

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Papers of Sir Edward Victor Appleton / Research topics / Ionisation / Contents of bulky folder, inscribed by Edward Appleton ‘Ionised Air’

Manuscript data, graphs and calculations of E and F layer critical frequencies, 1932

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.29

Scope and Contents

Manuscript data, graphs and calculations of E and F layer critical frequencies, 1932. The material was based on test runs made at King's College, London. It is almost all in Appleton's hand, but it also includes 2 pp. on 'F layer critical wavelength', by G. Builder, February 1932.

Dates: 1932

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

Manuscript, 'Discussion of Results', December 1931

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.169

Scope and Contents

Manuscript, 'Discussion of Results', 8 pages, sent by Edward Appleton to E.C. Childs, dated December 1931 and with some manuscript comments by him.

Dates: December 1931

Manuscript draft on loops, antenna, etc. by Edward Appleton, no date

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.275

Scope and Contents

Manuscript draft on loops, antenna, etc. by Edward Appleton, no date. The material consists of a 9 page manuscript.

Dates: no date

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

Manuscript drafts and notes for papers by Appleton, no date

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.36

Scope and Contents Manuscript drafts and notes for papers by Appleton, no date. The material consists of: 'On the seasonal and sunspot-cycle variation of abnormal Region-E Ionization','Note on E-persistance’,'Variation of Abnormal E with solar activity', 'Scattering in the E Layer' (2pp. note 'written to stimulate discussion in the Ionosphere group', undated, but refers to an article by T. L. Eckersley 1940 of which a copy is included). These items are in Appleton’s original folder inscribed 'Abnormal E...

Dates: no date

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

Manuscript drafts for a paper or papers on tides, almost all by Edward Appleton, but some in K. Weekes's hand, c. 1936-1949

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.182

Scope and Contents

Manuscript drafts for a paper or papers on tides, almost all by Edward Appleton, but some in K. Weekes's hand, no date, c.1936-1949.

Dates: c. 1936-1949

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

Manuscript graphs, c. 1934-1939 and no date

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.7

Scope and Contents

Manuscript graphs, mainly dated 1934-39. The material contains a manuscript graph by William Roy Piggott of reflection coefficient. Also included is a 5 pp. manuscript note on 'Evaluation of integral', no date. The note has the name and address of G.F.C. Searle (1864-1954).

Dates: c. 1934-1939 and no date

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

Manuscript notes and drafts on recombination, no date

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.288

Scope and Contents Manuscript notes and drafts on recombination. The material consists of Edward Appleton’s notes and drafts contained in their original folder, labelled 'Recombination and Attachment':'The Effective Electron Recombination Coefficient in the Ionosphere, 2 pages.'The Process of Electron Disappearance in the Cases of Regions E and F1', 3 pages.'Can there be detachment of electrons by sunlight?’ 1 page.'Test of Recombination...

Dates: no date

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

Manuscript notes and graphs by Edward Appleton, 1934

File

Identifier: Coll-37/C.31

Scope and Contents

Manuscript notes and graphs by Edward Appleton, with miscellaneous graphs of equivalent heights, etc. Some of the material is in the hand of L.J. Ingram and dated 1934.

Dates: 1934

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

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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