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:
Notes and material related to increased 'Solar Noise' activity observed, February 1946
Notes and research ideas by Edward Appleton, c. 1930-1939
The material consists of notes and research ideas by Edward Appleton, mostly from the 1930s. It includes collaborative papers by Appleton and James Sayers 'Recombination in the ionosphere', dated 1938, and by Appleton and R. Naismith, 'Solar radiation changes during the sunspot cycle', also dated 1938.
Notes and research ideas, by Edward Appleton or commenting on calculations, etc. by others, no date
Notes and research ideas, by Edward Appleton or commenting on calculations, etc. by others, no date. The material is in Appleton’s original folder.
Notes by Edward Appleton, c. 1951
Notes by Edward Appleton, some dated 1951 in the orginal folder.
Notes by Edward Appleton, 'After the I.G.Y.' and 'The International Geophysical Year 1957-58', c. 1957-1958
The material consists of After the I.G.Y.', manuscript notes and drafts, no date, c. 1957-1958; and 'The International Geophysical Year 1957-58', the Ryland Lecture, May 1958.
Notes, calculations and graphs, etc. by Mrs. Turnbull, c. 1948-1953
The material consists of notes, calculations and graphs, etc. by Mrs. Turnbull. The date range is 1948-1953 but some charts are undated.
Notes for 'Lecture version' of paper on 'Radar detection of meteor trails and allied phenomena', 1932-1946
The material consists of 3 pp. typescript and manuscript notes for ‘Lecture version' of paper on 'Radar detection of meteor trails and allied phenomena', with a letter from R. Naismith including comments and amendments for the published version; a 1 page account of Appleton’s and Naismith's work on meteors from 1932 to 1946; and a list of slides for the lecture.
Notes for talks and speeches by Edward Appleton, c. 1945
The material consists of: "Discours à radiodiffuser par Sir Edward Appleton", a 2 page speech in French, dated 22 October 1945; "Sir Ambrose Fleming", a 7 page memorial tribute, dated 1945 in pencil, see also Coll-17/E.40; a press handout on Appleton’s lecture on "Tides in the Atmosphere", dated 1945 in pencil; and an offprint of Appleton's contribution to discussion on civil engineering research and its future, c. 1945.
Notes on lectures, talks and scientific work by Edward Appleton and William Piggott, 25 November 1950 and no date
'Notes on magneto-ionic theory', c. 1925-1943
'Notes on magneto-ionic theory'. The material consists of 5 pages of notes by Edward Appleton, much of it occupied with Lorentz's theory and the problem of negative and positive signs for the rays, no date, c. 1925-1943.
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