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:
Sequence of three small hardbacked notebooks, numbered 1, 2 and 3, c. 1923-1932
This sub-series contains a sequence of three small hardbacked notebooks, numbered 1, 2 and 3 by Appleton. The first is dated 'April 2nd 1923' and the third has an indistinct date of 1925. All three books were used on and off for several years and contain similar material. They may well be the origin of the description 'little black books'.
Sequences of manuscript notes by Edward Appleton and related publications, c. 1930s and c. 1950s
The material consists of sequences of manuscript notes by Edward Appleton and related publications. It related to phase velocity, circuits, V.H.F., absorption, etc. It is probably dated c. 1930s with some dated c. 1950s.
Short and fragmentary notes and calculations by Edward Appleton, c. 1925-1943
Short and fragmentary notes and calculations by Edward Appleton, no date, c. 1925-1943.
Shorter correspondence to Edward Appleton to accompany data or reports, c. 1920-1965
The material consists of shorter correspondence to Edward Appleton to accompany data or reports. It is not indexed.
Shorter exchanges between A.G. Turnbull and Edward Appleton, 1952, 1962, 1963
Shorter exchanges between A.G. Turnbull and Edward Appleton. Some of them are dated 1952, 1962 and 1963.
Shorter ideas, drafts and notes on F Layer, c. 1939-1955
Shorter ideas, drafts and notes on F Layer. None of the material is dated but extending 1939-1955.
Shorter manuscript notes, graphs and calculations, many on verso of Cambridge undergraduates' exercises, no date
Shorter manuscript notes, graphs and calculations, many on verso of Cambridge undergraduates' exercises, no date. It includes a list of signatures (including A. J. Eley, N. F. Mott and J. D. Ewen) of those attending a class.
Shorter manuscripts notes, graphs and calculations mainly on conductors, no date
Shorter manuscripts notes, graphs and calculations mainly on conductors. The material is possibly of a later date than Coll-37/C.11 which is similar.
Shorter notes and calculations and bibliographical notes on recombination, c. 1934
The material consists of shorter notes and calculations by Edward Appleton, some graphs dated 1934; and bibliographical notes on recombination (not all in Appleton's hand). These items are in Appleton's original folder labelled 'Radio Expt. [Experimental] Recombination'.
Shorter undated notes and drafts, c. 1930-1939
Shorter undated notes and drafts, some of which may date from the 1930s. The material includes: 'The Structure of the Atmosphere', 'Thunderstorm Theory’, 'Dispersion', a 3 page note on radio experiments, and a list of eight points on E and F Layer problems.
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