Sir Edward Appleton, GBE, KCB, FRS, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1947

Sir Edward Victor Appleton, GBE, KCB, FRS (6 September 1892 – 21 April 1965) was an English physicist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1947 for his seminal work proving the existence of the ionosphere during experiments carried out in 1924.

Biography

Appleton was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, and educated at Hanson Grammar School. At the age of 18 he won a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge. He graduated with a first class degree in Natural Sciences.

During the First World War he joined the West Riding Regiment, and later transferred to the Royal Engineers. After returning from active service in World War I, Appleton became assistant demonstrator in experimental physics at the Cavendish Laboratory in 1920. He was professor of physics at King's College London (1924–36) and professor of natural philosophy at the University of Cambridge (1936–39). From 1939 to 1949 he was secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Knighted in 1941, he received the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the knowledge of the ionosphere, which led to the development of radar.

From 1949 until his death in 1965, he was Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. In 1956, the BBC invited him to deliver the annual Reith Lectures. Across a series of six radio broadcasts, titled Science and the Nation, Appleton explored the many facets of scientific activity in Britain at the time.

Appleton is buried in Morningside Cemetery, Edinburgh.

Project Note

Appleton was a Freemason. His information is as follows:

• Initiated, aged 29, of Cambridge, MA, 25 Apr 1922, passed 30 May 1922 and raised 20 Oct 1922, Isaac Newton Univ. L. No. 859, Cambridge, resigning 30 Sep 1925.

Other References

• Hogg, Bruce; Freemasons and the Royal Society ed 2; Library and Museum of Freemasonry; January 2012; page 4-5