Appleton , Sir Edward Victor

Appleton , Sir Edward Victor
(1892–1965) British physicist
Appleton was born in Bradford and studied physics at Cambridge University from 1910 to 1913. During World War I, while he was serving in the Royal Engineers, he developed the interest in radio that was to influence his later research. After the war he returned to Cambridge and worked in the Cavendish Laboratory from 1920. In 1924 he was appointed Wheatstone Professor of Experimental Physics at King's College, London.
Here, in his first year, he used a BBC transmitter to conduct a famous experiment, which established beyond doubt the presence of a layer of ionized gas in the upper atmosphere capable of reflecting radio waves. The existence of such a layer had been postulated by Oliver Heaviside and Arthur Kennelly to explain Marconi's transatlantic radio transmissions. By varying the frequency of a transmitter in Bournemouth and detecting the signal some 140 miles (225 km) away in Cambridge, he showed that interference occurred between direct (ground) waves and waves reflected off the layer (sky waves). Furthermore, the experiment measured the height of the layer, which he estimated at 60 miles (96 km). He proceeded to do theoretical work on the reflection or transmission of radio waves by an ionized layer and found, using further measurements, a second layer above the Heaviside–Kennelly layer. The Appleton layer undergoes daily fluctuations in ionization and he established a link between these variations and the occurrence of sunspots.
In 1936 he became the Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy at Cambridge, and during the war years until 1949 he was secretary of the department of scientific and industrial research, in which period he led research into radar and the atomic bomb.
For his great achievements in ionospheric physics he was knighted in 1941 and in 1947 won the Nobel Prize for physics. From 1949 until his death he was principal of Edinburgh University.

Scientists. . 2011.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Appleton,Sir Edward Victor — Appleton, Sir Edward Victor. 1892 1965. British physicist. He won a 1947 Nobel Prize for his discovery of the F layer of the ionosphere. * * * …   Universalium

  • Appleton, Sir Edward Victor — ▪ British physicist born Sept. 6, 1892, Bradford, Yorkshire, Eng. died April 21, 1965, Edinburgh, Scot.       British winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1947 for his discovery of the so called Appleton layer of the ionosphere, which is a… …   Universalium

  • Appleton, Sir Edward Victor — ► (1892 1965) Físico británico. Fue premio Nobel de Física en 1947 por sus trabajos sobre la ionosfera …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Edward Victor Appleton — Sir Edward Victor Appleton (* 6. September 1892 in Bradford; † 21. April 1965 in Edinburgh) war ein englischer Physiker. Nachdem Appleton vom aktiven Dienst aus dem Ersten Weltkrieg zurückgekehrt war, wurde er 1920 Assistent für Ex …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Sir Edward Victor Appleton — noun English physicist remembered for his studies of the ionosphere (1892 1966) • Syn: ↑Appleton, ↑Edward Appleton • Instance Hypernyms: ↑physicist …   Useful english dictionary

  • Edward Victor Appleton — Sir Edward Victor Appleton, físico inglés, nacido el 6 de septiembre de 1892 en Bradford, fallecido el 21 de de abril de 1965. Después de volver del servicio activo en la Primera Guerra Mundial, ingresó al laboratorio de Cavendish (1920) como… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Edward Victor Appleton — Infobox Scientist name = Sir Edward Appleton imagesize = 120px caption = Edward Victor Appleton in army uniform, taken in World War I. birth date = birth date|1892|9|6 birth place = Bradford, West Yorkshire, England death date = death date and… …   Wikipedia

  • Edward Victor Appleton — Retrato de 1947. Sir Edward Victor Appleton, GBE, KCB(Bradford, 6 de septiembre de 1892 Edimburgo, 21 de abril de 1965), físico inglés, premio Nobel de física en 1947. Contenido …   Wikipedia Español

  • Appleton — Appleton, Sir Edward Victor ► C. de E.U.A., en el estado de Wisconsin; 57 143 h …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Appleton — noun 1. English physicist remembered for his studies of the ionosphere (1892 1966) • Syn: ↑Edward Appleton, ↑Sir Edward Victor Appleton • Instance Hypernyms: ↑physicist 2. a town in eastern Wisconsin • Instance Hypernyms: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”