A D V E N T U R E S in C Y B E R S O U N DEdward Victor Appleton, Sir : 1892 - 1965
The British physicist Sir Edward Victor Appleton, (b. Sept. 6, 1892, d. Apr. 21, 1965), won the 1947 Nobel Prize for physics for his discovery that the upper layer of the ionosphere, called the F-region or Appleton layer, reflects radio waves. The discovery established the possibility of radio communication over long distances. Appleton served as a professor (1924-36) of physics at King's College, University of London, taught (1936-39) at Cambridge University, and, while serving (1939-49) in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, aided in the development of radar and the atomic bomb. He was knighted in 1941.
Edward Victor Appleton was born in Bradford, England, on 6th September, 1892, the son of Peter and Mary Appleton. He received his early education at Hanson Grammar School. Bradford then took his B.A. degree in Natural Science at St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1913 and 1914, with physics for Part II. He won the Wiltshire Prize in 1913 and the Hutchinson Research Studentship in 1914, studying under Sir J.J. Thomson and Lord Rutherford. During the First World War he joined the West Riding Regiment, transferring later to the Royal Engineers. At the conclusion of hostilities he returned to Cambridge and took up research on radio waves. Since 1919 Appleton has devoted himself to scientific problems in atmospheric physics, using mainly radio techniques. In 1920 he was appointed assistant demonstrator in experimental physics at the Cavendish Laboratory. Two years later he became sub-rector at Trinity College.In 1924 Appleton was appointed Professor of Physics at London University and served there for twelve years, returning to Cambridge in 1936 to take the Chair of Natural Philosophy. In the latter part of 1924 Appleton began a series of experiments which proved the existence of that layer in the upper atmosphere now called the ionosphere. With the co-operation of the British Broadcasting Corporation the Bournemouth transmitter shot waves up to the layer to see if they were reflected by it and came back. The experiment was entirely successful, for the reflection was proved. Moreover, by a slight change of wavelength it was possible to measure the time taken by the waves to travel to the upper atmosphere and back. The position of the reflecting layer was thus identified and its height (60 miles above ground) determined. The method used was whatis now called "frequency-modulation radar". The ionosphere was thus the first "object" detected by radiolocation, and this led to a great development of radio research and to a military invention of the greatest importance in World War II Further experiments which led to the possibility of round-the-world broadcasting were carried out and in 1926 he discovered a further atmospheric layer 150 miles above ground, higher than the Heaviside Layer and electrically stronger. This layer, named the Appleton Layer after him, reflects short waves round the earth. Three years later Appleton made an expedition to Northern Norway for radio research, studying the Aurora Borealis and in 1931 he published the results of further research on determining the height of reflecting layers of the ionosphere, including the use of a transmitter that sent out "spurts" of radio energy, and the photography of the received echo-signals by cathode ray oscillography. In 1932 he was elected Vice-President of the American Institute of Radio Engineers. When hostilities broke out in 1939 Appleton was appointed Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research - the senior British Government post concerned with physical science. Researches into the atmospheric layers and cathode ray oscillography were developed for aircraft detection when Sir Robert Watson-Watt and his group of scientists, working on Appleton's findings, brought Britain's secret weapon to perfection. Commonwealth researchers working with Appleton in Britain all became leaders in the development of radiolocation in their home countries and Sir Robert Watson-Watt has stated that, but for Appleton's scientific work, radar would have come too late to have been of decisive use in the Battle of Britain. Appleton was knighted in 1941, being created K.C.B., and he was a member ofthe Scientific Advisory Committee of the War Cabinet which, in 1941, advised the Government that the manufacture of an atomic bomb was feasible. Later, under Sir John Anderson, and as technical head of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, he assumed administrative control of all British work on the subject. He paid a visit to the United States and Canada in 1943 to arrange details of collaboration between American and British scientists. He continued research work even during this arduous period and has demonstrated that ionospheric reflecting power varies with sunspot activities. Also, working with Dr. J. S. Hey of the Ministry of Supply, he discovered that sunspots are powerful emitters of short radio waves. An important result of Appleton's work has been the establishment of a system of ionospheric forecasts, in which more than 40 stations all over the world co-operate, enabling the production of the most suitable wavelengths for communication over any particular radio circuit. In 1947, the year in which he received the Nobel Prize for Physics, he was also awarded the highest civilian decoration of the United States - the Medal of Merit - and was made an Officer of the French Legion of Honour. He was also awarded the Norwegian Cross of Freedom for his war work. Appleton's work has been recognized by India, Norway and Denmark, and in 1948 he was appointed by the Pope to the Pontificial Academy of Science. He received the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, in 1950, for outstanding services to science and industrial research and was elected President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for the Liverpoo1 meeting in 1953. He has been Chairman of the British National Committee for Radio-Telegraphy and Honorary President of the International Scientific Radio Union. During the International Geophysical Year 1957-1958 he played an active part in the world planning of radio experiments as Chairman of the International Geophysical Year Committee of the Internationa1 Scientific Radio Union, and continues to remain a scientific research worker. He is now engaged on the interpretation of l.G.V.ionospheric measurements on a global basis. In 1956 Sir Edward gave the Reith Lectures of the B.B.C. on "Science and the Nation". Recent awards made to him have been the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize of the Royal Society, Edinburgh, in 1960, and the Medal of Honour of the Institute of Radio Engineers of America in 1962. In 1915 Appleton married Jessie, daughter of the Rev. J. Longson, and they have two daughters. Prof. Appleton died in 1965.
Edward Victor Appleton: Pioneer of radio waves Edward Appleton was born on September 6, 1892 in Bradford, England. He showed exceptional promise in the school and won a scholarship to enter the Cambridge University. At St. John's College he attended the lectures of J. J. Thomson and Ernest Rutherford. He graduated in 1913 with a first class honours degree in physics. He served as a signals officer, during World War I, when he got interested in radio. He returned to Cambridge and worked at the Cavendish Laboratory on vacuum tubes, till he was appointed Wheatstone professor of physics at the University of London in 1924 where he served the next 12 years. In 1936, Appleton returned to Cambridge as professor of natural philosophy. With the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, he entered government (of U.K.) service as Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and played a major role in war efforts. Appleton became in 1949 vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh where he remained for the rest of his life. Appleton had begun in 1924 a series of crucial experiments that proved the existence of the ionosphere. With the collaboration of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and its transmitter at Bournemouth, he shot radio waves into the atmosphere to see if they were reflected by it and if they returned to the ground. The position of the reflecting layer (known as E layer) which had been postulated earlier by Heaviside and Kennelly, was identified at a height of about 97 km. The ionosphere was thus the first object detected by radio location and led to the birth of radar, a military invention of greatest importance in World War II. In 1926, Appleton discovered another layer which is considered to be of prime technological significance. He showed that radio waves of sufficiently short wavelength can penetrate the lower region of the ionosphere but are reflected by an upper region (known as F layer ) at a height of 240 km above the ground. This discovery made possible reliable long-range radio communication. Appleton furnished experimental proof that the interference between the ground and sky waves resulted in radio fading in and around 100 km from a transmitter, in a manner analogous to optical interference fringes. Edward Appleton's scientific achievements were honoured by his election to the Royal Society (1927), a knighthood (1941) and the Nobel Prize in Physics (1947) 'for his investigations of the physics of the upper atmosphere, especially the discovery of the Appleton layer.' He spent the rest of his life in research work flowing from his own discoveries, maintaining a degree of involvement that was astonishing in view of the many other responsibilities he carried.Appleton was an international figure. He was instrumental in organising the first International Geophysical Year in 1957, a year of maximum sunspot activity. In 1949 he founded the Journal of Atmospheric Research (affectionately known as Appleton's Journal) and served as its editor till his death on April 21, 1965.
In 1924, British physicist Edward Victor Appleton (1892-1965) confirms the existence of the 'ionosphere', a region of electrified air surrounding the earth at a height of 130-320km (80-200mi).This acts like a giant mirror, reflecting radio waves back to the earth, which also acts as a reflector. In consequence, medium and short-wave radio signals bounce from sky to earth for thousands of miles. Using the BBC transmitter at Bournemouth, Appleton varied the frequency of the signal and measured the intensity of the received transmission from 100km (60mi) away. He discovered that the signals regularly faded in and out at night but that this effect diminished rapidly at dawn, when the so-called Kennelly-Heaviside layer (now called the E layer) of the atmosphere broke up. He also found that radio waves continued to be reflected by the atmosphere during the day but from a higher-level ionised layer, which came to bear his name (now called the F layer). He located it about 250km (155mi) above the earth, the first distance measurement made using radio. Appleton became interested in radio while a signals officer during World War I. His atmospheric research proved fundamental to the development of radio and radar, work for which he was awarded the Nobel prize in 1947. He worked for Rutherford at Cambridge and was involved in the initial work on the atomic bomb.
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