Edward Appleton

Edward Appleton (1892-1965), British physicist, who received the Nobel prize in physics in 1947 for his discovery of the Appleton layer of the ionosphere, which reflects high-frequency radio waves. Sir Edward Victor Appleton was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, and educated at Saint John's College, University of Cambridge. He was a captain in the Signal Corps during World War I. From 1918 to 1939 he taught physics at Cambridge and at the University of London, where he began a series of experiments with radio waves that led to his discovery of the Appleton layer. He was secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research of the British government from 1939 to 1949. This position gave him overall charge of British research during World War II and brought him into close cooperation with American scientists, particularly in connection with the development of radar. For this work, he received the United States Medal of Merit.