Appleton, Sir Edward Victor

Appleton, Sir Edward Victor, 1892–1965, English physicist, grad. St. John's College, Cambridge. After returning from active service in World War I, he became assistant demonstrator in experimental physics at the Cavendish Laboratory in 1920. He was professor of physics at the Univ. of London (1924–36) and professor of natural philosophy at Cambridge Univ. (1936–39). From 1939 to 1949 he was secretary of the Dept. 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.