William Henry Bragg
William Henry Bragg | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 12 March 1942 | (aged 79)
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | Cambridge University |
Known for | X-ray diffraction |
Awards | Nobel Prize in Physics (1915) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | University of Adelaide University of Leeds University College London Royal Institution |
Doctoral advisor | J.J. Thompson |
Doctoral students | W. L. Bragg Kathleen Lonsdale William Thomas Astbury |
Notes | |
Note that he is the father of William Lawrence Bragg. There was no PhD in Cambridge until 1919, and J.J. Thompson was in fact his Master's advisor. |
Sir William Henry Bragg KBE, OM, MA (Cantab), PhD, (2 July 1862 – 10 March 1942) was an English physicist and chemist who uniquely shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with his son, William Lawrence Bragg, in 1915.
Early life
Bragg was the son of Robert John Bragg, a sea captain who had become a farmer, and his wife Mary Wood, daughter of a clergyman and was born at Westward near Wigton, Cumberland. He was educated at King William's College, Isle of Man, and, winning a scholarship, Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1884 as third wrangler in the mathematical tripos.
University of Adelaide
In 1885 he was appointed "Elder Professor of Pure and Applied Mathematics, who shall also give instruction in Physics"[1] at the University of Adelaide in Australia and began his duties there early in 1886. He then had little knowledge of physics, but there were only about a hundred students doing full courses at Adelaide of whom scarcely more than a handful belonged to the science school. Bragg was thus enabled to develop his knowledge of the subject in his early years, but it was not until he was past 40 that he began to do research work of importance. At the meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Dunedin in 1904, Bragg, as president of his section, delivered an address on "Some Recent Advances in the Theory of the Ionization of Gases". This paper was the origin of his first book Studies in Radioactivity, published in 1912. Shortly after the delivery of his 1904 address some radium bromide was placed at the disposal of Bragg with which he was able to experiment. In December 1904 a paper by him "On the Absorption of a Rays and on the Classification of the a Rays from Radium" appeared in the Philosophical Magazine, and in the same number a paper "On the Ionization Curves of Radium", written in collaboration with R. Kleeman, also appeared. At the end of 1908 Bragg resigned his professorship at Adelaide to become Cavendish professor at Leeds university. During his 23 years in Australia he had seen the number of students at Adelaide university nearly quadruple, and had a full share in the development of its excellent science school
University of Leeds
From 1909 at Leeds, Bragg continued his work on X-rays with much success. He invented the X-ray spectrometer and with his son, William Lawrence Bragg, founded the new science of X-ray analysis of crystal structure. In 1915 father and son were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their studies, using the X-ray spectrometer, of X-ray spectra, X-ray diffraction, and of crystal structure.. Their volume, X-Rays and Crystal Structure, published in this year, had reached a fifth edition 10 years later.
University College London
Bragg was appointed Quain Professor of physics at University College London in 1915 but did not take up his duties there until after World War I. He did much work for the government at this time, largely connected with submarine detection, at Aberdour on Forth and at Harwich, and returned to London in 1918 as consultant to the admiralty. While Quain professor at London he continued his work on crystal analysis.
Royal Institution
From 1923 he was Fullerian professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution and director of the Davy Faraday Research Laboratory. This institution was practically rebuilt in 1929-30 and under Bragg's directorship many valuable papers were issued from the laboratory.
Legacy
He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1907, was elected a vice-president in 1920, and served as president of the society from 1935 to 1940.
Ernest Rutherford discussed his theories on the proton and nucleus with Bragg, who disagreed with him.[citation needed]
The lecture theatre of King William's College is named in his memory.
Since 1992 the Australian Institute of Physics has awarded the Bragg Gold Medal for Excellence in Physics to commemorate Sir Lawrence Bragg (in front on the medal) and his father Sir William Bragg for the best PhD thesis by a student at an Australian University.
In 1889, he married Gwendoline Todd, daughter of Sir Charles Todd, who died in 1929. He was survived by a daughter and his son, Sir William Lawrence Bragg, another son died at Gallipoli[1]. Bragg was created C.B.E. in 1917, K.B.E. in 1920, and in 1931 was given the Order of Merit.
Timeline
- University of Adelaide (1886-1908)
- University of Leeds (1909-15)
- University College London (1915-23)
- Royal Institution
Prizes
- Nobel Prize (1915)
- Matteucci Medal (1915)
- Rumford Medal (1916)
- Copley Medal (1930)
Selected publications
- William Henry Bragg, The World of Sound (1920)
- William Henry Bragg, The Crystalline State - The Romanes Lecture for 1925. Oxford, 1925.
- William Henry Bragg, Concerning the Nature of Things (1925)
- William Henry Bragg, Old Trades and New Knowledge (1926)
- William Henry Bragg, An Introduction to Crystal Analysis (1928)
- William Henry Bragg, The Universe of Light (1933)
References
Serle, Percival (1949). "Bragg, William Henry". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
- ^ a b S. G. Tomlin (1979). "'Bragg, Sir William Henry (1862 - 1942)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7. MUP. pp. pp 387–388. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
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External links
- Australian physicists
- English physicists
- Experimental physicists
- Nobel laureates in Physics
- British Nobel laureates
- Presidents of the Royal Society
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Members of the Order of Merit
- Academics of University College London
- Former academics of the University of Leeds
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- People from Cumberland
- 1862 births
- 1942 deaths
- Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire