Person

Bragg, William Lawrence (1890 - 1971)

FRS

Born
31 March 1890
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Died
1 July 1971
Waldringfield, England
Occupation
Physicist

Summary

William Lawrence Bragg was born and educated in Adelaide and then moved to England where he was Professor of Physics, Victoria University, Manchester 1919-1937, at Cambridge 1938-1954 and Director, 1954-1966, of the Royal Institution. He shared the Nobel Prize in 1915 with his father, William Henry Bragg.

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Details

Born Adelaide, 31 March 1890. Died Waldringfield, England, 1 July 1971. Educated University of Adelaide (BA 1908). OBE, MC, Kt 1941, Companion of Honour 1967. Fellow and lecturer in natural science, University of Cambridge 1914, work on sound-ranging for the artillery in France 1915-18; Professor of Physics, Victoria University, Manchester 1919-37, Director, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington 1937-38, Cavendish professor of experimental physics, Cambridge 1938-54, Director, Royal Institution 1954-66. Fellow, Royal Society 1921; Hughes 1931, Royal 1946 and Copley 1966 medals, Royal Society of London.

Archival resources

Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide

  • William H. Bragg and William L. (Lawrence) Bragg - Research Records of John Jenkin, MSS 0144; Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

  • William Lawrence Bragg - Records, 1900 - 1970, DeB 477; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Jenkin, John, The Bragg Family in Adelaide: a Pictorial Celebration (Adelaide: University of Adelaide, 1986). Details
  • Jenkin, John, William and Lawrence Bragg: the Most Extraordinary Collaboration in Science (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 458 pp. Details
  • South Australian Museum, Bragg About Adelaide: Two Men, a Science Revolution, a Nobel Prize, it all Started Here (Adelaide: South Australian Museum, 2005), 35 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Anon, 'Crystal clear: William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg' in Australia's Nobel laureates vol. III: state of our innovation nation, 2021 and beyond (One Mandate Group, 2021), pp. 22-31. Details
  • Beale, R, 'William and Lawrence Bragg' in Australia's Nobel Laureates - Adventures in Innovation (Sydney: ABIE Australian Business and Investment Explorer, 2004), pp. 24-33. Details
  • Phillips, David, 'Sir William Lawrence Bragg, 1890-1971' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Details

Journal Articles

  • 'Obituaries: Oscar Ulrich Vonwiller: Clive Melville Harris: Charles Bickerton Blackburn: Lawrence Bragg', Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 106 (3/4) (1973), 130-132. Details
  • Jenkin, John, 'The 1901 Royal Visit to Adelaide: an Account by William and Gwendoline Bragg', Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia, 14 (1986), 19-34. Details
  • Jenkin, John, 'A Unique Partnership: William and Lawrence Bragg and the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics', Minerva, 39 (2001), 373-392. Details
  • Jenkin, John, 'Braggs' law or Bragg's law?', Australian Physicist, 49 (2012), 72.9. Details
  • Thomas, John Meurig, 'Picking winners: W. H. and W. L. Bragg at the Royal Institution', Notes and Records of the Royal Society, 65 (2011), 163-82. Details

Resources

Resource Sections

Reviews

  • Hunter, Graeme K., Light is a Messenger: the Life and Science of William Lawrence Bragg (2004)
    Jenkin, John, Historical Records of Australian Science, 16 (1), (2005), 111-113. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR05006. Details
  • Jenkin, John, William and Lawrence Bragg: the Most Extraordinary Collaboration in Science (2007)
    Macleod, Roy, Historical Records of Australian Science, 20 (1), (2009), 131-133, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR09005. Details
  • Jenkin, John, William and Lawrence Bragg: the Most Extraordinary Collaboration in Science (2007)
    Wheaton, Bruce R., Isis, 103, (2012), 605-6. Details

See also

  • Trainor, J. P., Salute to the X-ray pioneers of Australia (Sydney: W. Watson and Sons Ltd, 1946), 81 pp. Details

McCarthy, G.J.

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 2 March 2018

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