Biographical entry Bragg, William Henry (1862 - 1942)

Summary

(Sir) William Henry Bragg was Professor of Physics and Mathematics, University of Adelaide 1886-1909, Professor at the University of Leeds 1909-15, and University College, London 1915-23, and Director of the Royal Institution to 1942. In 1915 he shared the Nobel Prize for physics with his son, William Lawrence Bragg.

Details

Born Westward near Wigton, Cumberland, England, 2 July 1862. Died London, 12 March 1942. CBE 1917, KBE 1920, Order of Merit 1931. Educated University of Cambridge. Professor of Physics and Mathematics, University of Adelaide 1886-1909, Professor at the University of Leeds 1909-15, and University College, London 1915-23, and Director of the Royal Institution to 1942. Fellow, Royal Society 1906; Rumford Medal, Royal Society 1916; Copley Medal, Royal Society 1930; President, Royal Society 1935-40.

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• John Percival Vissing Madsen - Records, 1906 - 1969, MS 072; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

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

Published resources

Books

• Grant, Kerr, The Life and Work of Sir William Bragg, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1952. Details
• Hunter, Graeme K., Light is a Messenger: the Life and Science of William Lawrence Bragg, Oxford University Press, New York, 2004, 301 pp. Details
• Jenkin, John, The Bragg Family in Adelaide: a Pictorial Celebration, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 1986. Details

Book Sections

• Beale, R, 'William and Lawrence Bragg', in Australia's Nobel Laureates - Adventures in Innovation, ABIE Australian Business and Investment Explorer, Sydney, 2004, pp. 24-33. Details
• Debs, Talal, 'Sir William Henry Bragg, 1862-1942', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Details

Journal Articles

• Grant, Kerr, 'Obituary: Sir William Henry Bragg, OM, FRS, KBE', Australian Journal of Science, vol. 4, no. 5, 1942, pp. 152-153. Details
• Home, R. W., 'W.H. Bragg and J.P.V. Madsen: Collaboration and Correspondence, 1905-1911', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 5, no. 2, 1981, pp. 1-29. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9810520001.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'The Problem of Intellectual Isolation in Scientific Life: W.H. Bragg and the Australian Scientific Community, 1886-1909', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 6, no. 1, 1984, pp. 19-30. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9840610019.htm. Details
• Jenkin, John, 'William Henry Bragg, 1862-1942: Man and Scientist, by G.M. Caroe', Australian Physicist, vol. 20, 1983, pp. 179-180. Details
• Jenkin, John, 'The 1901 Royal Visit to Adelaide: an Account by William and Gwendoline Bragg', Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia, vol. 14, 1986, pp. 19-34. Details
• Jenkin, John, 'William Bragg in Adelaide: and Finally Golf', Australian Physicist, vol. 23, 1986, pp. 138-140. Details
• Jenkin, John, 'W. H. Bragg and the Public Image of Science in Australia', Search, vol. 18, no. 1, 1987, pp. 34-37. Details
• Jenkin, John, 'A Unique Partnership: William and Lawrence Bragg and the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics', Minerva, vol. 39, 2001, pp. 373-392. Details
• Jenkin, John, 'William Henry Bragg in Adelaide: Beginning Research at a Colonial Locality', Isis, vol. 95, no. 1, 2004, pp. 58-90. Details
• Jenkin, John G., 'William Bragg in Adelaide; Tennis Too!', Australian Physicist, vol. 18, no. 4, 1981, pp. 69-70. Details
• Jenkin, John G., 'Letter to the Editor About William Bragg and Tennis at Cambridge', Australian Physicist, vol. 18, no. 7, 1981, p. 131. Details
• Jenkin, John G., 'The Appointment of W.H. Bragg, FRS, to the University of Adelaide', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, vol. 40, no. 1, 1985, pp. 75-79. Details
• Tomlin, S. G., 'William Henry Bragg 1862-1942', Australian Physicist, vol. 13, no. 6, 1976, pp. 97-99. Details

Reviews

• Jenkin, John, review of Jenkin, John, 'William Henry Bragg 1862-1942: man and scientist', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 5, no. 2, 1981, pp. 123-124. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=HR9810520123.pdf. Details

Online Resources

• 'Bragg, William Henry', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000252p.htm. Details
• 'The Nobel Prize in Physics 1915 'for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays'', in Nobel e-Museum, 1996, http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1915/index.html. Details
• 'Sir William Henry Bragg - Biography', in Nobel e-Museum, 1996, http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1915/wh-bragg-bio.html. Details
• Granqvist, G., 'Nobel Prize in Physics 1915 - Presentation Speech', in Nobel e-Museum, 1996, http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1915/press.html. Details
• 'Bragg, W H', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1300315. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_b.html. Details
• Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/scripts/fam-dynindex.php3?EID=P000252. Details
• Clarebrough, L. M.; Head, A. K., 'Walter Boas 1904-1982', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 6, no. 4, 1987, pp. 507-517. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9870640507.htm. Details
• Rees, A. L. G., 'Ian William Wark 1899-1985', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 6, no. 4, 1987, pp. 533-548. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9870640533.htm. Details